Peace be with you
As we gather in fellowship this Pentecost, we do so in a world living with the burden of conflict and suffering. In particular, our hearts are heavy with the genocide in Gaza. As one BBC journalist recently said with searing clarity:
"Humanity is failing in Gaza. We cannot continue to watch what is happening. It is surpassing any acceptable legal, moral and humane standards. The level of destruction, the level of suffering, but more importantly, the fact that we are watching people being entirely stripped of human dignity should really shock our collective conscience."
Amidst such devastation and cries for help from the innocent, many of whom are children, we are called to be prophetic voices for peace. It is not enough for governments, including our own, to issue statements of concern. They must act. They must speak clearly and courageously for peace. They must end the trade of weapons to Israel and ensure that humanitarian aid flows freely to those who are starving, wounded, and without medical care. Moral leadership demands more than diplomacy; it demands courage, conviction, and a refusal to simply stand by in horror and watch.
Even when the violence ends, the damage, both visible and invisible, will remain. Reconciliation seems impossible, buried beneath layers of generational pain and trauma. I recall speaking with a group of Palestinian university students in Bethlehem some years ago. I asked, somewhat naively, if they had ever met an Israeli peer. Their silence and perplexity at my question spoke volumes. There had never been such an encounter.
Without encounter, there can be no understanding. Without understanding, no peace.
Pope Francis has reminded us often of the sacred gift of encounter — the moment when we truly see the other not as stranger or adversary, but as a fellow human being, created in the image of God. Encounter breaks down walls. It opens hearts. It is, I believe, the beginning of lasting peace.
In these turbulent times, we can draw hope from the first words of Pope Leo XIII upon his election: “Peace be with you.”
It was not a diplomatic slogan or a friendly greeting. It was a blessing — profoundly Christian and very human. In his short address, he mentioned ‘peace’ eight times, more so than ‘love’ or ‘faith’. It was the identical greeting Jesus gave when He encountered his disciples, wounds and all, for the first time after His resurrection: "Peace be with you."
The next day Pope Leo spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who invited him to visit the country and thanked him for his unwavering call for a just peace and condemnation of military aggression.
Last Sunday, as we celebrated Pentecost during this Jubilee Year of Hope, I was reminded of the words of Pope Francis:
“All of us, brothers and sisters, are in great need of hope, which is not optimism; no, it is something else. We need hope. Hope is depicted as an anchor, there at the shore, and in clinging to its rope, we move toward hope. We need hope, we need to lift our gaze to horizons of peace, fraternity, justice, and solidarity.”
Let us pray with urgency, in hope and in faith for peace — not a passive peace, but for a just and lasting one. May the Pentecost Spirit, the Spirit of unity, of truth, and of courage move through us and stir the world towards compassion and action.
Peace be with you.
Matthew Hutchison
Headmaster
