Watch the hands of Pope Francis, when he says,
“It seems there is …”
and,
“… but only that, nothing more.”
“It seems there is … but only that, nothing more.”
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a prayer and a gun are fired
19 JulThe gun of an Israeli soldier rests on a window-like opening of the separation wall between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It is pointed toward Palestinian youth during a clash at the entrance to Bethlehem.
There is something particularly sad about this screenshot taken from a Reuter news video. During his pilgrimage to the Holy Land Pope Francis stopped at this very place to pray. Notice the closed window just to his right, and the “Bethlehem look …” just above his head.
It is the same place at which he fired a prayed to heaven. This time a gun fires.
to break the spiral of hatred and violence by one word alone: the word “brother”
17 JulMany, all too many, of those children have been innocent victims of war and violence, saplings cut down at the height of their promise.
Dear Presidents, our world is a legacy bequeathed to us from past generations, but it is also on loan to us from our children: our children who are weary, worn out by conflicts and yearning for the dawn of peace, our children who plead with us to tear down the walls of enmity and to set out on the path of dialogue and peace, so that love and friendship will prevail.
I am profoundly grateful to you for accepting my invitation to come here and to join in imploring from God the gift of peace. It is my hope that this meeting will mark the beginning of a new journey where we seek the things that unite, so as to overcome the things that divide.
Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare. It calls for the courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict: yes to dialogue and no to violence; yes to negotiations and no to hostilities; yes to respect for agreements and no to acts of provocation; yes to sincerity and no to duplicity. All of this takes courage, it takes strength and tenacity.
History teaches that our strength alone does not suffice. More than once we have been on the verge of peace, but the evil one, employing a variety of means, has succeeded in blocking it. That is why we are here, because we know and we believe that we need the help of God. We do not renounce our responsibilities, but we do call upon God in an act of supreme responsibility before our consciences and before our peoples. We have heard a summons, and we must respond. It is the summons to break the spiral of hatred and violence, and to break it by one word alone: the word “brother”. But to be able to utter this word we have to lift our eyes to heaven and acknowledge one another as children of one Father.
clashes into the night in Bethlehem: Thursday
12 JulThe Reuters news story begins, “At the entrance of Bethlehem, a frequent flashpoint of violence, youths threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who fired back with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets.”
Ironically and sadly, at the very place at which Pope Francis prayed during his pilgrimage
and to which pilgrims return to pray 
on Thursday night, the gate on which Pope Francis leaned and pilgrims lean was opened 
and Israeli soldiers were entering and leaving Bethlehem.
Here is some raw video footage:
At every Sunday Mass at St. Andrew we will pray an intention: “For an end to all fear and hatred and hostilities between the Palestinians and Israelis.”
Please add your “Amen” to this prayer.
crumble this wall
29 Jun
O God, you sent your Son to break down the barriers between us, to bring reconciliation between peoples. Make good on your intention and satisfy your desire that all divisions cease and all separations end.
When we build walls, teach us to want bridges. As we put up fences, move us to open gates.
Bring security and safety to your people on both sides of this wall. End the sadness and the frustration on both sides. End the hated and the violence from both sides. Give freedom of movement to all and bring an end to all humiliation.
In due time tear down this wall of mistrust and fear, this barrier to peace and justice.
O God, crumble this wall.
a “prayer meeting” on Pentecost
1 JunSeven days from today, on the afternoon of Pentecost Sunday, June 8, Pope Francis will meet in prayer at the Vatican with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful
and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.
And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
is this a carnival, Palcido?
26 MayMy friend, Father Placido, who cares for the shrine at Gethsemane, also took care of me when I tore my meniscus on my way to pay him a surprise visit last summer.
Placido runs a tight ship, boasting that he keeps careful watch over priests who come to say Mass at the Church of the Agony, for fear that they will not follow “the rules” and turn the Mass into “some sort of carnival.”
I am anxious to see him in June to tease him that I caught him on camera turning the visit of the Pope into a carnival. He is the one taking a picture! It will be fun to ask him about that moment …
… and to ask him what he is saying to the Pope right after he took the photo, with both his hands raised in a questioning fashion.
in her hands, before her eyes, and in her heart
26 May“Here the Church was born, and was born to go forth. From here she set out, with the broken bread in her hands, the wounds of Christ before her eyes, and the Spirit of love in her heart.”
“The Upper Room speaks to us of service, of Jesus giving the disciples an example by washing their feet. Washing one another’s feet signifies welcoming, accepting, loving and serving one another. It means serving the poor, the sick and the outcast.”
Pope Francis, Mass in the Cenacle, May 26, 2014
a Rabbi, a Muslim leader and the Pope went to Jerusalem
26 MayNo, this is not the opening line of a joke.
It was the occasion of an embrace at the Western Wall, the holiest site for Jews in Jerusalem, just below the third holiest site in the world for Muslims.
The Pope, the rabbi and the Muslim leader, all friends back in Argentina, collapsed in a heartfelt embraced.
After the tears and words exchanged, Francis went to pray and to place his prayer in the crevice of the wall.
On the paper, in an envelope was the Lord’s prayer in his native Spanish.
With Open Doors 