Dear Christian friends,

The Jews are our elder brothers in the faith, they “who have hoped in advance in Christ” (Eph 1, 12), they who are “the olive tree” on which we, the pagans that we were, have been grafted from our “wild olive tree” (cf. Rom 11, 16-24).

The most fervent of our Jewish brothers and sisters tirelessly hope for the Coming of the Messiah. All over the world, they are going to unanimously call for his Coming on February 21st at 4 p.m. (GMT), that is, at 5 p.m. in Western Europe (CET), and 12 noon in New York (US-EST). They will cry out their expectations, beg God to finally send them the “Messiah” (in Hebrew), the “Anointed” of the Lord (in French), the “Christ” (in Greek).

We Christians firmly believe that the Messiah has already come in the person of Jesus (cf. Mt 16:16). On Sunday, February 21 at 5:00 p.m. (CET / Paris time),nonetheless, we can wholeheartedly join in the cry of our Jewish brothers and sisters. They will implore his coming. And we will implore his new Coming in glory, his Parousia (cf. Rev 22:17, 20). All of us united in the same hope for the salvation of the world: “Maranatha”!

Let us not miss this opportunity to humbly claim from the Lord, a “Coming” that the world very much needs for its conversion, and its healing!

To join in this process of hope, you can pray together Our Lord’s prayer (“Our Father”), emphasizing the second request: “May thy Kingdom come!”

Or you can pray together for the anamnesis which, at Mass, follows the consecration:

“Glory to you who were dead,
glory to you who are alive,
our Savior and our God:
Come, Lord Jesus!”

+ André Léonard,
Archbishop Emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels (Belgium).