Pope Francis – Well Done!

On Sunday, during his sermon at mass, Pope Francis made an historic invitation.On his way to celebrate mass in Bethlehem, Pope Francis made an unexpected stop at the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank of Palestine.  With his hand on the wall he prayed before going on to his appointed destination at Manger Square.

During mass he surprised everyone with this invitation:

“In this place where the Prince of Peace was born, I wish to invite you, President Mahmoud Abbas, and President Shimon Peres, to raise together with me an intense prayer to God for the gift of peace. And I offer my house in the Vatican to host you in this encounter of prayer.”

His invitation was unexpected to be sure, but the response was just as unexpected…Within an hour both men had said “yes” to Pope Francis’ invitation to join with him at the Vatican in a prayer for peace.  Since President Peres leaves office in a couple of months, this meeting will most certainly be soon.

As TIME magazine so rightly put it: “This is a pope who understands the power of his position, and knows how to wield it with disarming humility.”

Bringing the leaders of two long standing enemies together, not just to talk about peace, but to pray for it, demands a response from us.  And our response is a resounding “Well Done Pope Francis…WELL DONE!!!”