From a reader….

Dear friends,

As most of you I’m sure know, recently there have been several fatal attacks on Christians in Iraq. While they have lived with violence for years, the most recent incidents include murdering many while they were in church to pray. These acts were not random but deliberate – they were killed because they professed faith in Jesus.

This demands solidarity from us in whatever way we can give. While prayers are the best presence we can offer, someone in the faith movement I’m part of suggested writing letters to the Christians there to show our support, and to offer hope. (I’ve included her suggestion in her words below)
I know that for me, in times of difficulty, nothing has meant more than someone telling me that my presence was significant, and that even if my life felt meaningless, that the truth was the opposite. I encourage you to write and perhaps also get your churches to write. I’ve attached the copy of the letter I wrote, but of course, write from your own experience.
The nuncio His Beatitude Emmanuel Delli, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Baghdad at the UN has offered his diplomatic pouch (direct mail) to reach the Nunciature in Iraq. He proposed to have all letters and messages sent to him by Tuesday night in a package and he will send the package to the Nunciature in Iraq on Wednesday morning. (His pouch leaves every Wednesday at noon.) In addition, he will send a copy to the Syrian Patriarch in Newark, New Jersey (many Catholics who were killed last Sunday belong to the Syrian rite).

If you choose to write, I suggest e-mailing the message to Olivetta Danese odanese@gmail.com in New York (she is the secretary of Communion and Liberation, the the organization that is responsible for this initiative) and she will print the message and enclose it. Be sure to indicate your full name and address.

Please pass this on.

Here is Maria Theresa’s original suggestion, shortened for length:

I kept thinking of their suffering, of their mysterious participation in the cross of Christ, and what this means for me and for the history of Iraq, the Middle East and the entire world. I thought to offer my work for them, to do it very seriously as my way to be present to them. And to pray for them, to ask the pastor of my Church to say a Mass for them, that they could be sustained in this difficult time and not feel alone in their struggle. That they could recognize Christ in these challenging circumstances.

In addition to praying for them, why don’t we all write letters to them, many, many letters as soon as possible, also from our kids, to tell them that we are with them, that even if we are far, we are One in Christ, we pray for them, and we thank them for their presence in that precious land and in our lives? We can witness to them the miracles we see in our lives, the path we are following, our certainty in the presence of Christ in any circumstance, so they could be sustained in their faith.

It is a small gesture, like a drop in the ocean, but Christ can use it to make great things, because, as He said, when 2 or 3 are united in His name, He is in their midst.

This is one of the reasons I love Communion and Liberation.