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I thank His
Beatitude
Patriarch
Fouad Twal
for his kind
words of
welcome and
in a special
way I wish
to
acknowledge
the presence
among us of
Bishop Selim
Sayegh,
whose vision
and labors
for this
center,
together
with those
of His
Beatitude
Patriarch
Emeritus
Michel
Sabbah, are
today
honored
through the
blessing of
the new
extensions
which has
just taken
place. I
also wish to
greet with
great
affection
the central
committee
members, the
Comboni
Sisters and
the
dedicated
lay staff,
including
those who
work in the
Center’s
many
community
branches and
units.
Your
reputation
for
outstanding
professional
competence,
compassionate
care and
resolute
promotion of
the rightful
place in
society of
those with
special
needs is
well known
here and
throughout
the kingdom.
To the young
people
present, I
thank you
for your
moving
welcome. It
is a great
joy for me
to be with
you.
As you know,
my visit to
the (Regina
Pacis) Our
Lady of
Peace Center
here in
Amman is the
first stop
along my
journey of
pilgrimage.
Like
countless
pilgrims
before me it
is now my
turn to
satisfy that
profound
wish to
touch, to
draw solace
from and to
venerate the
places where
Jesus lived,
the places
which were
made holy by
his
presence.
Since
apostolic
times,
Jerusalem
has been the
primary
place of
pilgrimage
for
Christians,
but earlier
still, in
the ancient
Near East,
Semitic
peoples
built sacred
shrines in
order to
mark and
commemorate
a divine
presence or
action. And
ordinary
people would
travel to
these
centers
carrying a
portion of
the fruits
of their
land and
livestock to
offer in
homage and
thanksgiving.
Dear
friends,
every one of
us is a
pilgrim. We
are all
drawn
forward,
with
purpose,
along God’s
path.
Naturally,
then, we
tend to look
back on life
– sometimes
with regrets
or hurts,
often with
thanksgiving
and
appreciation
– and we
also look
ahead –
sometimes
with
trepidation
or anxiety,
but always
with
expectation
and hope,
knowing too
that there
are others
who
encourage us
along the
way.
I know that
the journeys
that have
led many of
you to the
“Regina
Pacis”
Center have
been marked
by suffering
or trial.
Some of you
struggle
courageously
with
disabilities,
others of
you have
endured
rejection,
and some of
you are
drawn to
this place
of peace
simply for
encouragement
and support.
Of
particular
importance,
I know, is
the Center’s
great
success in
promoting
the rightful
place of the
disabled in
society and
in ensuring
that
suitable
training and
opportunities
are provided
to
facilitate
such
integration.
For this
foresight
and
determination
you all
deserve
great praise
and
encouragement!
At times it
is difficult
to find a
reason for
what appears
only as an
obstacle to
be overcome
or even as
pain –
physical or
emotional –
to be
endured. Yet
faith and
understanding
help us to
see a
horizon
beyond our
own selves
in order to
imagine life
as God does.
God’s
unconditional
love, which
gives life
to every
human
individual,
points to a
meaning and
purpose for
all human
life. His is
a saving
love (cf. Jn
12:32). As
Christians
profess, it
is through
the cross
that Jesus
in fact
draws us
into eternal
life, and in
so doing
indicates to
us the way
ahead – the
way of hope
which guides
every step
we take
along the
way, so that
we too
become
bearers of
that hope
and charity
for others.
Friends,
unlike the
pilgrims of
old, I do
not come
bearing
gifts or
offerings. I
come simply
with an
intention, a
hope: to
pray for the
precious
gift of
unity and
peace, most
specifically
for the
Middle East.
Peace for
individuals,
for parents
and
children,
for
communities,
peace for
Jerusalem,
for the Holy
Land, for
the region,
peace for
the entire
human
family; the
lasting
peace born
of justice,
integrity
and
compassion,
the peace
that arises
from
humility,
forgiveness
and the
profound
desire to
live in
harmony as
one.
Prayer is
hope in
action. And
in fact true
reason is
contained in
prayer: we
come into
loving
contact with
the one God,
the
universal
Creator, and
in so doing
we come to
realize the
futility of
human
divisions
and
prejudices
and we sense
the wondrous
possibilities
that open up
before us
when our
hearts are
converted to
God’s truth,
to his
design for
each of us
and our
world.
Dear young
friends, to
you in
particular I
wish to say
that
standing in
your midst I
draw
strength
from God.
Your
experience
of trials,
your witness
to
compassion,
and your
determination
to overcome
the
obstacles
you
encounter,
encourage me
in the
belief that
suffering
can bring
about change
for the
good. In our
own trials,
and standing
alongside
others in
their
struggles,
we glimpse
the essence
of our
humanity, we
become, as
it were,
more human.
And we come
to learn
that, on
another
plane, even
hearts
hardened by
cynicism or
injustice or
unwillingness
to forgive
are never
beyond the
reach of
God, can
always be
opened to a
new way of
being, a
vision of
peace.
I exhort you
all to pray
every day
for our
world. And
today I want
to ask you
to take up a
specific
task: please
pray for me
every day of
my
pilgrimage;
for my own
spiritual
renewal in
the Lord,
and for the
conversion
of hearts to
God’s way of
forgiveness
and
solidarity
so that my
hope – our
hope – for
unity and
peace in the
world will
bear
abundant
fruit.
May God
bless each
of you and
your
families,
and the
teachers,
caregivers,
administrators
and
benefactors
of this
center and
may Our
Lady, Queen
of Peace,
protect you
and guide
you along
the pilgrim
way of her
son, the
Good
Shepherd. |
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