Homily of His Excellency Msgr Selim Sfeir Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
With my heart heavy with sorrow at the ever increasing war in Lebanon and Gaza, I struggle with what I can do. The powerful make the decisions, but it always the little ones who suffer.
I have asked all of you to join me on this Sunday to pray with a special intensity for peace, and the Holy Father has asked all of us to pray with greater sacrifice on Monday, October 7th, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
The greatest and most powerful weapon in this world is prayer. And with this prayer, we want to offer up something, to make a sacrifice, our daily duties done with a smile, maybe going without a meal or delicious drink. Sacrifice united to prayer is an irresistible force that unites us to God.
Someone might ask: “Where is God in all of this?”
God is not remote from all this carnage and horror; He is with us, suffering with us as He loves us as His children. War is a scourge of our own making. Our sins drive out the grace of God in our souls and we become wretched to one another, like that wicked slave of the Gospel of today who said to himself “My master is delayed” (Matt 24:48) and proceeded to beat his fellow slaves.
The human heart is the first theatre of war. When God’s grace is rejected by selfishness, sensuality and pride, the human heart is torn in two by its own civil war. The present crisis in the middle east is all of this and more. “There can be no peace where there is no justice” St. Paul VI.
The present situation is an intolerable situation, attacking the very moral pillars of civilization. Without God’s grace it will spiral out of control and risk the safety and security of the whole world.
Prayer
My God, grant peace and justice to the suffering people of the Middle East. Dear Blessed Virgin Mary give us a greater confidence in your Holy Rosary and help us to pray it every day for peace.
† Selim Sfeir
Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus