Bishop Larry J. Kulick celebrated Holy Mass at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg today, and asked the faithful to follow the appeal of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for prayer and fasting for peace in the Holy Land. 

“Peace and justice must be restored in the Holy Land,” Bishop Kulick said. “That’s why we must turn to God. He is our only true hope for peace.”

Bishop Kulick said prayer and fasting are not just part of the Christian tradition, but they are at the heart of the three great monotheistic religions of the world: Jewish, Christian and Muslim. He said all of these religions see and believe in the fruit of the rewards that come from prayer and fasting and that reminds us that humanity on its own cannot accomplish anything without the grace, the blessings and the sustenance given to us by God. 

“The people of the Holy Land, whether Jewish, Muslim, or Christian, are being horrifically affected by the present situation of war, injustice, division, violence and atrocity. And all of those groups of people are impacted and experiencing evil that does not come from God. The evil comes from Satan himself. Think about that original fall of humanity. In all three religions, they go back to Satan’s temptation. And what is at the heart of the fall? Envy. Jealousy. Greed. And when we think about that, what does the Devil himself love the most?  Division. Darkness. Death. My dear brothers and sisters, the Devil revels in war. It is for him, the Apex of conflict, division, and antagonism between the creative beings that God made in his image and likeness, to which the Devil himself is so jealous, because he himself is not human. This is why Pope Francis called for this day, but we must also daily take up the greatest arms we have: prayer and fasting.”