Saturday, November 6, 2010

Peace, Peace Then Peace....

After this picture I don't have any word to tell, really I don't have, my eyes filled with tears...
I feel that, they were my family, I feel I lost them in this barbarian crime at Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, I can't find any word to say...

We are calling for peace, we are calling for love into our land...

Why,Why & Why????????????????

Friday, November 5, 2010

Ring The Bells.

After the horrific tragedy of the church massacre in Baghdad, many Christians are asking, what's next? What can they do?


Many believe they should leave Iraq. But where would they go? Leaving is not easy!. They have homes, have a way of life in Iraq. Moving to another country is expensive, you sell your house, lose your culture, your heritage, everything left behind for a fresh start, yes, if you can get a visa, if you can get asylum, but what's out there for us? The whole world reels from the past two years of economic nightmare. Should the Christians expect compassion and welcome without offering something in return? Does the west owe them this, because of charity? Because they are predominately Christian too? Does this not divide the world even further along cultural/religious lines? And what about the elderly, the sick? What about the poor? Will they be welcome in western countries of peace? What if they are a burden on those countries, is that fair to them?

Christians can't just turn the page. It is becoming more and more apparent there are two paths for this people who have inhabited Iraq for the past 1500 years, and really even longer than that before they became Christian. It's either leave their homes and past for a fearful future or face what is becoming inevitable, a horrible, premature death. Not much of a choice, is it?

There were once Jews in Iraq-many people don't know that. Over 120,000 prior to 1948. They fled to Israel in the 1950's when they too were targeted by bloody violence, and as they left, they spoke to the Christians of Iraq: "Today is our day for leaving Iraq, and one day you will be forced to leave your homes too." Today there are less than 10 Jews in all of Iraq. Before the Iraq war of 2003 (Iraq has had war for over 30 years) there were an estimated 800,000-1 million Christians in Iraq. Today the UN estimates there are perhaps half that, with the rest having fled to Syria and other nations as refugees.

My prayers for the families of all those killed. Christian and Muslim alike, the victims and the security forces who lost their lives trying to save them.

Ring the bells for the fallen; ring the bells for those murdered children and women and their fathers and brothers and husbands; ring the bells for their lost hopes and dreams; ring the bells for peace in Iraq; ring the bells for all the Iraqi people who have needlessly bled and died every day for decades.

I'm filled with emotions. I am out of words...

I will finish with some sad pictures taken by a priest from inside the Church that were posted on Ankawa.com .



Monday, November 1, 2010

What Is A Life Without Sun?

"While I was trying to find my way out, in the dark, I walked over bodies. There are many bodies there." -Christian woman, a hostage of terror.
On Sunday, Halloween for the west, Our Lady of Salvation Church, one of the largest churches in Baghdad was attacked by bloodthirsty terrorists. The US and Iraqi security forces attempted a rescue after a standoff of hours, and 52 people were killed with 60 plus wounded, many of them women and children. The murdered victims included 2 priests and several Iraqi security forces.

2 Priests who killed in the attack (Pictures from Ankawa.com)

Pictures from Ankawa.com

Pictures from Ankawa.com

Pictures from Ankawa.com
You can read more about it from this link:

What message did these cowards want to deliver? What do they want from Christians? To kill them all, to force them to leave their own country? I will point out that Christians have lived in Iraq as far back as the 500's AD. is it just that Christians are easy targets? Because we don't have a militia, we don't have our private security force, that all we want is peace and love? These terrorists were Muslim, but I ask you-does such an attack really serve Allah? Does such a vicious crime reflect Islam?

Iraqi Christians want nothing more than to live side by side with Muslims, after all we're all just people.
In my community we have Muslim neighbors & we share their events, and they share ours, both the happy and sad, we exchange food at our holydays, or special occasions, each family helps to clean our street. We get along just fine. Variety is the spice of life, as they say, and the people are Iraq’s mosaic. But to live in fear is to live under darkness. What good is that? What is a life without the sun?

I heard a speech from the archbishop speaking to BBC Arabic a month ago, saying that “Middle East without Christians is like Middle East without sun” then he added “Or like a garden without flowers”!

He was answering about what will happen if all Christians leave the east, and I pray for not having that day ever, but if their holy places, their places for peaceful worship are targeted for attacks, how can the Christians stay? Can we blame them for wanting to leave? Flowers want to live, not be trampled upon. And I must confess, the sun shines much kinder in other places of the world for Christians than here in Iraq now. Better to leave on their own and set new roots than be ripped from the earth and tossed on the garbage heap. The end message of the Bishop's speech was one of love and peace, and I believe many people, many religions, all the colors of the world long for such things. Most of us want to just live our lives in peace and happiness. It is the poisonous weeds in the flowerbeds that are choking us to death.


Pope Benedict XVI denounced the "ferocious" attack on Monday and called for renewed international efforts to broker peace in the region.

I mourn for those people lost for no reason at all. I mourn for those sweet flowers, and I pray that we may come away with some good from such a horrific tragedy.

The sun still shines. But today I feel no warmth. None at all.

Jesus Christ said "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you" Matthew 5:11 & 5:12