Opinion | The Promise of Holy Week: Hope for a World in Sore Need

This excerpt from the February Pastoral Letter on Lent by the Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem, Rev. Hossam Naum, could be written today. The film captures the unmitigated suffering and violence that befalls people living in a small region of the Middle East considered sacred by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox believers around the world.

Here we share their journey through this Christian Holy Week.

Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, was celebrated by believers on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, as it had been a few days earlier. They gathered for prayer and a wake. Just like here in America. There was a memory of suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, a memory of the cross carried on Golgotha, a memory of nails driven into the wrists and feet, a memory of sacrifice, death, and a triumphant resurrection on the third day.

Everything that has ever happened or will happen will happen during this Holy Week.

But in these days of spiritual discernment, destruction and destruction in Gaza continues. Nearly 2 million Palestinians remain displaced, sick and hungry. They watch their children take their last breath. Because on October 7, some 3,000 marauders invaded Israel under the flag of Hamas, massacred about 1,200 people, raped and defiled women, drove about 250 hostages back to Gaza, and brought humanity back to This is because he brought them back to Gaza as a shield. It’s natural revenge.

This is a Holy Week when attention is diverted to the suffering, injustice, and destruction in Gaza and the West Bank, miles away from the sufferings of Calvary. Holy Week, when we witness the opposite of what the Bible teaches, should be a time to understand the beauty of the Resurrection. Instead, in the bloodfest of Israel and Gaza, we witness the endurance of injustice, the victory of war over peace, and death over life.

Additionally, during this Holy Week, U.S. government employees and family members According to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, “access to Jerusalem’s Old City is temporarily restricted on Fridays during Ramadan (from midnight Friday to midnight Saturday),” except in limited circumstances. Private travel to the West Bank is not permitted.

In his pastoral letters, Naum wrote about a world enslaved by selfishness and deep-rooted hostility and the need to “strive toward justice based on God’s grace and righteousness.”

This is not the case in the secular world, where governments are all about power. Grace and reconciliation not so much.

So this week’s discussion at the UN Security Council was all about a “durable and sustainable ceasefire,” the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” and gaining “humanitarian access.” [to Gaza] …to address medical and other humanitarian needs. ” 14 countries said “yes” and no country said “no”. The US rejected the vote and Israel created an uproar.

That’s always the case. Or so it seems.

Wars between Israelis and neighboring Arab states preceded the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Who are the occupiers? Which country is occupied?

poison. hatred. Is it because they are Jewish? Arab? Is it all about land? Or something else?

It will be disastrous, but much of Hamas will eventually be defeated. But what is in the hearts of many of Israel’s neighbors is not a desire to destroy Israel.

Religious bigotry and hatred are woven into the fabric of this small region of the Middle East.

Is there still room for justice, morality and peace? Do you have a desire to uplift the oppressed, regardless of which side of the border they live on? How to reconcile and work for the common good?

This Holy Week is a time for believers to see and know, as some of us prayed on Good Friday, that “that which has been cast down is being raised up, and that which is old is being made new.” Thing. A week built on hope.