Prayer: Happy Easter

Pope Francis writes:  “Holy Week challenges us to step outside ourselves so as to attend to the needs of others: those who long for a sympathetic ear, those in need of comfort or help. We should not simply remain in our own secure world, but we should go out, with Christ, in search of...”

If we pray on these words and let them sink into our hearts, we will move away from our ideologies to see the pain and the suffering around us. We call to mind the suffering in many places in the world: 

• Israel and Gaza/Palestine
• Syria, Lebanon, Myanmar
• Russia and Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan
• Sub-Saharan Africa: Cameroon, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan.
• Challenges in the Americas: The United States, Venezuela and Guyana, Peru and Nicaragua

• Environmental crisis and Climate Change
• Migration and the Mediterranean crisis
• Education, Human Rights, Dialogue

Easter is not just a feel-good day for Christians. It is a solemn one in which we take responsibility of bringing reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace to the world because we believe in the power of the Resurrection. The Resurrection is a gift and a responsibility.

We pray for the people of Gaza who bear an enormous burden. We cannot celebrate Easter without remembering the hardships of our brothers and sisters in Palestine. We cannot condone the atrocities of Hamas on the October 7th attack, and we must protect our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel and abroad. 

Christians are a pro-life people. We value the sanctity and dignity of each life. We must have a cease-fire and build peaceful relations between the two-semitic nations, and the many cultural and religiously diverse people who inhabit Israel-Palestine. War is never the solution. War is never an answer. 

Christians/Catholics are against war and for diplomatic conversations. We must build a world where people who are different from one another encounter one another in trust and discovery. 

• We pray for safety for all Jews. We pray for their flourishing and protection in Israel and across the globe.
• We pray for the people of Gaza and Palestine, for an end to the humanitarian crisis. We pray for their safety and their ability to flourish and to build a nation in peace and prosperity. 
• We pray for Christians who live in Israel, Palestine, and Gaza.

We are a "both-and" people and we can pray for both. They are compatible prayers. We can have sympathy for all peoples beset by violence and hatred as we work together to construct a world of peace, compassion, and understanding. 

Let's call for a cease-fire and give diplomacy a chance.

Update on Gaza Numbers (by wikipedia as of March 30, 2024)

 

Prior to the War: killed between Jan. 1, 2008 and Sep. 19, 2023

            6,407 Palestinians, most were civilians

            308 Israelis

Strength of Military:

            Israel: 529,500

            Hamas: 25,000 to 40,000

 

Israeli offensive in Gaza killing 

Inside Israel:    1,609 militants killed; 200 militants captured

Inside Gaza                  

32,632 people. (8,000 missing; 1,000 militants).  

(24,655 are vulnerable people listed below)

                        9,100 are women

                        13,790+ are children

                        1,049 elderly

                        364 paramedics and medical staff

                        152 UN Staff

                        200 Journalists

            75,092 Gazans wounded by bombings

48,000 Gazans ill, without clean water, fears of dysentery    

1.9 million displaced; 2.1 million total Gazans