Pope in Palestine: “I offer my home in the Vatican" for a prayer meeting between the presidents of Israel and Palestine
Bethlehem (AsiaNews ) - "I offer my home in the Vatican" for a meeting of prayer for peace between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres . This was the invitation extended by Pope Francis at the end of the Mass celebrated in Bethlehem, Palestine . The unexpected invitation came following a moment of silent prayer and reflection in front of the wall (see photo) which physically indicates the deep division , material and spiritual , which divides two peoples which the Vatican has always wanted to become peaceful neighbors in two States.
"In this place - the Pope's words - where he was born Prince of Peace, I wish to extend an invitation to you, Mr President , Mahmoud Abbas , and to the President Shimon Peres, to raise together with me an intense prayer asking God for the gift of peace. I offer my home in the Vatican to host this meeting of prayer".
"Everyone - he added - wants peace, many people build it every day with small gestures , many suffer patiently and bear the fatigue of many attempts to build it. And everyone - especially those who are at the service of their people - have a duty to be the instruments and builders of peace , above all in prayer ." "Building peace is hard , but living without peace is a torment. All men and women of this earth and of the whole world are asking us to bring before God their ardent desire for peace".
The invitation
of Pope Francis to pray for peace came after his encounter with
the Palestinian authorities whom he had urged to find the "courage for peace "
and , yesterday
, in Jordan where he had urged a commitment to " build peace ."
But
Bethlehem, the place where God became a child, led Pope Francis to reflect on
and question the condition of children in the world today. If
the Child born in Bethlehem was "a sign given by God", "today too, children are a sign. They are a sign of hope, a sign of
life, but also a "diagnostic" sign, a marker
indicating the health of families, society and the entire world".
The tiny Manger
Square , where Francis Pope celebrated Mass full: at least 10 thousand people .
There
is also - until the consecration of the Eucharist - Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas and there is a small group from Gaza. Behind
the altar, a large mural represents the three popes who , before Francis, have
paid tribute to the place where Jesus was born : Paul VI, John Paul II and
Benedict XVI, pictured next to the Nativity. At
the center is Mary, to whom , in the Regina Coeli , " We entrust the
future of our human family to Mary Most Holy, that new horizons may open in our
world, with the promise of fraternity, solidarity and peace". At
the end of the square stands a minaret from which, regardless of the mass, the
cry of the muezzin is raised.
Children,
in the Pope's words are "the sign " of the state of health of the
family and society. Because,
as then, "to us, the men and women of the twenty-first century, God also says: "This
will be a sign for you", look to the child...".
"The Child of Bethlehem is frail, like all newborn children. He cannot speak and yet he is the Word made flesh who came to transform the hearts and lives of all men and women. This Child, like every other child, is vulnerable; he needs to be accepted and protected. Today too, children need to be welcomed and defended, from the moment of their conception.
Sadly, in this world of ours, with all its highly developed technology, great numbers of children continue to live in inhuman situations, on the fringes of society, in the peripheries of great cities and in the countryside. All too many children continue to be exploited, maltreated, enslaved, prey to violence and illicit trafficking. Still too many children live in exile, as refugees, at times lost at sea, particularly in the waters of the Mediterranean. Today, in acknowledging this, we feel shame before God, before God who became a child.
And we have to ask ourselves: Who are we, as we stand before the Child Jesus? Who are we, standing as we stand before today's children? Are we like Mary and Joseph, who welcomed Jesus and care for him with the love of a father and a mother? Or are we like Herod, who wanted to eliminate him? Are we like the shepherds, who went in haste to kneel before him in worship and offer him their humble gifts? Or are we indifferent? Are we perhaps people who use fine and pious words, yet exploit pictures of poor children in order to make money? Are we ready to be there for children, to "waste time" with them? Are we ready to listen to them, to care for them, to pray for them and with them? Or do we ignore them because we are too caught up in our own affairs?
"This will be a sign for you: you will find a child...". Perhaps that little boy or girl is crying. He is crying because he is hungry, because she is cold, because he or she wants to be picked up and held in our arms... Today too, children are crying, they are crying a lot, and their crying challenges us. In a world which daily discards tons of food and medicine there are children, hungry and suffering from easily curable diseases, who cry out in vain. In an age which insists on the protection of minors, there is a flourishing trade in weapons which end up in the hands of child-soldiers, there is a ready market for goods produced by the slave labor of small children. Their cry is stifled: they must fight, they must work, they cannot cry! But their mothers cry for them, as modern-day Rachels: they weep for their children, and they refuse to be consoled (cf. Mt 2:18).
"This will be a sign for you". The Child Jesus, born in Bethlehem, every child who is born and grows up in every part of our world, is a diagnostic sign indicating the state of health of our families, our communities, our nation. Such a frank and honest diagnosis can lead us to a new kind of lifestyle where our relationships are no longer marked by conflict, oppression and consumerism, but fraternity, forgiveness and reconciliation, solidarity and love".
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