Valley of Josafat -- Valley of Tears

Standing before you today, I wish to acknowledge the difficulties, the frustration, and the pain and suffering which so many of you have endured as a result of the conflicts which have afflicted these lands, and the bitter experiences of displacement which so many of your families have known and – God forbid – may yet know. I hope my presence here is a sign that you are not forgotten, that your persevering presence and witness are indeed precious in God’s eyes and integral to the future of these lands.

In his homily today, Pope Benedict XVI spoke to those "in an unbroken line with those first disciples who encountered the Risen Lord," those whom Patriarch Fouad had focused on in his opening remarks to the Holy Father, decrying the violence the Palestinians suffer today from the Israelis, and the suffering of the Jewish people who live in a land so far from peace.

Benedict also pointed to the unique privilege of those who live here: "Here, like the Apostle Saint Thomas, you are granted the opportunity to “touch” the historical realities which underlie our confession of faith in the Son of God."

The Pope's words in the Valley of Decision are words to us as well: "let us . . . pray that every “heavy stone” that stands before the door of our hearts, blocking our complete surrender to the Lord in faith, hope and love, may be shattered by the power of the light and life which shone forth from Jerusalem to all the world that first Easter morn."