The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem has said that the only way to end the cycle of violence and revenge fuelling the conflict in the Holy Land is to keep reconciliation and forgiveness alive in our hearts.
His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa recorded a video message at the start of Lent for Friends of the Holy Land, the UK charity that supports the Christian communities and families in the West Bank, Gaza, Israel and Jordan.
“Even in this terrible situation, it’s possible to talk about hope and reconciliation,” he said. “Reconciliation needs time, but it’s very important to keep alive in our hearts the desire for reconciliation and forgiveness. Without reconciliation and forgiveness, things will not change. We will remain in the cycle of violence and revenge that we’re seeing during these terrible days.”
Cardinal Pizzaballa believes that to cancel out the noise of hatred, violence, weapons and mistrust, we need to give space in our hearts to listen to the transformational word of God:
“We need to be aware that we are human beings created in the image of God. During Lent, for the temptation, Jesus was in the desert. The Desert of Judea is wonderful – especially now. It’s full of colours because after the rain, after the water, there are a lot of colours. It’s a wonderful place. But the desert is also a place where we are free from all the noise of the world. This is what we need today. But we are not living very well in this desert here in Holy Land. We have a lot of noise – the noise of weapons and the noise of the language of hatred. We need to keep away from all this noise as this is the only way we can hear the voice of God calling us to look to the other as our brothers and sisters.”
Peace be with you. I greet the Friends of the Holy Land and all who are praying for us, united with us in Lent during this period of violence, hatred, fear and mistrust.
We are living one of the most terrible periods of the last decades, and it seems to us that there’s no way out. This is one of the temptations of the devil – to think that it’s not possible to get out of this situation, and that the only words we can use are words of hatred, mistrust and fear. That’s what the devil wants from us now. But it’s not true. Even in this terrible situation, it’s possible to talk about hope and reconciliation. Reconciliation needs time, but it’s very important to keep alive in our hearts the desire for reconciliation and forgiveness. Without reconciliation and forgiveness, things will not change. We will remain in the cycle of violence and revenge that we’re seeing during these terrible days.
At the beginning of this period of Lent, as Catholics we read in the Gospel the Temptation of Jesus. The temptation is always the same, from the Garden of Eden until nowadays – the temptation of power and to have that power without God. These are always these temptations and we are seeing this clearly here in the Holy Land in these terrible days – the temptation of power to decide the future of this land, of the peoples, based on a human vision without God, without thinking according to the will of God. We are all human beings, we are all created in the image of God. This should be the starting point of our reflection – political as well as religious. If the ‘other’ is created in the image of God, the ‘other’ should be respected. I can disagree with him, I can be in opposition, but he remains a human being. So in our language, in our attitude, we need to always be respectful of others. This is what we need to understand at this moment, where polarisation and division are so deep, and where the dehumanisation of the ‘other’ is something that we experience almost every day in the language we hear.
In this period of Lent, we need to first of all be aware that we are human beings created in the image of God – sons and daughters of God. During Lent, for the temptation, Jesus was in the desert. The Desert of Judea is wonderful – especially now. It’s full of colours because after the rain, after the water, there are a lot of colours. It’s a wonderful place. But the desert is also a place where we are free from all the noise of the world. This is what we need today. But we are not living very well in this desert here in Holy Land. We have a lot of noise – the noise of weapons and the noise of the language of hatred. We need to keep away from all this noise as this is the only way we can hear the voice of God calling us to look to the other as our brothers and sisters.
So my prayer for you is that wherever you are, wherever we are, to go to the desert to see the beautiful colours of the Judaean Desert of today. But also to be far from all the noise of hatred, violence, weapons and mistrust. And to give space in your heart to listen to the word of God because this word is the only word capable of changing our hearts and the hearts of the whole of humanity.
A blessed Lent to all of you.
