From death comes life

The years pass by, changing in their circumstances and events, their hopes and pains. This is a natural part of life and everywhere on earth. But this land is not like any other place on earth. In the final days of Lent and Great Lent, coinciding with Eid al-Fitr and the end of Ramadan, this land reaffirms that it is the land of heaven, the home of the pure, and the cradle of the messages. It reaffirms that the Resurrection is coming, and that it is the divine end of fasting, worship, sacrifice, and redemption. On the eve of Easter this year, we remember the following: Each feast has its city: Bethlehem for the Nativity, Nazareth for the Annunciation, Jericho for the trial, and the surrounding areas of Tiberias for teaching, miracles, and the call of the apostles. As for the suffering, death, and resurrection, they are for Jerusalem and for Jerusalem alone. Without it, everything is in vain. It is the focus and focus of the world's attention on Easter, and the center of all prayers, rituals, and activities. This year, we must distinguish between two things: the first is spirituality and message, and the second is religious celebrations and rituals.

This year's Eid comes while blood is still flowing everywhere, and the siege and oppression intensify on people in every inch of this holy land. No one can imagine the extent of the people's suffering. We live among them and for them. We see the despair and hopelessness in their hearts and eyes. We see the pain and the fading of all reasons for survival. We see the death of the body once and the death of the soul and hope a thousand times over. This is no less dangerous than killing the body. What is happening lays the foundation for a dark future filled with blind and ideological hatred. The ceremonies on Fridays and Saturdays during the forty days and the walk through the alleys of the streets of Old Jerusalem among and with the people. The Stations of the Cross, following the path of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the parish then becomes a microcosm of society. It gathers all the data and sees and studies what they live and suffer. You can only know the results of this reality. Unfortunately, the spirit of the people is extinguished, souls are sad, hope is lost, and the suffering continues at an escalating pace. This reality is also reflected in the restrictions imposed on Muslims during the month of Ramadan, where every Friday brings special rituals, ceremonies, and prayers, with Jerusalem at its heart. We have all experienced unprecedented restrictions on age groups entering, along with limited permits and many other abhorrent measures. Yet, despite all this, we raise our voices, asking: What is our suffering compared to the suffering of Jesus Christ on such days and on this land? What is the suffering of mothers compared to the suffering of our Mother, the Virgin Mary, as she watched and followed the arrest, torture, and killing of her innocent only son? What is the suffering of the disciples and the people compared to the suffering of Christ's disciples and the simple, tormented people he loved, as they saw their only hope led to the slaughter like an innocent lamb that would not open its mouth? We will preserve the spirit and message of this holiday despite all the pain and suffering, for this holiday teaches us that there is no resurrection except after death, no new covenant except after suffering and pain, and no killing of evil except through goodness, redemption, sacrifice, and patience. This is not just empty talk, but a proven testimony in history books, and Easter is the best proof: Everyone who rejoiced in torture, murder, and crucifixion, as well as everyone who conspired and called for them, was shocked by the resurrection and subsequently faltered before the emergence of new life, new hope, and a new covenant that declared the end of their era forever and irrevocably. This is the spirituality, message, and reality of Easter this year.

As for religious celebrations and rituals, I will first focus on Eid al-Fitr, where children's joy at the holiday and the holiday gifts, new clothes and toys used to fill us with spirit, hope and happiness. However, this year's Eid, on its first day, fifty-one children from Gaza wore shrouds instead of new clothes. Fifty-one child martyrs were martyred on the first day of Eid alone. Innocent children who had no guilt. We used to look forward to Eid to host the children of Gaza, Muslims and Christians, but this year's Eid has opened graves for them instead of chests. Returning to the celebrations and rituals of Easter this year, the entire world knows and stands silently in the face of the reality of its complete submission to the measures of oppression and siege: In past years, Jerusalem was crowded every Friday with the Stations of the Cross, in addition to the huge crowds of pilgrims and tourists who are absent this year and the next year in a row. On Easter, in terms of celebrations and ceremonies, there are three major popular events: Palm Sunday, the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday and every Friday during the forty days, and Holy Saturday. It is worth noting and contemplating that this year, our people, Christians and Muslims, observed Lent together, and Christians will celebrate the glorious Easter together. All churches will celebrate together. If circumstances were better, we would find Jerusalem in a different state. As for these main events, they consist of three human constituencies in addition to the clergy: the people of Jerusalem and the interior, the people of the West Bank, and the pilgrims. The people of Jerusalem and the interior are exhausted, subject to and suffering from strict regulations that limit entry and participation, in addition to the violent clashes we witness every year. The people of the West Bank are absent due to the lack of permits, exhausted and crushed under the yoke of daily suffering and economic oppression, while the pilgrims are missing due to the circumstances of war. It's as if it's a well-thought-out plan to strangle Jerusalem, kill it, and kill everything it represents to us. It's as if it's the foundation of a new phase that isn't meant to bring goodness. It's as if it's one of a series of attempts to consolidate a new reality that carries within it the message: no immunity, no status, and nothing sacred. A complete abolition of existence, so that the celebrations will fade away of their own accord and their absence will become a foregone conclusion that its owners and the world must get used to and accept.

Today is so similar to yesterday. Herod killed the children, and Caiaphas, the high priest, conspired to kill Christ. They also wanted the future to be tailored to their own needs and whims. But God's will and fatherly love brought peace and hope to all those suffering, and a new era for them and the whole world. We ask God Almighty to hasten the relief of the resurrection from the dead, and to inspire the leaders of the world to stop this madness, and to know that justice and justice alone achieves peace, and to take a lesson from history and the holy books: Jerusalem has never been, and never will be, the monopoly of one person over another. And that the thorn of evil can only be broken by good, and that pain and sacrifice are but the rebirth of a new life.

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The children's joy of Eid and Eid gifts, new clothes and toys, used to fill us with spirit, hope and happiness, but this year's Eid, on its first day, fifty-one children from Gaza wore shrouds instead of new clothes.