Tag Archives: Christmas

Issa, Mary and Joseph in Beit Jala

24 Dec

In accord with a “sleep in heavenly peace” tradition of mine, I fell asleep last night and will fall asleep tonight (Christmas Eve) and tomorrow night (Christmas Day) listening to some of favorite Christmas songs, in the glow of a laser cut photo of “my kids from Beit Jala” on the dresser across the room.

My iPod’s strange bed fellows include Bruce Cockburn, Celtic Woman, Cincinnati Pops, Hayley Westenra, Josh Groban, Kathy Mattea, Roisin Dempsey, Sissel, Tine Thing Helseth, The Roches and Becky Kelley.

Eventually the music stops, but the kids light up my entire night, as they light up my every Christmas, as they have lighted up my whole life. Nine  years ago, Issa, Mary, Ranim, Tamara and Tamer came as 8th graders from Beit Jala (Bethlehem) to visit us here in Milford. They have returned home and have already graduated from college. But they remain forever in my heart, and will always be “my children” to me.

These children, okay, these young adults, still have their homes in “the little town of Bethlehem.”

With the seven hour time difference, and with all of us being Christians, and being at Mass and with family, it is difficult to make connections by phone. But I will try. I might have to leave a message for Mary. I hope to make contact with Joseph, who is Ranim’s father. I must … I have to talk with … or at least a message for … Issa. “Issa” is “Jesus” in Arabic.

How can I let Christmas pass, without being in contact with Issa, Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem?

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‘Tis the Season for Big Surprises

21 Dec

Right before leaving for a few days away, one of my friends told me that she couldn’t figure out what they (she and her husband) could get me for Christmas. I said, “Nothing. Don’t get me anything. I don’t need anything.” She said, “I knew you’d say that.”

My being away took me up toward Deerfield Village in Michigan and to what I call Arab-Dearborn. There was a huge mall a mile and a half away from the Drury Inn where I was staying. It would be a nice place to walk on a cold day. It might give me an answer to Susan’s question.

The mall was three floors high, with a skywalk that connected to another building of two floors. There had to be an idea in there somewhere.  

photo skywalkIn the main gathering area was a castle

photo castlein honor of you know who.

photo santaWatching all the parents hugging, kissing and primping the children, getting them ready for a photo with Santa, I saw them as an image of God and us, and I wondered what the God-version of “slobber kisses” and “mom spit” might be. I noticed, too, that each mom or granddad protected, pranced about and played with their own offspring as if their child was the only one that existed or mattered in the whole wide world. There seems to be an image of the divine in there, too.

The sound was “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” The smell, at first I couldn’t identify it but it seemed to be pumped into the air, was caramel popcorn, I think. The food court had a marquis that boasted of “more than 12 kinds of Mac n’ Cheez!”

photo mac

My favorites of all the stores, the only two that I actually entered, were Brookstone, filled with fun things like a hand-held digital luggage scale and a bunch of other things that I did not need, and Sur la Table, with gadgets of all kinds, but not the cheap, plastic orange peeler that I thought I might find.

The name of one of the stores startled me. How in the world could this name make any sense?

photo real religionA store named “True Religion.”  Really?

This window message made better sense.

photo surprise“Tis the Season for Big Surprises.” Yes, what surprise does God have in store (pun intended) for each of us this season?

Of all the windows, in which were showcased models and mannequins (more or less clothed), this store most caught my attention.

photo destinationThe woman in this poster was the most beautiful.

photo preg closeIn her I saw the face and the form of all the young women in the parish carrying children. I whispered a prayer for all those women who long to arrive at maternity (“destination maternity” was the name of teh staore) but have not yet been so blessed. It was an Advent poster and prayer, of sorts.

After walking the entire mall on two different days, and looking at the windows of all the stores, I came up with an answer to my friend’s question. I didn’t see anything I needed for Christmas.

She knew I’d say that.

 

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“You read it in the Enquirer”

30 Dec

Pat Davis of Hebron, Kentucly, is the wife of U.S. Representative Geoff Davis, R-Kentucky. Her guest column, Shock, inspiration in Holy Land, appeared in the online version of the Cincinnati Enquirer at 1:31 PM, Dec. 28, 2011.

Gary Greenberg, president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, responded with his guest column, Israel’s many peace efforts thwarted, at 9:22 AM, Dec. 29, 2011.

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the Joy and Hope of being Remembered

28 Dec

Mr. Waseim, the computer teacher at the Latin Patriarchate School in Beit Jala (Bethlehem) had visited with us in November, along with other teachers and school personnel from the West Bank (Palestine), Israel and Jordan.

At Christmas he sent to us a photo of the candles that he lighted in Bethlehem. The first one (in the photo above) is for “Father Rob” and the fourth is for “St. Andrew parish.” The fifth one is for our school and his school. The last one is in thankful memory of all the people he met in the USA. Candle two and three are for Nancy and JoAnne, two of our parishioners here at St. Andrew who spent a great deal of love – and sweat and blood – preparing for the visit of the teachers and dealing with all the intricacies and details during their days with us.

At Midnight Mass here at St. Andrew we lighted a peace candle for them. I had purchased the peace-dove at the Catholic parish in Taybeh in the West Bank, and brought it back with me for this purpose on this night.

Our hope is that it was as good for our friends in the Holy Land to know that we remembered them as it was for us to know that they remembered us in the very town where Jesus was born on the very night on which we celebrate his birth.

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a healthy and holy thing to do on Christmas

27 Dec

Our goal was to make everyone as welcome and as comfortable at Christmas Masses as possible, by having ready for them a worship aid in which the “new words and chants” would follow one page after another, along with every song and response. We think we succeeded. It was expensive – and worth it. On the opening page was a message from yours truly.

Merry Christmas!

Look around you and feel the anticipation and excitement in the air. All these people share your longing for healing and hope on this holy day.

For just a couple weeks now, we have been using, as all the Catholic parishes in the whole English-speaking world have been using, a new translation of the Mass prayers and responses. We are all new to this adventure. None of us are used to the changes yet, including me. We are all fumbling and stumbling our way through the new texts and chants. In this Mass, in the midst of inevitable missed cues, we will have occasions to smile while we pray, which is a healthy and holy thing to do on Christmas.

This booklet has been created just for you, to help make this Christmas one of your best ever. In your hand you have everything you need to pray the prayers and sing the songs of this Christmas Mass.

Among the new words of the Mass, we say this: I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ … For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was “incarnate” of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

It is the feast of the Incarnation, the feast of the “incarnate” God. God took on human flesh. Be filled with joy!

Father Rob Waller, Pastor

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Bethlehem: “Let us tear down the walls”

26 Dec

Below are excerpts of the 2011 Christmas homily of His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, close to the Holy Grotto where the Virgin Mary swaddled her son and laid him in a manger. The full text is on the website of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

– The song of the angels in the sky above Bethlehem more than two thousand years ago still echoes: “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth.”

– If we glorify God, we shall enjoy his peace. If we glorify ourselves, we shall be denied this peace.

– Among all the continents and countries of the world, God chose Palestine, our beloved land, to be the homeland of the Saviour … and so, we are duty-bound to follow the host of angels in forever repeating: “Glory to God in the highest”.

– We are one with our people, for their suffering … their hopes are our own.

– We hope that, with the grace of God and with the support of people of goodwill, the physical and psychological walls that men build around themselves may disappear. God wants bridges that unite rather than walls that separate that which God has united. Dear brothers and sisters let us tear down the walls of our hearts in order to tear down walls of concrete!

– We ask that the road travelled by our ancestors – the Magi and the shepherds – to Bethlehem should remain open, without barriers or hindrance, open to the pilgrims of the whole world, including the Arab world.

– And on this holy night, the children of the Holy Land, fellow citizens of the Infant Jesus, beg us: “Let us grow up as normal children, grant us the time to play in the squares and market places of our towns and villages far from political intrigue.”

– O Child of Bethlehem, in this New Year, we place in your hands this troubled Middle East and, above all, our youth full of legitimate aspirations, who are frustrated by the economic and political situation, and in search of a better future. We implore you to grant their wishes and fill their hearts with courage and wisdom together with a spirit of responsibility.

+ Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

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U.S. Bishops Express Solidarity with the Church of the Holy Land

23 Dec

In a letter sent to His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed solidarity and ecclesial communion with the Church of the Holy Land.

December 22, 2011

Your Beatitude:

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, the great Feast of the Incarnation of our God into human history, our thoughts turn to Bethlehem as did the shepherds and wise men of two millennia ago. A vulnerable Child was born in a stable, a Child whose death was sought by King Herod. In a special way, the Christ Child symbolizes the vulnerable community of today that bears His Name.

Our Conference of Bishops is acutely aware that the Churches of the Middle East are caught in situations of conflict and violence that have put enormous strains on the ancient Christian presence there.

As you have frequently affirmed, the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict needs a two-state solution: a recognized and secure Israel living alongside a viable and independent Palestinian state. We are also mindful of the suffering of the Church in Iraq where Christians are disproportionately represented among refugees, persons displaced from their homes, as well as victims of violence. We are anxious too for Christians who are being threatened in Egypt and other countries of the region and our world.

Please be assured as the Church in the United States celebrates the birth of Emmanuel, God with us, that we are with you. Our prayerful solidarity extends to all persecuted persons throughout the world, but in a particular way to our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering in the region of our Savior’s birth.

With hope born of faith as we approach the Christmas Season,

Fraternally in Christ,

Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop of New York
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Most Reverend Richard E. Pates
Bishop of Des Moines
Chairman, International Justice and Peace

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2011 Christmas Message: Latin Patriarch Jerusalem

23 Dec

During a press conference on Wednesday, December 21, 2011, His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem delivered his Christmas Message in the presence of his Patriarchal Vicars. Below are two paragraphs from the text.

Arab Spring and situation of Christians

I would like to go back to current events, to situations that we continue to follow closely, to what happened and is happening in the Arab countries. I have always defended the changes taking place in favor of freedom and democracy. I have repeatedly emphasized that Christians are not excluded from these movements. That said, I fervently hope that human rights and the dignity of each individual are respected. I also hope and pray that the competent authorities make every effort to calm the spirits without violence, and to protect the minorities who are an integral part of the population in the region. We must grasp this moment of opportunity to build a new society based on equal citizenship for all. The Catholic Patriarchs of the East together have asked our faithful to set a day of prayer for reconciliation and peace in the Middle East.

Application to the UN for membership of a State of Palestine

We want a just and comprehensive peace to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We adhere to the position taken by the Holy See, clearly acknowledging the two-state solution with security and internationally recognized borders. I often say that to be with one of the parties does not mean to be against the other. We are for the welfare and interests of the whole world: peace, security, mutual respect and dignity. The journey has begun but the process is long and tedious. I firmly believe and even more today, that negotiation is the best way to resolve the conflict.

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