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NDofJerusalem

The Christian Community: The Ark in a Sea of Violence

By Kathleen Nichols (Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi)


November 4th, 2024 - Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center


The Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center participated in the 5th International Rosary for Peace in the Holy Land on October 25th, the Feast of Our Lady of Palestine, patron of the Holy Land. Faithful from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Israel united their voices in prayer for an end to the conflict in the Middle East, meditating on the sorrowful mysteries of Christ’s life, linked through live-streamed video. The most powerful and hope-filled moment for me was seeing the parishioners of Gaza, gathered together with Fr. Gabriel Romanelli in the only Catholic Church located there. 

Christians in Gaza gathered for prayer

 

Holy Family Church in Gaza city has been a refuge for Christians in the midst of immense anguish and destruction, where Catholics, Greek Orthodox and others have taken refuge, living seemingly endless days of hardship in an area of near total desolation. When the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa visited the community, he experienced the adversity first-hand but was most struck by a lack of any expression of resentment, hatred or anger by the Christian community at the Church, especially when humanly speaking, they have reason to be upset and frustrated. One young man who received the sacrament of Confirmation during the Cardinal’s visit commented about the October 7th attack which Hamas called “Operation Al Aqsa Flood”. He told Pizzaballa, “If that is the flood, we, the Christian community of Gaza, are the Ark, Noah’s Ark.” The Patriarch witnessed this community of Christians as, “The Ark suspended on the waves of a sea of violence, with its bow aimed at the rainbow of peace.”

 

I invite everyone to continue praying for an end to the war. You can pray together with the Christian communities of the Middle East using this link to access the video of the International Rosary for peace which is still up on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCoTkaBCg8s

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