“I will have mercy and not sacrifice!” (Hosea 6, 6; Matthew 9.13)
With these words, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, began his discourse on the occasion of Lent 2016, saying: “In the bull of indiction of the Jubilee, I gave out this invitation so that Lent in this Jubilee year might be lived more internally as a strong moment to celebrate and experience the mercy of God.” (Misericordiae Vultus, 17). He went on to add that “the mercy of God is in fact an announcement to the world: but every Christian is called upon to make experience of this mercy in the first person.”
Letter to the Friends of Deir Mar Musa Christmas 2013
Every time I try to write these lines to you, our dear friends, I am confused, because the words betray me and do not help me to convey the bitterness that is in my heart: The confusion that occupies my mind because of the pain and sadness for what we experience in our dear country, Syria. The love of homeland in me is strong and deep, which opens a wound in my heart and I find no remedy for this other than prayer, as many Syrian do these days.
Kirkuk, December 20th, 2011
Dear friends,
Thank you again for the warm welcome I received this fall from the Swiss and Italian members of the associations of friends of our monastic community. It felt good to have you near. Many thanks also for your numerous expressions of solidarity in these turbulent times for the Middle East. Our website's statistics and our “inbox” that you are following us attentive, thank you! The Middle East, and especially Syria, really needs much prayer and solidarity. We are witnessing a continuous rise of violence, and we cannot but call with all our energy to non-violence and reconciliation.
Kirkuk, 20. Dezember 2011
Liebe Freunde,
Vielen Dank noch einmal für den herzlichen Empfang durch die schweizerischen und italienischen Mitglieder der Vereine der Freunde unserer monastischen Gemeinschaft. Es hat mir gut getan, Eure Nähe zu spüren. Danke auch für die vielen Beweise der Solidarität, die Ihr uns in diesen aufgewühlten Zeiten im Nahen Ostens gegeben habt. Die Statistiken über die Nutzung unserer Internetseite und unsere "Inbox" sagen uns, dass Ihr unser Wirken aufmerksam verfolgt. Danke! Der Nahe Osten, und speziell Syrien, braucht viel Fürbitte und Solidarität. Wir beobachten eine stetige Steigerung der Gewalt, während wir nicht aufgeben, mit all unserer Energie zur Gewaltlosigkeit und zur Versöhnung aufzurufen.
Christmas call 2011
That the pastors, we hope, will share with their Christian folks and with all Syrians of good will and sound hope.
(translation from Arabic)
Dear brothers and sisters,
Peace, love, solidarity and reconciliation, from our Savior,
We deemed appropriate to write you about the service of reconciliation, because we consider it part of our sacred duty and charisma. We retain that, in the treatment of the current tragic situation, adopting any non-evangelical project or trespassing, for any reason, the ethnics of our Messiah, or the positions of his most pure Mother, or the tradition of the disciples and apostles in the original church, is forbidden to us.