Tag Archives: Beit Jala

In the Olive Garden with Ibrahim

10 Nov

Below is an article about Father Ibrahim Shomali and the Christians of Beit Jala. It appears on the website of the Latin Patriarchate Jerusalem (the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jerusalem).

Father Ibrahim is the parish priest of Annunciation Church in Beit Jala. St. Andrew parish is in a twinning relationship with his parish, and our SASEAS school is in a twinning relationship with his parish school. Father Ibrahim will be visiting us in Milford in December, and will be with us for Sunday Mass, ensha’allah. Next June I will visit him in Beit Jala, and will celebrate Mass with him in the olive field of Beit Jala, God willing.

Beit Jala Christians pray to stop wall

Christians of Beit Jala attended an open-air Mass on Friday, November 4th to pray together against the Israeli decision to confiscate a part of their land. The Israeli government intends to extend the separation wall at the entrance of the Cremisan valley.

To protest against this decision, faithful gathered with the Pastor of Beit Jala, Father Ibrahim Shomali and Father Mario Corniole for an open-air Mass. An Israeli committee approved a plan to build 1,100 new houses on the south slopes of Gilo last September. To do this, the route of the wall “will confiscate land belonging to Christian people and Christian church,” reports a statement of the Latin parish. The idea is simple: protesting not by violence but by prayer. In the same statement, the parish priest and Christians of Beit Jala denounce “the  confiscation [by Israel] of the last green area in Beit Jala (Bethlehem district)”, considering “the annexation of the most beautiful lands in the Bethlehem area as a direct attack against the Palestinian people and especially  against Palestinian Christians.”

Soliciting members of the Quartet for the Middle East – including the United Nations, the Russian Federation, the United States and the European Union – and also calling upon the rest of the international community, the parish of Beit Jala called President Mahmoud Abbas’ government, the Latin Patriarchate and the civil society to do “everything possible to keep the land in the hands of its rightful owners.”

In the light of the message from Synod for the Middle East last year regarding the Christian presence in the Holy Land: “It is Church’s duty to support our presence. Therefore, we call the Holy See and Pope Benedict XVI to act  immediately, using all possible means to help protect our people.”

The Mass was celebrated in a field of olive trees which will probably be cut and uprooted. As recalled by Father Mario Corniole, olives were silent witnesses of Jesus’ suffering and agony in Gethsemane. Thus, Beit Jala parishioners attached to their land and their olive trees will meet every Friday on this “Gethésménai” where they still live in fear, but also with the hope that their land will always be respected.

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آمين‎ and Amen

23 Oct

The message was one of HOPE. The prayer was for PEACE.

This time the children of our Catholic school at St. Andrew-Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton prayed the rosary not just “for” our sisters and brothers in the Holy Land. They prayed “with” their brothers and sisters of the Holy Land, during the visit of four Palestinian teachers from the Holy Land.

Each decade of the rosary on the wall and in their hands was a different color. For each decade there was a different intention and reflection. 

The first mystery of the five decade rosary was the “Visit of the Magi.” The color was green. The symbol was hope. The language was English.

The second mystery was “Jesus Speaks with the Samaritan Woman.” Appropriately, it was prayed in Arabic by the teacher from Nablus, the site of Jacob’s well, from which the teacher and her students still drink. The symbol was peace and unity; the color was blue.

Back to English, the third mystery, “Jesus Cures the Centurion’s Servant,” with white being the color, carried with it a message of healing, light and understanding.

The teacher from Beit Jala (Bethlehem) led the fourth mystery, “Jesus Sends Out His Disciples,” with its symbol of the Holy Spirit and its color of red.

The children finished with the fifth mystery in English, “The Conversion of Paul.” The yellow beads of the decade brought with them thoughts of optimism and joy.

At the end of each Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be there was an Amen, heard in English and in Arabic. The sound of “Amen” in English is not much different from the sound of “Ameen” in Arabic. In the praying, the children realized that the teachers from the Holy Land were not much different from the teachers in their own classrooms. The visiting teachers probably saw in the faces and voices of our students the hopes and dreams of their own students back home in Nablus and Beit Jala.  

آمين‎ and Amen.

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Consider This Clermont: Palestinian Educators

23 Oct

Thank you, Theresa, Kellie and John!

Our local “Milford-Miami Advertiser” reported twice, with photos, on the visit of the Palestinian Educators to Milford. Enough thanks cannot be given to Theresa Herron, editor, and to reporters Kellie Geist-May and John Seney. They and their Community Press could not have done more.  

photo: John Seney/The Community Press

“Palestinian educators share experiences” by John Seney was published on October 13, with accompanying photos of the children and classrooms of the St. Andrew campus of SASEAS school. Take a look and read by clicking on the title.

 photo: John Seney/The Community Press

“Palestinian educators to partner with Milford, Cincinnati teachers” was published on September 23. Clicking on the headline will take you to Kellie Geist-May’s article.

photo: John Seney/The Community Press

If you want to express your appreciation, here are their email addresses: therron@communitypress.com
(Theresa Herron), kmay@communitypress.com (Kellie Geist-May) and jseney@communitypress.com
(John Seney).

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You Raise My Head

4 Oct

On this date eight years ago I first met Issa, Tamer, Tamara, Ranim and Mary in the schoolyard in Beit Jala. I had gone to the Bethlehem-area school to meet their families to give them my assurance that we would take care of their children. I thanked the five sets of parents for trusting me with their 8th graders, the youngest of them just 12 years old.

The Palestinian Christian children left their homes in the West Bank, came to Milford, stayed for just six weeks, and changed my life forever. They are all now back home, in their fourth year of college. I am as proud as any grandparent could ever be.

Happy anniversary, kids. I wish that I could say it to you in Arabic, but this is the best that I can do …. You raise my head!

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