In The Days

• News Date: 4/12/09
• Submitted By: Gaylene Goodroad
• Author: Phil Stewart
• Source: Reuters

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict called in his Easter message on Sunday for a renewed push for Israeli-Palestinian peace just weeks before he travels to the Holy Land for the first time as pontiff.

To view dictionary popup window put your cursor on the blue scripture words.

Peace and Safety

“For when they shall say, Peace•Strongs 1515: eirene, i-ray´-nay; probably from a primary verb eiro (to join); peace (literally or figuratively); by implication, prosperity:—one, peace, quietness, rest, + set at one again. and safety •Strongs 803: asphaleia, as-fal´-i-ah; from 804; security (literally or figuratively):—certainty, safety. ; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
—1 Thessalonians 5:3

“They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly•Strongs 7043: qalal, kaw-lal´; a primitive root; to be (causatively, make) light, literally (swift, small, sharp, etc.) or figuratively (easy, trifling, vile, etc.):—abate, make bright, bring into contempt, (ac-)curse, despise, (be) ease(-y, -ier), (be a, make, make somewhat, move, seem a, set) light(-en, -er, -ly, -ly afflict, -ly esteem, thing), x slight(-ly), be swift(-er), (be, be more, make, re-)vile, whet., saying, Peace•Strongs 7965: shalowm, shaw-lome´; or shalom, shaw-lome´; from 7999; safe, i.e. (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, i.e. health, prosperity, peace:—x do, familiar, x fare, favour, + friend, x great, (good) health, (x perfect, such as be at) peace(-able, -ably), prosper(-ity, -ous), rest, safe(-ty), salute, welfare, (x all is, be) well, x wholly.,; peace•Strongs 7965: shalowm, shaw-lome´; or shalom, shaw-lome´; from 7999; safe, i.e. (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, i.e. health, prosperity, peace:—x do, familiar, x fare, favour, + friend, x great, (good) health, (x perfect, such as be at) peace(-able, -ably), prosper(-ity, -ous), rest, safe(-ty), salute, welfare, (x all is, be) well, x wholly. when there is no peace•Strongs 7965: shalowm, shaw-lome´; or shalom, shaw-lome´; from 7999; safe, i.e. (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, i.e. health, prosperity, peace:—x do, familiar, x fare, favour, + friend, x great, (good) health, (x perfect, such as be at) peace(-able, -ably), prosper(-ity, -ous), rest, safe(-ty), salute, welfare, (x all is, be) well, x wholly.“.
—Jeremiah 6:14

The pope also sent greetings to survivors of Italy’s devastating earthquake and urged all those fearful for their futures, for whatever reason, not to lose hope.
“At a time of world food shortage, of financial turmoil, of old and new forms of poverty … it is urgent to rediscover grounds for hope,” said the pontiff, wearing cream and gold-colored vestments.
The pope celebrated an Easter Mass for tens of thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square as Christians around the world commemorated Jesus Christ’s resurrection.
At the morning Mass, the pope told the faithful the resurrection was a “cry of victory that unites us all today.”
Then, in his twice-yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) address, the pope said he would carry a message of reconciliation on his May 8-15 trip to the Holy Land.
“Reconciliation — difficult, but indispensable — is a precondition for a future of overall security and peaceful coexistence,” the pope said.
“It can only be achieved through renewed, persevering and sincere efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The pope’s comments came the same day that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas telephoned Benjamin Netanyahu for the first since he became Israel’s prime minister. Abbas said both sides needed to advance peace efforts, Israeli officials said.
The German pope, who turns 82 this month, will visit the Jordanian capital Amman before going to Jerusalem as well as to Nazareth and Bethlehem.
It will be the first trip by a pope to the Holy Land since Pope John Paul visited in 2000 and, at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, asked God forgiveness for offences by Christians against Jews over the centuries.
It follows the worst crisis in Catholic-Jewish relations in half a century after Benedict lifted the excommunication of British Bishop Richard Williamson, who said in January no more than 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps, rather than the six million figure widely accepted by historians.
Williamson also said he did not believe there had been any gas chambers at the concentration camps.
The Easter celebrations at the Vatican took place at a time when many Italians have shifted their attention to victims of Monday’s devastating earthquake, which killed at least 294 people in the nearby Abruzzo region.
The pope, who plans to visit the disaster zone soon, sent out a special greeting to those affected by the quake, Italy’s worst in three decades.
He urged them to have “the courage necessary to move ahead together building a future open to hope.”
The earthquake made nearly 40,000 people homeless, thousands of whom celebrated Easter in tent cities.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Sophie Hares)