While people are rightfully interested in what Pope Benedict has to say to us during this Christmas season, we must not forget that other important church leaders have also provided compelling Christmas messages. One such homily comes from the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah. His Christmas message can be found, in full, on Zenit. It is a rather moving piece, at once reminding us the kind of difficulties Christians face in the Holy Land, while at the same time telling us that peace can still be achieved in the Middle East. The hope for peace must never be lost!
He calls upon the Christians who live in the Holy Land to stay, despite whatever difficulties they face. They must remain courageous in the midst of their strife, because they must continue to work for peace in the Holy Land even if no one else does. “Christians should not be afraid and should not run away from difficulties. Being Christian means sharing the concerns of all, building peace with everyone else, and accepting the sacrifices this implies, prison, possibly life, or the difficulties of daily life, of occupation, of the wall of separation, and of the lack of freedom of movement. All of this is our common fate, and all of us together, by our sacrifices, we must build peace for everyone.”
Religious people, even those following non-Christian religions, have a major role in peacebuilding, especially in the Middle East. Religious leaders have a responsibility to work together and show the world that they can cooperate and help bring peace and religious liberty to the land. Violence runs contrary to the teachings of all major religious traditions, and extremists who commit violence in the name of religion really are working for their own desires and ends, and not for God. “Violence cannot claim to be part of any religion. Extremism, in all religions, is the desire to appropriate to oneself, to exclude, and to subject others, not to a faith in God, but to human behaviors that are hostile to the others. Religious leaders have a role to play in the education of believers, by confirming them in the ways of justice, of what is right, and of forgiveness, all the while demanding their rights, and collaborating with all men and women of good will.”
However, not all people are in the same situation, and we must recognize the fact that we do not all have the same opportunities to work for peace. Those who have greater authority, power and means are the ones who hold the greatest responsibility in peacebuilding. “Each one knows what it takes to make peace. Each one knows what is due to each of the two peoples who inhabit this land. It is not up to the weakest to submit themselves and continue to live a life of deprivation; it is up to the strongest, to those who have everything in hand, to detach themselves and to give to the weakest what is due to them. All of the difficult questions can be resolved if all those involved are truly determined to make peace. ”
Are we really interested in peace? Christians should be: Christ is the king of peace. With hope in our hearts, we must go out and fight, not against flesh and blood, but against the structures of sin which work against peace. We overcome evil not by giving in to the way of violence, but by the way of love. If we lose hope and give in to violence, how can we expect the rest of the world to come to peace? For it is we who have become the salt of the earth.
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