ON that first Good Friday, almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth was – to the passers-by – just another criminal who had fallen foul of the brutal Roman occupation and would die on a cross on a lonely hill on the outskirts of the city.

But three days later, when his friends reported that he had risen from the dead and began appearing to them, it set in motion a journey of faith that has shaped world history ever since.

Today, about one in three people in the world describes themselves as Christian, and many of our societies – even when they protest that they are secular – are shaped by fundamental Christian values.

Jesus came to the Middle East at a time of turmoil, and his death changed the world forever. But it would be a mistake to see Calvary as a faraway setting for a story of 20 centuries ago.

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All across the Middle East today, people live under the shadow of the cross and many who are living their own long Good Friday must surely wonder if the light of Easter will ever penetrate the darkness.

In Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Israel and other parts of the region, families huddle together wondering – as they hear the sound of the drone or ballistic missile – if it is their home that will be blasted into oblivion.

We hear headlines in the news that millions of people have been told to evacuate to avoid getting hurt, as if fleeing their homes with nothing and nowhere to go is just a normal variable in our world today. A world where the logic goes that ‘might is right’, and the poor and the powerless are just pawns in a grotesque parody of a video game.

At a time when world leaders are cutting back spending on life-saving development aid and vital public services for those on the margins of society, the drums of war grow louder and louder and the blank cheques for military spending multiply.

In the midst of so much pain and suffering, where is the hope? The story of the crucifixion, death, burial and eventual resurrection from the dead of Jesus teaches us that violence and death do not have the final word.

In Gaza this Holy Week, the small Catholic community at Holy Family Parish will hold a modest ‘Way of the Cross’ amidst the rubble of what used to be their homes.

For them, the cross is no pious symbol or a fashion accessory for a pop star – they live the cross every single day. Their homes are destroyed, and their hearts are broken – but their faith and sense of community remain unbroken.

In a worldly sense, Christianity didn’t have a promising start. At the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, the disciples realised they would lose Jesus. Later, they would deny him, run away and their fragile little community would collapse.

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons that success is traditionally not seen as a Christian virtue. Faithfulness and perseverance are what matters.

In a world filled with bloodshed and a desire for vengeance and retribution, Christ’s radical message of forgiveness on the cross is a counter-cultural lesson that would bring a much-needed balm to our troubled world today.

The message of “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” stands in stark contrast to the noisy and ostentatious posturing that has become the stuff of international diplomacy in 2026.

Yet, the one thing our communities and our wider world needs now more than ever is forgiveness, and the chance to start again.

In our social media-dominated culture, it seems that everything is permitted but nothing – nothing – is forgiven. A youthful misjudgement is enough to ruin an impressionable young person for life, and no amount of apologies and penance can calm the hounding.

How many people today are crucified by cruel words, or a harsh online critique? Their confidence left in tatters, as the bullies rampage on to their next victim.

Christ emerges from Holy Week as the classic innocent man, who has the sins of others hung around his neck and loses his life as a result.

And yet, his powerful message of forgiveness and encouragement to “do good to those who hate you” offer a transformative vision for a society that values everyone, and where no-one is left behind.

The famous British writer GK Chesterton was a stout defender of a Christian underpinning for a just society. “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; rather, it has been found difficult and left untried,” he said, arguing that Christianity’s failure lies in its application, not its principles.

If we’re honest, Christianity’s high demands are avoided, not deemed insufficient.

Holy Week and Easter might be a good time to refocus.

Michael Kelly is director of public affairs for the charity Aid to the Church in Need, which supports struggling communities around the world including in Gaza and Lebanon.

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