Having seen firsthand, on the ground and from rooftops, the situation in the Holy Land, I do not take sides in the endless disputes between Jews and Moslems. I am, on the other hand, fully on the side of Holy Land Christians, who unjustly suffer violence at the hands of both the Jews and Moslems.
MANY YEARS AGO, I was blessed to have lived for several months in a Catholic monastery in the Holy Land. Imagine how wonderful it was to visit the site of the Nativity and walk the Shepherds’ Fields throughout the Christmas season and then walk the Stations of the Cross throughout Lent and visit the Tomb of Christ in the Easter Season. It was a time of incredible blessings but it was also a time of some terrible violence.
The violence happened all around us and, in some instances, we were eyewitnesses of it. More than once, we were atop flat roofs within the walls of the campus, watching rocks hurdled by Moslems and rubber bullets fired by Jews. Eventually we would go inside the monastery to escape the rising clouds of tear gas wafting over the walls. Only after the violent exchange was over could we venture outside the monastery.
Elsewhere in the Holy Land, violence was frequent and unpredictable. It was a part of everyday life—and death. In one instance, a radical Jew gunned down Moslems, while they are on their knees in prayer in a mosque. Not long after, a radical Moslem bombed a city bus carrying women and children, in retaliation.
Among the three major religious groups living in the Holy Land, there is only one that refrains from perpetrating such acts of violence, namely, the Christians. Number wise it is the smallest of the three and its number is shrinking steadily over time—or rather, it is being shrunk by the other two religions. During the time that I was at the monastery, which was located on the pilgrim site of the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, the Jewish government attempted to confiscate the monastery property, under a claim of eminent domain. In reality, it was an attempt of the Zionist government to expand and eliminate a Christian site.
But it is not only the Zionist government that is seeking to diminish and eliminate a Christian presence in the Holy Land. Christians also face persecution and violence at the hands of Moslems in their midst, who have nearly decimated the Christian presence in many places which were once Christian to the core. One example is Bethlehem, where fewer and fewer Christians dare to live or even visit as pilgrims. My parish hosts Catholic olivewood carvers and they tell us of persecution by Moslems and oppression by the Jews.
Zionism is not even modern Judaism, but rather a purely political sect of secular Jews, created in the 20th century, for the purpose of seizing total ownership of modern Israel.
Having seen firsthand, on the ground and from rooftops, the situation in the Holy Land, you would not be surprised to know that I do not take sides in the endless disputes between Jews and Moslems. I am, on the other hand, fully on the side of Holy Land Christians, who unjustly suffer violence at the hands of both the Jews and Moslems, either directly or indirectly, as when Christians fall in crossfire between those two.
We do condemn, of course, unjust violence, whether committed by Jews, Moslems, or any other religious group or government. Speaking of which, with due regard for the virtue of authentic patriotism, our own government has much blood on its hands, when it comes to unjust violence and disregard for Christians. Consider how we attacked Iraq without cause and abandoned Christians there, killed or forced into exile.
Similarly, our government’s uncritical support for modern Zionism at the expense of the rights of other religions and peoples is deplorable, immoral, and contrary to the Kingship of Christ, to which everyone and every power is obliged to be subject. Modern Judaism is a false religion that went into apostasy with the rejection of Jesus as Messiah. Zionism is not even modern Judaism, but rather a purely political sect of secular Jews, created in the 20th century, for the purpose of seizing total ownership of modern Israel.
Back in the pre–Vatican II era, when the hierarchy believed in the social Kingship of Christ, Pope Saint Pius X said the following, when approached by a Jewish Zionist leader seeking support from the Church:
We cannot give approval to this movement. We cannot prevent Jews from going to Jerusalem, but we could never sanction it. The soil of Jerusalem, if it was not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As head of the Church, I cannot tell you anything different. The Jews have not recognized our Lord; therefore, we cannot recognize the Jewish people. And so, if you come to Palestine and settle your people there, we shall have churches and priests ready to baptize all of you.
Pope Saint Pius X was as fearless as he was holy. One wonders if he intentionally used the word Palestine in his statement to the Zionists, as that word is based on the root word “Philistine”, an ancient enemy of the Jews.
If Jews and Moslems would accept divine grace and convert to Christ and Catholicism, we would have peace in Palestine, peace in the Middle East, and peace on Earth.
But beyond our own government’s support for Zionism—or other unjust causes it perpetrates or supports in international affairs—there are non-government elements in the United States that support Zionism. This support is not politically based but religious in nature. Though Remnant readers are not known for being television couch potatoes, were you to watch tv in these days prior to Christmas, you might see ads soliciting financial aid for Jews to migrate to Israel or to financially support Jews living in the Holy Land. In one such ad recently aired, the commercial actually referred to potential donors as, Christian Zionists.
This article is sneak peek at the Dec 15th Remnant Newspaper.
Subscribe today! (Gift Subscriptions available)
So, why would Christians want to financially support Zionism? Well, first of all, the majority of these proponents are not Christians but are heretics, to include many who regard themselves as evangelical. And secondly, while they may have charity in mind, their primary concern is to accelerate the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In their heretical interpretation of the Apocalypse, the land of Israel must be returned to the Jews, the temple rebuilt, and only after that will Christ return to reign for 1000 years.
The reality is that the Jewish temple destruction was prophesied by Christ as a punishment for apostasy, and Divine Providence has insured that it has not been rebuilt. If it ever is rebuilt, as many orthodox Jews and Zionists hope, then be assured that it will be for the reign of the anti-Christ, and not for Jesus Christ.
Folks, in this season of Christmas, when we celebrate the First Coming of Christ, do not be misled about his Second Coming, at the end of time. If Jews and Moslems would accept divine grace and convert to Christ and Catholicism, we would have peace in Palestine, peace in the Middle East, and peace on Earth.
