|
EYEWITNESS FROM JERUSALEM |
||
|
|
|
|
|
A WEEKLY JOURNAL WRITTEN BY SISTER MARY |
||
|
EYEWITNESS FROM JERUSALEM |
||
|
|
|
|
|
A WEEKLY JOURNAL WRITTEN BY SISTER MARY |
||
|
Jerusalem Journal # 27 July 28, 2001 |
|
There is a Christian hymn which has as its refrain:
"The rocks would shout if we kept still
and fail to preach the word
It is the Lord's insistent will
that truth be told and heard."
It is in this frame of mind that news has come to you weekly about what is
happening, especially to the Christians of this land, who have endured so
much under the violence of the Israeli Occupation Forces. As I
have traveled through the Israeli controlled checkpoints from village
to village, I have hardly been able to comprehend the scope of the evil that
intrudes on the lives of the Palestinians. If "truth be told" it is
evil: assassinations (or liquidations, as they are called by the Israeli
government), confiscation of land, destruction of Palestinian agricultural
groves, orchards and fields, or the preventing of the Palestinians from
harvesting their crops, the closing off of their villages by blocking all roads
in and out, making major roads " for Jewish drivers only", settlers
destroying homes and terrifying families.... The list goes on and on.
This past Sunday I went to the lovely Christian village of Aboud, where all the
above is happening. In spite of the devastation of their olive groves, the
confiscation of their lands and the building of settlements on them, or the
complete isolation of the village - due to the Israeli blockage of roads in and
out, despite being shot at, there is such an inner strength and dignity about
these Christians, as they undergo the Israeli Occupation of their land.
It is a strength and dignity that reminds me of the Christian martyrs, both in
the early Church and through-out the ages. Perhaps it was the ancient shrine to
St. Barbara, high on the hilltop above the village, the caused the connection in
my mind. Yes, over the centuries, the Palestinian Christrians have know
persecution in this land, many have fled for their lives, but some
have stayed to keep the faith alive here in the land of the birth,
ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Without them the churches would be
just museums for the pilgrims from other countries to visit; there would be no
living indigenous community of Christians in the land. Even so, they are
not allowed by the Israeli Occupation Forces to travel to the major churches
of our faith: the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, the Basilica of the
Annunciation, the church of the Nativity, the church of the Dormition. Yet
they have celebrated the feasts in their village churches, lived the very
truths that Jesus spoke about here in this land. When they speak, I hear
the sorrow of their souls, but they do not harbor hatred in their hearts. Rather
they personify a courage and forgiveness toward their oppressors,
as well as those who provide Israel with the weapons and money to confiscate
their land and build villas for settlers on it. The Palestinian Christians
continue to baptise their sons and daughters, pass on to them by faith and
actions what it means to be a Christian in this land; and they continue to allow
their children to enter the priesthood or religious life. It is an honor
to be part of their faith community as they struggle to make ends meet and hold
on to an inner peace in the most trying of circumstances.
We Catholics all over the world owe the Palestinian Christians of the Holy Land
a great deal of gratitude. Please keep that in mind as you read or see the
news coming out of this land. The situation here has deteriorated to such
an extent that now even the mainstream media are beginning to write about
certain events which for the past ten months only got the attention of the
church, of human rights and peace groups.
"It is the Lord's insistent will
that truth be told and heard." |
