Blessings of peace to all of you, my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Today, we gather under the gaze of the Almighty, who calls us to be instruments of His love in a world fractured by hatred, suffering, and moral decay. The shadows of sectarian violence, the cries of the persecuted, and the commodification of the sacred weigh heavily upon our hearts. Yet, in the midst of this darkness, we are reminded that we are children of the Light—called to heal, to restore, and to build the Kingdom of God here on earth.
The Scourge of Sectarian Violence
The blood of brothers and sisters, spilled in the name of division, stains the soil of nations like Syria, where violence is not merely the act of individuals but is often orchestrated by those in power. How can we stand idle while the children of Abraham—Alawites, Sunnis, Christians—are turned against one another? "Blessed are the peacemakers," Christ tells us, "for they will be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9).
Peacemaking is not passive; it is the courageous work of reconciliation. It demands that we reject the narratives of hatred, that we extend hands across divides, and that we refuse to let fear dictate our actions. Imagine a world where, instead of arming militias, governments invested in dialogue; where, instead of suspicion, there was trust. This is the world Christ calls us to build—one where the wounds of division are healed by love.
The Agony of the Persecuted
In Ukraine, in Myanmar, in so many corners of the earth, the suffering of the innocent rises like a lament to heaven. The horrors of war, the brutality of oppression—these are not mere statistics. They are the crucifixions of our time. Yet, as St. Paul reminds us, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18).
This is not a call to resignation, but to hope—and to action. The glory of God is revealed when we stand with the oppressed, when we shelter the refugee, when we demand justice for those whose voices have been silenced. The world will be transformed when men and women of faith refuse to look away from suffering, but instead become the hands and feet of Christ in a broken world.
The Profaning of the Sacred
And what shall we say of the auction houses where sacred relics—jewels linked to the remains of the Buddha—are sold to the highest bidder? The Second Commandment warns us: "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." (Exodus 20:4). This is not merely a prohibition, but a call to reverence.
When we treat the sacred as a commodity, we diminish our own humanity. We must resist the arrogance that reduces holiness to a collector’s item. Instead, let us honor the spiritual heritage of all peoples, recognizing that the divine cannot be bought or sold, only revered.
The Church’s Challenge—and Our Call
Yet even as we confront these global crises, we must also look inward. One of the great wounds of our Church today is the scandal of division—between clergy and laity, between tradition and progress, between those who seek mercy and those who demand rigor. We cannot heal the world if we are fractured ourselves.
I call upon you, my brothers and sisters, to be agents of unity within the Body of Christ. Let us listen before we condemn, serve before we judge, and love before we argue. The world will not be converted by our infighting, but by our witness of radical love.
A Choice Between Two Futures
The path before us is clear, but the choice is urgent. If we remain silent in the face of violence, indifferent to suffering, and complicit in the profaning of the sacred, then we will reap a world of deeper darkness—one where hatred reigns, where the vulnerable are crushed, and where the voice of God is drowned out by the clamor of greed and power.
But if we rise—if we become peacemakers, defenders of the oppressed, and guardians of the sacred—then we will see the dawn of a new world. A world where swords are beaten into plowshares, where every tear is wiped away, and where the glory of God is revealed in the love of His people.
Let us not delay. Let us not grow weary. The Kingdom of God is at hand—will we be the ones to help bring it forth?
Amen.
What can we do?
The world is filled with division, suffering, and ethical dilemmas, but each of us has the power to contribute to healing and justice in small, meaningful ways. Here’s how we can act in our daily lives:
1. Countering Sectarian Violence
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