Dear Friends,
Salaam and grace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and blessed greetings from Jerusalem.

I give thanks to God the Father through Jesus our Lord, for the partnership that we share together as his Church in the world. We live as people in communion, as individual persons-in-relation, and not as solitary individuals. This is our calling, to live in communion with one another, and with God. And we are grateful for that; for therein lies our deepest sense of belonging, and hence of peace.

We live here in the land of the Holy One for many years now in conflict and in contradictions. You have come to understand, after the barbaric attacks in America, what it is like for so many human beings, including us, the Palestinians, to suffer attacks, hardships, and occupation, now for over 50 years.

In our partnership with God, however, we have peace. God in Christ speaks to us in human words, and language; but he responds to our injustice and the death of this world, in loving acceptance, showing us that he has peace, and that we have peace not in spite of the conflict, and the suffering, but at the very heart of the conflicts and contradictions. Salaam, peace is not having a pleasant time; it is not the end of striving; it is the basis upon which we can strive more effectively with God to transfigure the face of evil in this world, to his glory.

This is a common task for all of us to accomplish together. We cannot do it on our own. God’s mission is revealed in our working together, and it shows our dependency on each other, as we seek to learn more about Christ, and his will for the world. We have to listen and learn from one another, and let go of any sense of strangeness or prejudice, making space for God to work in us. There lies our peace, in our partnership, in our striving together to build up God’s kingdom, beginning with our selves.

Know that this comes with my prayers and best wishes,

In Christ,

+Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal