The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem in the Holy Land, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, encouraged the Christian community with whom he celebrated the Christmas Eve Mass in Bethlehem (Palestine), to look to the future with hope and not surrender to hatred or violence.
At the beginning of the Eucharist, the Patriarch greeted the representatives of Jordan and Palestine, present at the celebration; and thanked those who have called from various parts of the world to express their closeness to the Christian community in Gaza; and welcomed the presence of the elected auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, who will serve in Jordan, Bishop Iyad Twal, appointed by Pope Francis on December 17.
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In your homily in the Church of the Nativity – Saint Catherine, referring to the war between Israel and Hamas but without explicitly mentioning it, the cardinal shared that in recent weeks he has “asked himself more than once in these last weeks how to live, how to believe in God. Sometimes we ask ourselves, God, where are you? I think it’s very human. The Gospel helps us relieve ourselves of this weight.”
“The figure of the shepherds helps us, they help me. That night (which is tonight) they listened to the angels and believed them,” he continued.
Also present are Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary, who do not live Christmas in circumstances chosen by them, but rather live in the midst of “an imperialist will to power that then dominated the world and thought it decided its social and economic destiny. This Holy Land of ours was then subject to the games of international interests no less than today.”
The cardinal then highlighted that the Holy Custos and the Mother of God live Christmas not with resignation but with faith in God, who becomes man and truly conquers “healing the violent heart of man at its roots, with love willing to serve and die.” , thus generating new life”
“The Child of Bethlehem takes us by the hand tonight and leads us with Him into history, accompanies us to take it on until the end and to travel through it with the step of trust and hope in Him.”
Pilgrims of hope
As Pope Francis said at the start of the Jubilee last night in the Vatican, the cardinal continued, “we are pilgrims of hope,” facing war and the powerful, not with revenge but with forgiveness. “We can be pilgrims of hope even in the streets and among the destroyed houses of our land, because the Lamb walks with us towards the throne of the heavenly Jerusalem.”
“This is my wish for this Holy Land of ours, which needs a true jubilee more than anyone. We need a new beginning in all areas of life, a new vision, the value of look to the future with hope, without surrendering to the language of violence and hatredwhich instead close all possibilities for the future.”
Cardinal Pizzaballa expressed his hope that “debts will be forgiven, prisoners will be released, property will be returned, and serious and credible paths of reconciliation and forgiveness will be initiated with courage and determination, without which there will never be true peace”.
Solidarity with Gaza and Bethlehem
“I want to thank our brothers in Gaza, with whom I was able to meet again recently. I renew to you, dear brothers and sisters, our prayers, our closeness and our solidarity. “You are not alone,” the Patriarch assured.
“You truly are a visible sign of hope in the midst of the disaster of total destruction that surrounds you. But you are not destroyed, you remain united, firm in hope. Thank you for your wonderful testimony of strength and peace!” he highlighted.
The cardinal also expressed his solidarity with “the brothers and sisters of Bethlehem. This year has also been a sad Christmas for you, marked by insecurity, poverty and violence. The most important day for you is lived once again under the sign of fatigue and waiting for better days.”
“I also say to you: take heart! We must not lose hope. Let us renew our trust in God. He never leaves us alone. And here, in Bethlehem, we celebrate God-with-us and the place where he made himself known. Cheer up. “We want the same announcement of peace from two thousand years ago to continue to resonate throughout the world from here!”
Walter Sánchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.