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Holy Places, Holy Land
The recorded events of the first Holy Week, as read this past week in accounts of Christ’s Passion, remind us of the places and sites where Jesus walked and talked during His lifetime.
Unfortunately, the holy sites in the Mideast are today places of tension and war. The city of Jerusalem, sacred to three great religions of the world, is divided, even to the extent that a physical wall separates Jewish people from local Palestinians, many of whom are Christians.
This is a deplorable situation and we can only pray that a solution can be worked on to one day open up the city again. Indeed, greater safety and access to all the Holy Land would be a desirable goal for which the world’s leaders should be laboring.
Also of concern is the flight of Christians from several countries in the Mideast. A particularly unprecedented wave of Christian emigration from Lebanon is upsetting that country’s demographic balance.
Approximately 35% of Lebanon’s total population in 2005 was Christian; that number does not reflect the Christians who emigrated after the war between Hezbollah militants and Israel in the summer of 2006. In 1965, Christians represented 55% of the population.
The “weakness of the Christian presence in Lebanon today is a source of anxiety,” said Cardinal Nasrallah P. Sfeir, patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church.
Lebanon, which once served as a model for coexistence, is rife with strife and turmoil. The presidency is vacant. The parliament is blocked and the downtown area is vacant. Christians are leaving the country at an alarming rate.
The Christian presence in Lebanon is essential to Lebanon’s identity. It would be hard to imagine this country without a peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians.
Christian emigration from Lebanon and other countries in the Mideast is a heavy weight on the family, the Church and the community. If it continues, it will provoke a modification to the demographic balance and will put in peril the presence of Christians in that section of the world which gave birth to Christianity.
Spiritual Sharing
A word of thanks to all who helped to organize and participate in the Holy Week services around the diocese. From the pastors to the altar servers, from the ladies who iron the altar cloths to the folks who arrange the floral appointments, thanks to you all.
The Diocese of Brooklyn has a reputation for excellence in liturgy. Credit for that filters down from the members of the diocesan Liturgical Commission to the individual liturgy committees in each parish. For every ceremony that takes place, hours of rehearsals are required. Good liturgy does not just happen.
The parishes also have developed a number of outstanding para-liturgical services consisting of outdoor processions and reenactments in the streets of Brooklyn and Queens. They are marvelous professions of faith from our people.
Many of these practices have come to our boroughs from the homelands of immigrant people. We are indebted to these faith-filled cultures for sharing their traditions with the rest of the Church. When we say we are a Diocese of Immigrants and that we are enriched by the presence of so many immigrant groups in our diocese, this is what we are talking about.
We should never forget from whence we have come — both ethnically and spiritually. The faith of our fathers and mothers continues to offer solace and provide nourishment to us in our own day.
We hope that Holy Week has been a time of spiritual renewal for all our readers. We urge a sharing of the faith with neighbors all year round, just as we did so diligently during Holy Week.
Welcome, Gov. Paterson
One couldn’t help but be impressed by Gov. David Paterson’s response to his meteoric rise to power as chief executive of New York State. His swearing in ceremony took place only one week after former Gov. Eliot Spitzer was caught in a sex scandal that involved his payments to prostitutes, apparently over the course of many years.
Gov. Paterson, admittedly still stunned by his ascent to the governor’s mansion, brings a self-effacing sense of humor to the job, which should serve him well. He also is smart and knows the inner workings of state government after serving in Albany for more than 20 years.
We welcome a fresh start with our governor since the Spitzer Administration did not appear to be moving in any direction to better the lives of Catholics in the state. Spitzer’s hard-nosed approach won him few friends. Gov. Paterson’s more personal approach seems to have endeared him to many in Albany over the years.
One particular hope is that Gov. Paterson has shown himself to be a fan of helping inner city schools. We trust that this interest will include parochial schools so that a greater choice in education will become available to everyone in our urban areas.
We welcome Gov. Paterson and wish him God’s blessings as he begins his term in office. He begins with lots of people wishing him well and wanting to see him succeed. We urge him to take advantage of all this good will and ride the wave of popularity to new heights of achievement for the Empire State.
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