St. Luke’s Parish Learns that Peace in the Holy Land Remains Distant

-Friendly Neighbors Ministry

In response to Pope Francis’s call for peace in the Middle East,  Friendly Neighbors Ministry of St. Luke’s Parish sponsored a conversation with Rabbi Daniel Zucker from Temple Israel of Stroudsburg on Wednesday, September 11, 2024.

The event coincided with the commemoration of 9/11 in 2001 when a terrorist attack on the United States set off two decades of foreign wars with hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries. The significance of that grim anniversary was lost on no one. We felt it important that we reach out to our neighbors of our shared Abrahamic faith who are uniquely connected to the Holy Land in the hope that past tragedies would not be repeated.

As Catholics, we are deeply moved by the suffering of all, but we are especially touched by those torn away from their daily lives by conflict and strife, for widows, and orphans, and all those maimed or killed in the horrors of war.  While we live in a world of struggles and sorrows, our job as missionary disciples of Christ is to be a beacon of hope and a light in the darkness. As stated by Professor Stevens-Arroyo in his opening remarks: “St. Luke’s parish strives to follow the pope’s call to a ‘dialogue of life in which people strive to live in an open and neighborly spirit, to share their joys and sorrows, as well as their human problems and preoccupations.’” As Catholics we know that the seeds of human conflict were sown at the beginnings of human history. Catholics understand that only God’s mercy can overcome the wars and hatred caused by the sinfulness of the human race. We must follow Christ’s call for us to be peacemakers. Friendly Neighbors Ministry of the Church of Saint Luke has made the effort to bring our faith to discussion of the ongoing cycle of violence in the Holy Land.

We asked Rabbi Zucker these seven questions.

Along with Dr. Adán Stevens-Díaz, I had challenged the ministry to react as a Catholic parish to the tragic war in Gaza by listening to our neighbors directly afflicted by the current conflict in the Holy Land. Rather than allow the issue to remain distant, we wanted to reach out to the men and women in Stroudsburg most effected by the latest surge in violence. With study and reflective prayer, and guided by our pastor, Father Michael Quinnan we drafted seven questions for Jews and Muslims alike. The entire ministry team then discussed these questions and formulated the plan for a public sharing with the parish by sponsoring the conversation with our neighboring rabbi.  These questions repeated the wisdom of Pope Francis and the teachings of Vatican Council II on the Abrahamic faiths and on the Catholic obligation to renounce antisemitism and Islamophobia.

In advance of the event on 9/11, and in an effort to prepare ourselves for the discussion with the Rabbi, we had two separate meetings with the local Muslim community located on 2nd street. At the first meeting, Dr. Anthony Stevens-Arroyo, Dr. Adan Stevens-Diaz, Joseph Tufo, Felix Stafforini, Herbert Vargas and I visited the Islamic Center for an intensive review of the questions we would eventually ask the Rabbi with Dr. Abdullah Aldas, Director of the Islamic Cultural Center and several of his fellow Muslims. In a follow-up, we then invited them to the Barrett center of our Church to again review the seven questions for the benefit of all the members of the ministry.

Each of these men in dialog that day were of Palestinian lineage and were in America as refugees. They, or their parents or grandparents, were forced to leave their homeland at various times in the history of this extended conflict. Mr. Hamid told the tale of his mother as a refugee from the days of the ‘Nakba’ and how she was marched many miles from her home through the desert into the Gaza when Israel annexed the land they inhabit now. He said his young mother was without food or water and could do nothing as her small infant daughter wasted away and died of malnutrition and was buried under a tree along the path of the arduous expulsion. We listened to their stories of the hardships that their friends and families had suffered during the last 80 years, and although nothing can be done to change the past, we offered them consolation and words of hope about the future. Our Palestinians neighbors spoke of their desire to return to their homes and their hopes that peace would prevail, and a solution enacted.

It was in our efforts to hear from those in our own community that are most concerned with the latest war in Israel and Palestine that we invited the distinguished Rabbi Daniel Zucker to the Jacques Center of our Church to discuss the latest developments. Rabbi Zucker has a long and storied career, from discovering ancient Biblical sites as an archeologist to meeting on the house floor as an expert in Iranian domestic policy.  Deacon Phil Zimich gave the introduction for the Rabbi at the event and went into great detail of Rabbi Zucker’s accomplishments.

Dr. Stevens-Arroyo explained the procedure that allowed different members of the ministry sitting around the table for each to pose one of the seven questions to the Rabbi. We had sent all of them to him previously so that there would be “no gotcha’” questions. Eight minutes were allotted to each of the Rabbi’s answers, although he did not use all the same time for each question.

It was unfortunate that we found a greater reluctance for a peaceful resolution from the viewpoint Rabbi Zucker expressed. Rabbi Zucker expressed sentiments that amounted to continuing the ongoing war with the terrorists of Hamas, but also extending it to the Shiite militia groups of Hezbollah, followed by groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and finally, the Iranian regime. Everyone would need to suffer defeat before Israel can be safe and know peace.

Sadly, the Christian message of peace and love even for our enemies was not shared by the Rabbi. Yet, we as Christians are called to our faith, while others will have their own faith and beliefs. Christ’s teaching was that “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Those words of Christ were difficult for the people of His day, but they are harder to accept than ever. In these times of war and factionalism, the words of Our Savior to turn the other cheek might seem naïve or even suicidal. But Christ does not stop there, he goes on to say something even more radical when he says next that “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” This call to love even our enemies is, of course, a very difficult philosophy and belief for many people, and certainly one need only be reminded of 9/11 to see how few argued to love our enemies on that fatal day and the many years that followed.

Jesus warned us that radical Love is the only hope for peace. Love for even those who hate you and who do not deserve it. Pope Francis has applied Christ’s message to our own times. Love is the only hope for lasting peace in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world, but maybe, especially the Holy Land. We only have to look at how so many categorize the message of peace and love as weakness, while many people reject the path for peace in favor of their command for revenge.

Christian love is never easy, a self-sacrificing love of the kind that Christ taught is not weakness or foolishness, but the true language of God. We know that by the example of Christ himself, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, nailed to a Cross. His Death on the Cross was not a weakness, it was the ultimate expression of Love and only through that kind of extreme Love can the human race have strength. It is only from God above and His Love, and his call to love our neighbors as ourselves that we can find a way out of the misery and suffering in the world. Peace is a universal desire of all humanity, something that Rabbi Zucker affirmed. He referred to a famous saying about the coming of the Messiah to bring lasting peace to the world, showing that all believers would benefit from that moment, despite different religious interpretations.

The lesson derived from these encounters by Faithful Neighbors’ Ministry has many faces. The first and foremost is that St. Luke’s Parish learned that peace in the Holy Land remains distant. Each side has reasons for distrust, fear and even hatred for the other. Terrorism and excessive force, violence and starvation, misinformation and lies all interfere with a clear understanding of how to stop the cycle of violence. However, the second message is to recognize that the only solution is found in Jesus’ call to forgive others as we also seek forgiveness. We can preach the kerygma of the Gospel that grace has made us free to forgive even the worst of human horror. The third compelling message for the parish is to admire the wisdom and mercy in the teachings of Pope Francis. If our understanding of this unremitting conflict were to be freed from the politics of the day, our parish would clearly promote papal teachings. Calling for a cease-fire, an end to the killing of women and children, and a sustained humanitarian effort of relief is witness to the Gospel. Arming ourselves with this saving message will have ever greater impact on our neighbors, whose faith has not yet embraced Jesus Christ as Savior.

If you would like to see the full video recording of Rabbi Zucker’s visit to the Church of Saint Luke you can watch it here: