Monday, May 26, 2014
FRANCIS OF ROME AND BARTHOLOMEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE, PETER AND ANDREW, AT THE EMPTY TOMB OF JESUS CHRIST "We need to believe that, just as the stone before the tomb was cast aside, so too every obstacle to our full communion will also be removed. This will be a grace of resurrection, of which we can have a foretaste even today." - Francis of Rome to Bartholomew of Constantinople
Sunday, May 25, 2014
The Palestinian "Wailing Wall" and Some Not-So-Preposterous Prayer For A Repeat Spectacle of Collapsing Walls
A revered, age-old ritual every pilgrim to the Holy Land performs is to pay a visit and pray before the "Kotel" (a.k.a. The Western or The Wailing Wall). The "Kotel" is all that remains of the second and last temple of Jerusalem after its destruction in 70AD. It is believed that praying before the wall and touching its boulders is the closest one could get to touching and connecting with the Lord.
All these are very eloquently and quite radically expressed in the Holy Father Pope Francis' surprising move to stop right in front of the infamous concrete partitions Israel has installed around Palestine which are reminiscent of the Berlin Wall during the pre-unification era of Germany. This he did before proceeding to the Manger Square where he is scheduled to celebrate Sunday Eucharist.
The sight of the Roman Pontiff, bowed in prayer against the Palestinian Wall, declares therefore that God is just as present in the suffering of his Palestinian children and all efforts at peace-building and search for justice, as His presence is said to permeate the boulders of the Kotel.
Midway in this pilgrimage, the Palestinian and Israeli presidents have already agreed to meet up with the pope at the Vatican in June of this year.
The phenomenon of crumbling walls is not exactly new for the "people of the bible."
May we witness once more the spectacle of collapsing walls much like that of Jericho of old.
Ut Unum Sint!
All these are very eloquently and quite radically expressed in the Holy Father Pope Francis' surprising move to stop right in front of the infamous concrete partitions Israel has installed around Palestine which are reminiscent of the Berlin Wall during the pre-unification era of Germany. This he did before proceeding to the Manger Square where he is scheduled to celebrate Sunday Eucharist.
The sight of the Roman Pontiff, bowed in prayer against the Palestinian Wall, declares therefore that God is just as present in the suffering of his Palestinian children and all efforts at peace-building and search for justice, as His presence is said to permeate the boulders of the Kotel.
Midway in this pilgrimage, the Palestinian and Israeli presidents have already agreed to meet up with the pope at the Vatican in June of this year.
The phenomenon of crumbling walls is not exactly new for the "people of the bible."
May we witness once more the spectacle of collapsing walls much like that of Jericho of old.
Ut Unum Sint!
Friday, May 16, 2014
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