14.05.2024
Resilience and Presence – Archbishop of Dublin Addresses Jerusalem Diocesan Synod
Archbishop Michael Jackson is currently attending the Majma – or Synod – of the Diocese of Jerusalem which is being held in Amman, Jordan. He is there at the invitation of Archbishop Hosam Naoum as part of the link of friendship between Dublin and Glendalough and the Diocese of Jerusalem.
Archbishop Jackson joins clergy from parishes of the five countries encompassed by the diocese – Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Israel – along with other international guests.
This morning he brought greetings from Dublin and Glendalough to the Majma. (You can read the full text of his address below.) He began by recalling a recent Service of Confirmation when one of the readings included Acts 8:26: ‘An angel of the Lord said to Philip, Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. (This is a wilderness road.)’ He said hearing these words brought to the fore the sheer horror and scandal of what people have been experiencing and enduring in the life of the Diocese of Jerusalem. He said he took the theme for his sermon and said: “Now so much of The Land of the Holy One is a wilderness of shattered lives, of body parts and of tangled metal and masonry. Humanity has become the detritus of the wilderness landscape. And the international world observes and commentates”.
He told the members of the Majma that we admired their resilience. “We who form part of the international Christian community remain very proud of you and we are dependent on your continuing presence and witness. We realize that presence can hang by a thread; we realize that witness goes deeper into the soil, like the vine in St John 15, as oppression and intimidation, displacement and warfare bite,” he stated adding: “It is this resilience for past and for future in the present moment that inspires us”.
The Archbishop said that we mourned the regression in community and interfaith relations which had come under intense strain because of the war. He said there was always a need for understanding faith perspectives and a need for faith dialogues adding that communities were defined by faith values every bit as much as they were by secular hopes.
He told those gathered that the people of Dublin and Glendalough had been doing a number of things to stand alongside them; condemning the inhumanity of violence and war and listening to Archbishop Naoum when he said that calling for a ceasefire was not enough. What was needed was a long term solution for the stability and wellbeing of everyone in the region.
“What we are doing is threefold: praying, meeting, raising financial support from parishes, pensioners and pocket money. We are not a rich diocese. We do not have assets of any significance. We do nonetheless have generous hearts and willing hands. Our links with your diocese and with work in institutions is more than a decade old and with what The Book of Common prayer calls: patient continuance in welldoing we seek to support in all ways as generously as we can,” he said.
In his address to Majma, Archbishop Naoum focused on the theme ‘More than victorious’ from Romans 8:37. He focused on two fundamental principles that help understand the life of triumph and victory amidst pain and suffering: Resilience and Presence.
“Here, we must have Resilience in the face of challenges and suffering. And we must also have the ministry of Presence – the offering of comfort and consolation to others in time of loss. These two principles are intertwined; they complement and reinforce each other,” he stated.
Later he continued: “Our Christian presence in this world in general – and our ministry of presence in our beloved and wounded Middle East in particular – is of great importance in the resilience of our countries and communities. Our presence in various places – especially where there is poverty, need, illness, loneliness and other challenges – serves as reinforcement for the resilience of students, the sick, the elderly, the sinner, the lost, the grieving, the wounded and the suffering”.
Archbishop Naoum said that the testimony of the diocesan institutions, priests and bishops for more than 180 years had always called for peace and harmony among peoples in order to build societies based on justice, equality and truth.
“One example is Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza which has been operating under exceptional circumstances since last October,” he stated. “Despite closures, war, siege, resource shortages and amidst the constant fear of death among the staff, the hospital has continued its noble ministry of healing, alleviating the suffering of our people in Gaza. The ministry of Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza has taught us about the meaning of resilience and presence in a distinctive way. With thanks first of all to God, I also extend my gratitude to the management and staff of this esteemed medical institution. Instead of retreating, withdrawing or surrendering, they have actually opened a new clinic in Rafah, extending the ministry of Al Ahli Hospital. This marks a significant sign of Christian and humanitarian resilience and presence in Gaza.”
Full text of Archbishop Michael Jackson’s address to the Majma of the Diocese of Jerusalem:
GREETINGS FROM THE UNITED DIOCESES OF DUBLIN AND GLENDALOUGH TO THE DIOCESE OF JERUSALEM
It was on a Sunday very recently, The Fifth Sunday of Easter, that I was listening intently to one of the Readings. It included Acts 8.26: An angel of the Lord said to Philip, Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. (This is a wilderness road.) Once again, it brought to the fore the sheer horror and scandal of what people have been experiencing and enduring in the life of this diocese whose guest I am at this Majma. It was a Service of Confirmation, and I took the text in its entirety there and then as the theme for my sermon. I began by saying: Had we been sitting here this time last year, these placenames might not have registered as sharply as they do ever since the events of October 7th 2023 and everything that has flowed from them. Now so much of The Land of the Holy One is a wilderness of shattered lives, of body parts and of tangled metal and masonry. Humanity has become the detritus of the wilderness landscape. And the international world observes and commentates.
WHAT WE ADMIRE: resilience
Resilience: in who you are and in what you do. We who form part of the international Christian community remain very proud of you and we are dependent on your continuing presence and witness. We realize that presence can hang by a thread; we realize that witness goes deeper into the soil, like the vine in St John 15, as oppression and intimidation, displacement and warfare bite. When I gathered with a number of the clergy from Dublin and Glendalough in Amman, Jordan with the archbishop and clergy of this diocese, we could hardly have foreseen how apposite studying The First Letter of St Peter would be as a bond of solidarity as the year 2023 progressed. Too often people in my world speak of hope as if it is a product that can be lifted down from a shelf. Hope is rooted in faith and progresses to embrace love – but all of this is at an horrific cost to the practitioners of The Gospel. It is lived eschatology. We are in the dark most of the time, as Hebrews 11.1 expresses it: Faith gives substance to our hopes and convinces us of realities we do not see …
It is this resilience for past and for future in the present moment that inspires us.
WHAT WE MOURN: regression
More often than once I have heard it said that community relations are under intense strain because of the war. I cannot see how it could be otherwise. And I assume that this also includes relations across Faiths for whom this land is indeed and rightly holy. The Church of Ireland lives in settled and privileged peace in a functioning secular society. But we are 2% of the population. We know that hurt hits minorities first and hardest. Through my being the Anglican co–chair of The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission with The Chief Rabbis of Israel, I am very conscious of the need for dialogue. I am equally conscious of this through my chairing of NIFENAC The Network of Inter Faith Engagement in Europe, North America and Canada which involves a wide range of World Faiths. We are very clear that there is always need for understanding Faith Perspectives and there is always need for Faith Dialogues and that communities are defined by Faith Values every bit as much as they are by secular hopes for them and for their succeeding generations. The disintegration of secular hopes and Faith Dialogues at the same time is a very alarming world to inhabit.
WHAT ARE WE DOING: preparing to help with reconstruction
In the Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, we have been doing a number of things to stand alongside you. We have indeed condemned the inhumanity of violence and war. We have also listened to your archbishop that calling for a ceasefire is not enough. What is needed is a long–term solution for the stability and the wellbeing of everyone in the region. The coming together of Faith Values and secular society is the space Anglicanism inhabits naturally and instinctively. We are not a curia.
What we are doing is threefold:
Praying
Meeting
Raising financial support from parishes, pensioners and pocket money.
We are not a rich diocese. We do not have assets of any significance. We do nonetheless have generous hearts and willing hands. Our links with your diocese and with work in institutions is more than a decade old and with what The Book of Common prayer calls: patient continuance in welldoing we seek to support in all ways as generously as we can.
Within the providence of God, a most unpopular doctrine for an impatient world, we live together in faith, in hope and in love. We are called to hold together the words and the works of The Hebrew Scriptures and The Christian Scriptures:
Genesis 1.27: God created human beings in his own image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
1 John 3.2: Dear friends, we are now God’s children; what we shall be has not yet been disclosed, but we know that when Christ appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
The Most Reverend Dr Michael Jackson
archbishop of Dublin and bishop of Glendalough May 2024