Now coming closer to the end of our Lenten journey, a time of heightened tensions in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, news comes of radical Israelis attacking Christian clergy and defacing Christian churches. The latest major incident occurred last Sunday at the Orthodox Church of Gethsemane which holds the tomb of Mary. The Eastern Church does not hold to the Roman Catholic view of the Assumption.
Two Israelis entered the church during the Sunday service, attacking Archbishop Joachim and a priest. Worshippers were able to capture the men. This is but one of a series of daily occurrences of physical and verbal attacks. Earlier in the week, shots were fired at a Catholic school by an Israeli. Mosques have also been attacked.
It seems we have a new kind of occupation in Jerusalem, egged on by statements from Israeli government officials. As Christians and Americans we must not only decry such violence but take concrete measures to make it clear that our traditional support for the government of Israel has its limits. As Jesus looked over Jerusalem, he wept. We must do more than simply weep.
Prayer for the Day
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, we cry for peace on your holy streets,
But just as in the time of Jesus, there is no peace;
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, we cry for an end to conflict among your people,
But anger boils over as your children struggle for calm.
Be with the voices of peace, O God, and help us talk with reason
So all your children can feel your Presence there.
In the name of the One who wept over Jerusalem,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
These days anti-Semitism is used as a charge to halt any criticism of Israel. People who don’t want to enter into a debate about the Israeli occupation try to silence critics with these accusations. But there is only one lesson we can take from Auschwitz: we must have the courage to call the oppression of a people by its name and not immediately take the side of an unjust state. That's why I'll keep talking, until we have a fair peace.
- Rev. Mitri Raheb, Bethlehem Center for Peace
Rise up, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed.
Why do the wicked renounce God and say in their hearts,
“You will not call us to account”?
But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands.
The helpless commit themselves to you, you have been the helper of the orphan.
Psalm 10: 12-14