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ONLY GOD CAN FREE US FROM THIRST FOR VENGEANCE, JOHN PAUL II SAYS
EWTN and Zenit ^ | 4-7-2002

Posted on 04/08/2002 8:15:14 AM PDT by Notwithstanding

8-Apr-2002 -- ZENIT.org

ONLY GOD CAN FREE US FROM THIRST FOR VENGEANCE, JOHN PAUL II SAYS

Celebrates Day of Prayer for Peace in Middle East

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 7, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Amid ongoing Mideast violence, John Paul II appealed for peace between Israelis and Palestinians in the name of the one God in whom Jews, Muslims and Christians believe.

Only God "can give the energies that are necessary to be freed from hatred and the thirst for vengeance and undertake the way of negotiation for peace as in the agreement," John Paul II said.

The Pontiff had asked Catholics to unite today in a Day of Prayer for Peace in the Middle East. Prayer vigils were organized worldwide Saturday and Masses were offered today for the intention.

Before reciting the midday Regina Caeli at St. Peter´s Square, the Pope reminded his listeners that no one can spill his brother´s blood. He quoted from Genesis 9:6: "If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has man been made."

"How is it possible to forget that, following Abraham´s example, Israelis and Palestinians believe in the one God?" the Holy Father asked. "To him, whom Jesus revealed as the merciful Father, is raised the joint prayer of Christians who repeat with St. Francis of Assisi: ´Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.´"

John Paul II remembered especially the Franciscans, Greek-Orthodox and Orthodox Armenians who are shut in in Bethlehem´s Basilica of the Nativity, and assured them of his prayers.

About 200 Palestinians, many of them armed, sought refuge last Tuesday in the basilica following Israeli occupation of this autonomous Palestinian city.

The Pope chose this particular date for the day of prayer for peace because it is Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast he instituted during the Jubilee Year 2000.

The messenger of the devotion to Divine Mercy was a Polish nun, Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938). She had extraordinary spiritual experiences, including visions and revelations. Her mysticism centered on consecration to Divine Mercy and the motto "Jesus, I trust in you."

"Wherever trials and difficulties are harsher, may invocation of the risen Lord be more insistent, and invocation for the gift of the Holy Spirit, source of love and peace, be more heartfelt," the Pope exhorted.

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TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abraham; arafat; catholic; god; holyland; islam; israel; judaism; palestine; plo; pope; sharon; war

1 posted on 04/08/2002 8:15:14 AM PDT by Notwithstanding
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To: father_elijah
Truth bump.
2 posted on 04/08/2002 8:16:04 AM PDT by Notwithstanding
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To: Notwithstanding
Don't be suprised to see John Paul II personally travel to the middle east and attempt to go to Bethlehem.

I hope he doesn't, because I'm beginning to suspect Sharon wouldn't care. But it would be entirely in character for the Pope to do such a thing.

-Eric

3 posted on 04/08/2002 8:19:48 AM PDT by E Rocc
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To: Notwithstanding
"Amid ongoing Mideast violence, John Paul II appealed for peace between Israelis and Palestinians in the name of the one God in whom Jews, Muslims and Christians believe."

Sorry. The God of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham is NOT Allah. God, who sent his Son Jesus to die on Calvary, is NOT Allah. I am much afraid that the Pope, if he encourages people to believe this, has been deceived by the spirit of this age - and believes an illusory concept of "peace" is more important that absolute truth.

This is one of the great lies spoken to us by this corrupt world system: "Allah and Jehovah are the same." C.S. Lewis was remarkably prescient in his last book of the Narnia series. "Aslan - Tash - Tashlan - are one" was the great lie that eventually led to the destruction of Narnia in the end of the age.

4 posted on 04/08/2002 8:21:44 AM PDT by fogarty
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To: Notwithstanding
The Pope is right, you know. Only God can work that sort of miracle in a person's heart.

"Everyone who sins is a slave to sin". - Jesus, John 8:34

5 posted on 04/08/2002 8:24:06 AM PDT by Bosco
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To: Notwithstanding
Would that include the vengence that comes from setting people free?
6 posted on 04/08/2002 8:27:23 AM PDT by onedoug
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To: fogarty
You may be missing the point in this case. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all acknowledge Abraham and therefore the God of Abraham. I think the Pope is emphasizing common ground because it supports negotiation for peace and emphasizing division doesn't.
7 posted on 04/08/2002 9:36:35 AM PDT by smorgle
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To: fogarty
FYI, the word used by Arab Christians to refer to the Almighty is "Allah".
8 posted on 04/08/2002 9:44:37 AM PDT by Romulus
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To: fogarty
"Aslan - Tash - Tashlan - are one" was the great lie that eventually led to the destruction of Narnia in the end of the age.

But you're forgetting something from the end of the story. I forgot the name of the character who worshipped Tash and what the exact wording of Aslan was, but Aslan basically said that he would be "given credit" (so to speak) for having been faithful to Tash all those years.

9 posted on 04/08/2002 9:44:59 AM PDT by BlessedBeGod
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To: BlessedBeGod
But you're forgetting something from the end of the story. I forgot the name of the character who worshipped Tash and what the exact wording of Aslan was, but Aslan basically said that he would be "given credit" (so to speak) for having been faithful to Tash all those years.

I've just added the Chronicles to my summer reading list. (I've been through them three times, but that was ages ago)

10 posted on 04/08/2002 9:47:46 AM PDT by Ward Smythe
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To: Notwithstanding
Only God "can give the energies that are necessary to be freed from hatred and the thirst for vengeance

There's a far-seeing theology at work here. The very rhetorical paradigm that demands that we take sides -- Jews or Palestinians -- is a dynamic of alienation, a lie. The real debate is between alienation and reconciliation -- between death and life.

If reconciliation sounds preposterous and impossible -- just as preposterous as "love your enemy" -- so did "He is risen."

11 posted on 04/08/2002 9:52:39 AM PDT by Romulus
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To: BlessedBeGod
You're forgetting something too. Specifically, that character - the Calormene soldier - asks Aslan if Tash and Aslan are one. And Aslan - in the sternest voice possible says "NO!" The whole corruption of Narnia in the last days came from a LIE - that lie is that supposedly Aslan and Tash were the one and the same.

And nothing could be further from the truth here. The god of Islam is certainly NOT the God of Christianity. I worship the Son of God, Jesus - whom the Muslims only regard as a "prophet". Neither do the Muslims worship Jehovah - as can be seen by their hatred for the Feast days and their denial of Passover.

12 posted on 04/08/2002 11:05:31 AM PDT by fogarty
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To: smorgle
"I think the Pope is emphasizing common ground because it supports negotiation for peace and emphasizing division doesn't."

Emphasizing peace by denying truth is a step towards evil. And if the world acquisces to Muslim demands 'for the sake of peace' we shall soon have a world where no religion other than Islam is practiced.

13 posted on 04/08/2002 11:08:44 AM PDT by fogarty
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To: fogarty, all
fogarty is telling it like it is, folks. These comments are true.
14 posted on 04/08/2002 11:47:32 AM PDT by Gal.5:1
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To: Romulus
imho, perhaps it is true that that word "allah" in the arab nations is the generic word for "god", but, the arab Christians I worship with here call Him Lord (standing for Jehovah or Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel. They also call Him Jesus. :)They do not call him "Allah".

btw, these are Arab Christians recently arrived from the arab nations, and from the Holy Land itself.

15 posted on 04/08/2002 11:55:11 AM PDT by Gal.5:1
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To: fogarty
Thank you.
I was trying to come up with the right words to state that the Quo'ran teaches that Jesus is NOT "the son of God" .

The Bible teaches that Christ IS the son of God.

Since "the teachings of Allah, the Quo'ran" deny Jesus as God's son, Allah and God are NOT the same God.

Those who believe in Allah and the Quo'ran believe that Jesus was not Allah's son.
Those who believe in GOD and the Bible believe that Jesus IS the son of God.

There is no way to reconcile the two beliefs or equate them with each other.
There is only one TRUE God.

I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. To agree that Allah as taught in the Quo'ran and God as taught in the Bible are the same God is to deny Christ. Christians who call God, the father of Jesus, "Allah" may want to reconsider.

John 14:6 "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

16 posted on 04/08/2002 12:53:21 PM PDT by lsee
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To: smorgle; fogarty
But even though Islam recognizes Abraham, they completely deny any Jewish claim to him. They reject the idea that the covenant was made through Isaac, they preach that the Jewish bible was "corrupted" (although they are completely devoid of proof), and they are appalled by any Jewish claim to the land.

As far as Christianity goes, Islam denies that Jesus died on the cross (they say he was spirited away by His disciples), they deny that He as God (although they revere Him as a prophet, figure that one out), and they also teach that the New Testament was "corrupted," once again devoid of any proof.

There is no common ground, when you look into the details of Islam.

17 posted on 04/08/2002 2:13:10 PM PDT by agrace
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