With war and violence plaguing so many parts of the world, Christians can look to the saints to discover from their example the true meaning of peace, Maronite Auxiliary Bishop Paul Rouhana of Beirut told participants at the Synod of Bishops.
“We must remember throughout our synodal journey that the future of our Churches and our respective countries, especially those in times of crisis, must not depend solely on geostrategic and geopolitical calculations and analyses,” he said in his homily during a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica with synod participants Oct. 9.
“The Church, as the family of Jesus, is first and foremost the community of those who hear the word of God and act on it,” said the bishop, who was attending the synod in the place of Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church, who remained in Lebanon due to an escalation of the crisis there. More than 1,600 people have been killed, 8,000 people wounded and 200,000 people displaced in Lebanon by Israeli bombardments since Israel launched its military campaign against Hezbollah militants in October 2023.
Maronite Bishop Youhanna Warcha, procurator of the Maronite patriarch in Rome and rector of the Pontifical Maronite College, spoke at the beginning of the Mass, thanking the synod for the invitation to celebrate the Maronite liturgy, which featured song and chants in Syro-Aramaic.
“It is a concrete sign of the communion, synodality and fraternity that we share in the faith,” he said.
Noting the absence of Cardinal Rai because of his desire to stay close to the people in Lebanon, Bishop Warcha asked everyone to unite in prayer for peace in the world, the Middle East and Lebanon. “Let us pray so that the Lord may grant us the strength and the wisdom to overcome these difficulties and lead us toward a future of hope.”
In his homily, Bishop Rouhana said the saints were men and women who knew how to listen to God, be filled with his peace and then bring it to those in need.
War and violence, in fact, signal “a failure and breakdown of dialogue, leading to a monstrous rejection” of social harmony, he said. Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the Church in the Middle East that peace means being in harmony with God, oneself, others and nature.
Christ leads the faithful to authentic peace in God, which must be lived within oneself before it can appear “outwardly,” he said, citing the late pope.
The saints, he said, are “masters in listening to the word of God” and taking the time to “savor” it, allowing themselves to be “seduced” and overpowered by the Lord.
Those who struggle to avoid evil and do good can find support in Jesus, who is like a musician holding a “tuning fork,” providing the right key to which one must harmonize one’s thoughts and actions, said the bishop, who is a musician.
The Christian message is life-changing knowledge as loving God and loving one’s neighbor are “inseparable,” he said.
“The parable of the good Samaritan will remain our compass for bearing witness to a synodality of solidarity” with victims of marginalization, injustice, poverty and insecurity, Bishop Rouhana said.
Only a heart that “sees” where love is needed can act accordingly, he said.
