If I may, there is another area that has been bothering me of late and probably other Christians. It is the situation in the Church of the Nativity. The Jews and the Muslims are fighting it out in the very birthplace of Jesus Christ with our Franciscan friars held hostage. I can't put into words how it makes me feel or even what I think of it. Irony mixed with horror and an impending sense of something is the best way I can describe it. Do you have any words or thoughts on this situation?
Now is the time for all of us to offer our hearts to Christ Jesus -- to be born within us in a fresh and powerful way.
There are communitites of Christians in Bethlehem who need our prayers -- the Franciscans, other Catholics, the Melkite Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, the Armenian Apostolic Christians, the Syrian Orthodox. There are also other Christian groups like the Episcopalians/Anglicans. They need our prayers. When on March 14th the Israeli weapons fire struck the statue of the Mother of God, we knew that the Holy Sites would be in danger. If the Church of the Holy Nativity is destroyed, it will be rebuilt.
Through the intercession of St. Francis and St. Clare and of all the saints on earth and in heaven, may peace come to Bethlehem and throughout the Holy Land.
Our community has Perpetual Adoration, but in addition we keep vigil for Christians in the Sudan. We received an e-mail from the Franciscans in Rome, and now we are keeping vigil before the Blessed Sacrament for the hostages, for all Christians, and for the Holy Sites in the Holy Land.