A strong contribution grappling with reality today, when the extravagances of this present festival may blind us. Peter

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Frank Gelli from Frank’s Newsletter <frankgelli@substack.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2025 at 17:27
Subject: I IN GAZA
To: <peterchallen@googlemail.com>

I IN GAZA – Christmas Eve In Palestine – FRANK GELLI – 24th December 2025 – READ IN APP 

Christmas Eve in Gaza, with my few but resolute fellow Christians. I stand by the tree in the Princess Basma Centre. Ruins, rubble and devastation all around. A scene to make you weep and despair? No! ‘Frank, pray for our poor Gaza’, friend Ali tells me: ‘But fear not. We shall not be defeated! Shaytan will not triumph!’ He assures me that you can stand amongst the ruins and still trust in a final victory…If God wills. (Why does Julius Evola’s book – ‘Men amongst the ruins’ – spring to mind?’)

I am in Gaza not physically but in spirit. I am here in solidarity with the martyrs, the heroes, the resisters. I see little Greta Thunberg standing by me, defying grinning, genocide-happy Netanyahu and his goons, their hands dripping with innocent Palestinian blood. The folks near me bear the marks of long suffering, illness and starvation but they are not cowed. They are defiant. ‘God is with us. The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus Christ is with us’. With God on our side, we shall overcome!’ they proudly proclaim.

Near me are also Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Che Guevara, Father Camilo Torres and a host of others. ‘Wot! Apostles of non-violence alongside armed fighters, advocates of a violent revolution? Isn’t that a glaring contradiction? You are getting carried away, Fr Frank’, a voice whispers in my ear. I respond: ‘What’s so wrong with a contradiction? Aren’t I myself a contradictory guy? A priest, a follower of the Messiah who didn’t strike back when struck, who let himself be nailed to a cross rather that unleash a host of angels on his enemies, a pussy-cat priest who praises the forceful freedom fighters in Palestine and everywhere else? Long live my glorious contradictions!

I suddenly notice another figure in our midst. A beautiful young man with a radiant face and a golden crown. His tunic is stained with blood and I discern the marks of the stigmata, where his body was pierced when nailed to the cross. Despite the transcendent serenity of his visage, I recognise his supernatural anger at the sight of so much pain, so many horrors, so much man-inflicted killings in the ruins of this ancient port. The Prince of Peace and the anger of God. Isn’t that the greatest contradiction? I recall his fiery words in St John’s Gospel: ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.’ Yes, the Lord’s peace is of a very special kind. It is not the peace that allows scoundrels and mass murderers like Netanyahu to get way with their crimes. It is a fighting peace, a peace that indeed passes all understanding.

This combative Jesus who stands amongst me and all the martyrs amidst the ruins of Gaza is not like the figure described by Dostoevsky in ‘Brothers Karamazov’, the story of the Great Inquisitor. This Jesus is not an imaginary, other-worldly fantasy. He is the real Jesus of Nazareth, a leader from Heaven to aid all humanity. The champions of the oppressed, the victims, the exploited, the down-trodden.This Jesus is not the soppy meek and mild caricature in some church hymns. He is the fighting, awesome Messiah of the alternative Carol Service for Gaza which I led in Covent Garden the other day. This Jesus marches along with all the Christians and Muslims in Gaza, promising that he’ll soon judge the world. Then the wicked will perish and the righteous will gain eternal life! Amen!

A merry Christmas to you all!Revd Frank Julian GelliFrank’s Newsletter is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Frank’s Newsletter that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won’t be charged unless they enable payments.

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