EDITORIAL: ‘Brothers and sisters, in this land that continues to wait for peace, we are called to be witnesses to a love that never gives up.’
This Holy Week began on an intense but blessedly brief note of controversy, when Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Franciscan Father Francesco Ielpo, Custos of the Holy Land, were denied entry to the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass there.
Initial concerns that this denial of entry constituted an intentional violation of local Christians’ religious freedom were alleviated on Monday, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervened to secure a mutually acceptable temporary agreement guaranteeing the two Holy Land Church leaders access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre throughout Holy Week and Easter while the war with Iran continues to rage.
Even though the matter was resolved, what occurred in Jerusalem should remind us of the dangers, obstacles and persecution that many believers in numerous parts of the world face this week as they try to follow Our Lord’s Passion and celebrate his resurrection at Easter.
In Nicaragua, for example, the Ortega regime’s continued repression of the Church has forced Catholics underground on the most solemn week of the year. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, any public gathering of Christians can become a target of a terrorist attack. And, sadly again this year, the Holy Land is an active war zone.
In a Palm Sunday meditation, the Latin Patriarchate offered some profound words of spiritual insight from which the global Church can draw inspiration.
“Today Jesus weeps once more over Jerusalem,” the Patriarchate’s meditation says. “He weeps over this city, which remains a sign of both hope and sorrow, of grace and suffering. He weeps over this Holy Land, still unable to recognize the gift of peace. He weeps for all the victims of a war that seems without end: for divided families, for shattered hopes. But the tears of Jesus are never fruitless. They open our eyes, challenge us, and reveal the truth.”
U.S. Catholics can ponder these words to good effect, as we petition God for peace in the Middle East and for the protection of American military personnel who stand in the line of fire in the war against Iran. And these prayers can be joined intimately with the sacrificial sufferings of Jesus, through our wholehearted participation in the upcoming Triduum that begins on the evening of Holy Thursday and continues through Good Friday and Holy Saturday.
“Jerusalem, the Holy Land, is not merely a geographical place; it is the beating heart of our faith,” the Palm Sunday meditation continues. “Every stone here speaks of salvation; every hill bears the memory of the God who chose to draw near. To live faith in this land means to accept the contradiction it embodies: the place of resurrection is also the place of Calvary; the place of God’s embrace is still scarred by too much hatred.
“Yet from this holy place we learn to look upon the city with the eyes of Christ. We learn to mourn with him, but also to hope with him. For the same Jerusalem that rejected the Prince of Peace has also witnessed the empty tomb. War will not erase the resurrection. Grief will not extinguish hope.
“Today we do not carry palms in procession. Instead, we carry the cross — a cross that is not a useless burden, but the source of true peace. We do not wave olive branches; rather, we choose to become builders of reconciliation, through every gesture, every word, every relationship.
“Brothers and sisters, in this land that continues to wait for peace, we are called to be witnesses to a love that never gives up. May our journey of faith, even today, be a journey of hope. And may our lives, even amid the harshness of the present moment, bring the love of Christ and his light wherever darkness seems to prevail.”
Amen.
