ROME (CNS) During a visit to the Holy Land, Cardinal John P. Foley urged Christians there to be an example of selfless love and pray for those who persecute them. The cardinal, head of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, made his remarks in a series of homilies and talks Jan. 7-10 while visiting Jerusalem and two parishes in Jordan. The cardinal sent Catholic News Service in Rome his texts before his visit.
In his Jan. 9 homily at the parish in Madaba, Jordan, the cardinal wrote, "In an age and in a land where so many people seem to live by the ‘lex talionis’ — an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth — it is extremely important for us as Christians to give an example of selfless love."
He wrote it was important not just to pray for one’s own loved ones, but also "for those who sometimes seem to treat us unjustly."
In his Jan. 10 homily at the parish in Zerka, Jordan, the cardinal expressed his joy at being able to celebrate Mass with the faithful who were "descendants of the first followers of Our Lord and savior Jesus Christ."
He said St. John the Apostle wrote that anyone who loves God must also love his neighbor. The saint said anyone who cannot love a person he can see "cannot love God whom he has never seen," the cardinal added.
"This is our best means of evangelization: our faithfulness to God — keeping his commandments — and our love for our brothers," Cardinal Foley wrote.
The Philadelphia native noted that the historic name of the Jordanian capital, Amman, was also Philadelphia, which means "a city of brotherly love."
Christians should strive to create "a city of brotherly love," that is, communities of "forgiveness, reconciliation and love," that are unmarked by violence, hatred or resentment, he wrote.
During his visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, Cardinal Foley prayed that all Christians would "come together in greater unity and that all believers in the one, true God may be united in peace and in mutual respect."
As grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, Cardinal Foley assists knights from around the world in fulfilling their commitment to the chivalric organization, which is dedicated to supporting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and to responding to the needs of Catholics in the Holy Land.
