A life that appears to have been a failure!

His entire life was in giving. His healings meant to cure people of afflictions. Although he was accused by teachers of the Law that he healed by the power of Satan, his healing drove out demons and brought peace to the healed ones. His teaching was summed up in loving the enemy and praying for the offenders. Yet his life ended on a cross where he died between two thieves. His own disciples left him except for his mother and a few followers. All the crowds who shouted for him as their king cursed him a few days later on the way to the cross. And despite this he forgave them all. If he did not claim to be the Son of God he probably would not have been condemned. How could he be silent when he was to witness to the truth? Suffering to death on a cross was the most horrible way to die invented by the Romans. A life that appears to have been a failure in all human measures. Nevertheless his crown was a glorious Resurrection and Ascension that over centuries brought kings and multitudes to him. Now we know that the Crucified One who failed in the eyes of Man is the One who made his coward disciples conquer the world in his name. Glory be to Jesus the King!

Today's Question: Peace between Palestinians and Israelis

For both Israelis and Palestinians to find a just solution, they must start with good will towards each other. That was Sadat's achievement. He went all the way to the Knesset in Israel in spite of huge opposition in the Arab world. Egypt was expelled from The Arab League. Yet he persevered. Menahem Begin, while considered criminal by many non-Jews, took the opportunity to negotiate an agreement with Egypt. It takes two to tango... Today, thirty one years after the Egyptian-Israeli Agreement, the hawks of Israel and Palestine must first stop violence against each other. This takes courage as there are other players in the Middle East who would benefit from extending the conflict's atmosphere. Fundamentalists on both sides must learn to forgive the past and attempt a reconciliation. This is not easy at all especially for people who were driven out of their land and still suffer in camps. Peace has a cost. Life has a cost. But hope is the only way to go. It may take years to achieve a permanent solution. Perseverance in the hope that those estranged cousins will be able to recognize each other's right to life is the beginning of peace.

Jospeh Jules Zerey on Faith

It is my prayer that we as a Christian community whether in Toronto or in Jerusalem be converted and live our faith according to the Lord's commandment of love. He loved his disciples who betrayed him. He forgave his enemies who crucified him. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your heavenly Father" (Matthew 5: 44-45). It is only through love that we can be his disciples. The place where I live is not far from the mountain on which Christ shone in transfiguration and gave us a foretaste of his glory. This transfiguration awoke the three apostles and after his Resurrection they became a powerful testimony to his awakening from the dead. Must we not today awaken again from our slumber? We need to to have a room for God in our everyday life - contemplate his beauty in his creatures, and reflect on his love that was fulfilled in the incarnation, death and resurrection of his only begotten Son. In Jerusalem, our patriarchate offers a home to the visitors who come to pray and seek the Lord. We have a few schools to teach children according to the faith, but half of my students do not have the money to pay their tuition fees. We do not press them. They receive education so that they be good Christians. We have a couple of houses run by the Sisters of Charity and the Little Sisters of Jesus. Their vocation is to serve the poor of the poor, the dying and foresaken children, and the old and broken hearts. None of these services discriminates between Muslims, Christians and Jews, for all humans are children of God. In the Catholic Church of the Holy Land, a conference of bishops maintains monthly dialogue between the episcopate of each of the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Roman Catholic Patrairchate. We coordinate the efforts together to build a Catholic presence that serves the rest of people. We also maintain a convergent dialogue with our brothers in Christ: Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant. We pray together for the day when we all become one in Christ. In the interfaith dialogue with our Muslim and Jewish brothers, we are in good contact with their authorities. We respect our elder brothers the Jews from whom Christ, his mother and the Apostles came. With our Muslim brothers, we share much such as belief in one God, prayer, and fasting. For example, a day before my travel, I received an invitation for a Ramadan Breakfast with the Palestinian Authority to which I had to delegate a representative from the Melkite Catholic Church. In spite of all the sufferings we work with all parties in the conflict of Palestine to establish peace in hearts and to break the violent reactions between parties who seek to overthrow each other. Everything starts in the heart. This is why peace is possible only when people accept to live together and forgive each other. What can you in Toronto do to help us in Palestine? I am not asking for money but only for your own hearts to be in solidarity with us and the millions who seek peace. Our tradition is full of reminders to grow in wisdom and spiritual life. This raises questions to you: Answer in your hearts 1) When was the last time you fasted? 2) When was the last time you prayed from your heart? 3) When was the last time you received the sacrament of confession (reconciliation)? Remember that your children will imitate you as you imitated your parents. Even if it is hard economically for many, we should not run after the mighty dollar for it is written "You worship either God or money but not both." I will continue to be a voice for peace and love - the love that Christ alone brings to you. This is the faith of the Church that I meant to tell you about. Archbishop Joseph Jules Zerey is Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem for the Greek Melkite Catholic Church. The above was paraphrased from a lecture he gave at Jesus the King Church on Friday August 27, 2010

A Mosque Near Ground Zero!

Many questions are raised these days about the plans of building an Islamic cultural centre including a mosque near "Ground Zero." Ground Zero is the name of the New York place where the radical Islamist terrorist attacks exploded the Trade Centres towers on September 11, 2001. Almost 80% of Americans polled are opposed to the building of the Islamic cultural centre on grounds that it is a reminder of a dark day in America's history when thousands were killed by a foreign violent mob. On the other hand, Imam Faisal Abdul Raouf, who is behind the Cordoba Initiative, argues together with liberal supporters that the mosque will be a symbol for tolerance of all religions by America. But let's look at the question from a deeper perspective. Most Muslims do not endorse violence. They follow the dictates of Islam, pray, fast at least during the month of Ramadan and seek the All-merciful God. The vast majority of Muslims oppose abortion. Pope John Paul II collaborated with Muslim countries to defeat the abortion agenda proposed at the U.N. Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, 1994. Bringing the above memory to the present, we could see in the current agenda of global Western thought a scapegoat represented by religion. Any religion is to be excluded from Western social norms and legal systems. Look at America, Canada and Europe. You will see Rene Girard's prophetic words of the scapegoat - Excluding religious prayer and teaching from public schools, religious symbols from public hospitals, religious opinion from the media. Moreover, religious institutions (particularly the still powerful Catholic Church) are shunned and attacked everywhere there is an opportunity. The recent fiasco about a few sex-offending priests is a sign. These are only signs of the scapegoat. Only the powerful remains and we are again in Darwinian lands. As I wrote in The Economist today I wish people understand that in this age of science we cannot separate religion from life. We will never be able to remove from the human mind the need to worship. The idea of God will be with us because it responds to our quest for eternal life. Since we are the only creatures with memory, we think and relate to past events. Violence is a big problem today. The problem with building this mosque is about security. No one, it appears to me, wants to be a target of a violent destruction initiated by fellow humans "in the name of God." In spite of the formidable progress made by science, economic and political cooperation, there is an indespensable element lacking in relationships: trust. Trust requires good will which remains a hidden mystery to-date. Even if all Muslim and non-Muslim nations declare their opposition to violence, there could still be elements or people who would take advantage of religion to proclaim their victory over the others using a distorted picture of God. From a practical view, it is better not to build the mosque in the near future as it could today explode sensitivities still fresh from 9/11 when thousands of Americans, including Muslims, were killed. The Islamic cultural centre at Ground Zero may give the impression to fundamentalist Muslims that they have won the war against America. The name itself "Cordoba" is a reminder of Islamic conquering of Spain in the Middle Ages. Christian people may interpret it as a return to Islamic invasion by other means. Then there is the fearful question: Who will fund this project. It could be the government or an organization in Iran, Lybia, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. Some of these sources fund terrorist groups. Some commentators argued that Muslims already worship near the Pentagon. However the chapel they use is also used by other people from different religions at different times.My opinion: DO NOT BUILD the Islamic Cultural Centre nor the mosque near Ground Zero. First there must be a more profound encounter of mind and spirit between peoples. Slowly a civilization of love may emerge or may not. We must pray for it to emerge. In the end, we have hope that Christ will transform many hearts and minds for he came to save people, not to condemn them.

A Man for All Seasons

A Man for All Seasons is the name of a movie that inspired many about the heroic acts of St. Thomas More. Sir Thomas More, chancellor of 16th-century England, was a humanist and intellectual married man whose commitment to the faith never affected his devotion to his family, king, and country. On the contrary his well-formed conscience allowed him to face up to the powers of his time.

In his conversation with Cardinal Woolsey, More showed the primacy of his conscience over and against the "pressures" that Woolsey, a cleric of the Church, wanted to exert on the pope in order to obtain a divorce for King Henry VIII. The king wanted a heir to the throne since his wife Queen Catherine was barren. Thomas More's response was prayer for the king. Again his defiance of civil authorities when they trample upon the dignity of human people is supremely evident in his trial instigated by Secretary Cromwell and the betrayal of More by his friend Richard Rich who lied under oath. Thomas More was executed for "treason" along with thousands who refused to bend to the king's new unlawful laws as Supreme Head of the Church in England and his unlawful second marriage.

Today, the Church (i.e., the People of God) need another Thomas More to stand for human dignity in face of the new tyrants: Capitalist corporations whose main purpose is to gain excessive profits at the expense of poor classes and poor countries, competing for the resources of the earth. Under globalization, the entire economic world is shifting to the powerful desire for swallowing the weaker economies. On the other hand, poor countries are governed by dictators who would swallow their own people.

More to the point, we see selfishness arising from insecurity in the hearts in every land (particularly after the global recession), shyless pornography over the Internet, media catering to the powerful, division among Christians, stubborn fundamentalism in many areas of the world especially in Islamic countries, and a huge carelessness for pro-life issues. The U.N. with a liberal Western mentality is pressing women all over the world to use contraceptives and otherwise perform abortion.

In spite of the above bleak information, we believe that Christ who works in the hearts has conquered the world. In time, the world will realize the truth that Thomas More defended.

What can we do?

1. Pray more in church, at home, at work, and on the way to work. Give room to God in your heart.

2. Read and learn the teachings of Christ. You will find them in the Bible and the Church Tradition as interpreted by the Church. Recall that the Church grows in its understanding of the words and realities of the deposit of faith (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 8). Form your conscience based on your search for the truth. A good conscience takes time to be formed. When you learn the truth from the Church, pass it on to your family and invite your friends to share it too.

3. Imitate the good shepherds and servants who work for Christ. Help the Church by offering services through her to the poor, the sick, and the alienated.

4. The hardest thing is to love the true love. Love is more than feelings. Love is an act of the will. It is shown in the experience of God's love who loved us first. We cannot love if we are not loved. God loves you. Return that love in love to everyone you encounter: Your family, your friends, your people, your co-workers, your managers, and the world. Love does not mean that you must agree with what people do but that you will their eternal salvation. Start with the little love that you offer when you sacrifice some time for another person. Offer your love in little things you do in an extraordinary way (the little way of St. Therese of Lisieux). The love of Christ did not stop there for he did not only love everyone, but also forgave them on the cross. He, the innocent lamb, did not will to retaliate nor revenge. Christ loved his enemies: the Samaritans he taught and healed, the Canaanite whose son he healed, and the Jewish authorities who condemned him to death.

Love is eternal - God is Love.