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News from the Holy Land

Year II, n. 21/3 (english), 11/4/2007
Latin Patriarchate - Easter Message 2007

Brothers and Sisters,
Christ is risen. Indeed, he is truly risen.

1. We contemplate today the glory of heaven which came down to earth, renewing life there. Jesus said: “I am the Resurrection. Whoever is alive and believes in me will never die” (Jn 11, 25). The feast of Easter is a time when believers renew their appreciation of life and their happiness to be alive. They place themselves in God’s presence and recall his many blessings. On this feast of Easter, we relive the memory of the resurrected Christ, conqueror of death and sin, and we recall that he died for our sins, as foretold by the Prophet Isaiah: “He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins. For our peace he was punished” (Is 53, 5). He died because of our sins and for our peace. He died, rose, and gave to us, as well as to all human beings, the power to overcome the death which is present in the depth of our being, namely sin.

2. By his Resurrection, the Lord gives us new life and new courage so that we can conquer sin in ourselves and in our society: “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation” (2 Cor 5, 17), says Saint Paul. In all our relations with our society, the Resurrection of Christ gives us new strength to live and to love, and it teaches us and helps us at the same time to forgive and to restore justice. To love is to see in every human being the face of the Most High God. It therefore means to love God himself in his creatures, to forgive as he forgives each of us, and to learn from God himself how to practice justice in our relations with one another. To love as God loves is to enter into the depths of the mystery of his divine Providence, and, with him, the Lord of history, to become capable of contributing to the creation of our history and of transforming our land of death and sin into a land of new life

.3. Jesus said: “I am the Resurrection. Whoever is alive and believes in me will never die” (Jn 11, 25). That is what our faith tells us as we face throughout the Holy Land an ongoing reality of death, with its various aspects of hate, fear, and dysfunction in the relations between individuals and at the level of governments. Our land is at the same time a land of resurrection and of death, but its vocation and fundamental mission is to be a land of love and life, a land of abundant life for all its inhabitants of all religions. This supposes that all believers of all religions accept the consequences of their faith in God: that we are all creatures of God and the product of his hands, and that to believe in God means to accept all of God’s children. It therefore supposes that everyone accepts everyone, that everyone respects everyone, and that no one uses violence against the other. It also supposes that there is neither a strong party nor a weak one, and that there is no longer an occupation, or walls, or military barriers, or fear, or violence.

4. This year we commemorate forty years of extensive dysfunction in our Holy Land, a situation which has had repercussions in the region and in the world. Will our leaders and the international community ever be able to put an end to this dysfunction? In itself the issue is simple: two peoples are at war with each other, and one of them occupies the house of the other. To put it simply: the solution would be for each one to occupy his own house, the Israelis their house and the Palestinians theirs. To be sure, fear has complicated matters and wants to see the Palestinians as terrorists or as incapable of assuring security. Moreover, several worldwide phenomena have arisen in the world as a direct or indirect consequence of this dysfunction in the Holy Land and have given rise to great fear, which has further complicated things that were simple enough in themselves. Given that reality, we believe that the dysfunction will continue as long as someone occupies the house of someone else. And as long as this dysfunction continues in the Holy Land, the region and the world will suffer from it. We must take the risk of making peace and put an end to the occupation (each one in his own house), in order to begin the healing process in our land, in the region, and in the world.

5. Our land is at the same time a land of resurrection and of death, but its vocation and its fundamental mission is to be a land of love and life, of abundant life for all its inhabitants of all religions and of all nationalities. We ask God to grant that this becomes a reality and to give us all, by the grace of the Resurrection, abundant life, tranquility, and his blessing.

Christ is risen. Indeed, he is truly risen.
Happy Easter

† Michel Sabbah, Patriarch

Jerusalem, April 3, 2007

 

Easter Message sent by the patriarchs and heads of local churches in Jerusalem

Sisters and brothers here and in all the world, we greet you in the name of our Risen Lord and ask God to fill you with the joy and the strength of the resurrection.

Having opposed early Christians and, indeed, sought to bring many of them to trial for their faith, St. Paul was suddenly challenged by our Blessed Lord as he journeyed to Damascus. Within a short time he became a powerful messenger for Jesus. Reading his various epistles we see he has much to say on many aspects of the Christian faith.

The statement he sets before the Philippians is regarded by many people as the most powerful: “All I want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share his sufferings.”

In this short sentence he links the cross and the Resurrection. The sufferings he had to face for his faith lead him to become conscious of the power of the Resurrection given to those who truly believe, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Yet again, recent months have shown us much of the hardships and sufferings people have to endure, not least in this land. Much of this burden has arisen from man’s inhumanity to men together with the deprivation of basic human dignity and rights, all caused by the siege imposed upon us.

Our Blessed Lord challenges all of us; if we are to be his disciples we must take up our cross and follow him. In the midst of sufferings, we reach for the power of the Resurrection and the power of the Spirit that enables us to take away the oppressions that are imposed upon us.

So, as we celebrate the joy of Easter we must examine carefully where we stand in relation to God. Many of us need to abandon the selfish instinct within us. If we truly seek the power of the Resurrection in our lives, then we must disregard any idea we might have of self-sufficiency or worldly hopes that hide from our eyes the things of heaven and of the Spirit.

If we believe in the Resurrection, we must affirm that our security is with God and in the power of the Resurrection. Again St. Paul reminds us when writing to the Corinthians: “But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Despite our weakness and despite the unjust circumstances imposed upon us, the power of God can free us if we come to understand the logic of the Spirit in us and if we behave accordingly.

On the first Good Friday, the disciples of Jesus doubtlessly felt shattered. However, gradually their faith was restored as they became conscious of their Risen Lord. Their own personal darkness of fear and uncertainty was suddenly illuminated by the light of Jesus’ resurrection.

So, as we celebrate the Resurrection we must be more diligent in searching for the light and in using it to build a better tomorrow for all of us, Palestinians or Israelis, Muslims, Jews, Christians and Druzes. We search for the light that comes from God, illuminates all creation, guides every true believer in his search to find God’s freedom for all, together with his peace and justice.

As we greet our sisters and brothers across the world, we wish them the joy of Easter and the power of the Risen Lord in their daily lives. While conscious of the care and concern shown by many of you, we again ask for your particular prayers for this land, that God will guide all its governors and show them the path of justice and equality among all.

Pray for the newly formed Unity Government of the Palestinians together with the Israeli Government and the Arab Initiative, to work to remove fear and all oppression, the walls, the barriers and the prisons, so that hearts become full of trust and all can enjoy the same freedom and the same dignity.

Then we would ask that you make a particular effort to encourage your particular nation to stop the embargo imposed upon us and to restore its aid to the Palestinians. Many vital areas of community are in a desperate plight as a result of the withholding of this aid, not least [among them, areas of] justice, economy, medicine and education, etc.

As all Christians across the world celebrate Easter together we wish everyone, at home and abroad, that joy which our Blessed Lord’s resurrection brings. We ask God to bestow upon all the joy and the power of the resurrection so that the words of Jesus become real as he said: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!
May you experience a happy and holy Easter!

Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem

Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem
Patriarch Michel Sabbah, R.C. Latin
Patriarch Torkom I Manooghian, Armenian Orthodox

Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, Custos of the Holy Land
Archbishop Anba Abraham, Coptic Orthodox
Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad, Syrian-Orthodox
Archbishop Abouna Mattias, Ethiopian Orthodox

Archbishop Paul Sayyah, Maronite
Bishop Suheil Dawani, Anglican
Bishop Munib Younan, Lutheran

Bishop Pierre Malki, Syrian-Catholic
Archbishop Georges Michel Bakar, Greek Catholic
Father Rafael Minassian, Armenian Catholic