Tags: apartheid wall, Blessed Mother, Christians in the Holy Land, HOPE (Holy Land Outreach to Palestinian Educators), Palestinian Christians, security wall, Separation Wall, Virgin Mary
Tag Archives: Palestinian Christians
محادثة “skype” مع مدرسة “Saint Andrew”
1 Mar
On February 28 students from Saint Joseph School in Nablus, in the West Bank of Palestine, visited by Skype with 6th graders from St. Andrew-St. Elizabeth Ann Seton school in Milford, Ohio.
Students from the two Catholic schools were 6,000 miles away, but technology brought them together to see each other’s smiles and to hear each other’s voices.
As one of the Palestinian students sat close to the computer, the others in the classroom watched on a large screen. They saw our students sitting in the hall below our church. Note in the bottom right corner of the next photo: in Palestine it was 420 p.m. The students had finished their school day, had gone home to eat the main meal of the day, and returned, yes, returned to school in order to meet our students who were just beginning their school day at 9:20 a.m.
In the classroom with the students … 
… were Miss Abeer, their Principal, and Miss Ruya, their English teacher. Both Miss Abeer and Miss Ruya had visited our school last October. Our 6th grade teacher at St. Andrew, Mrs. Barbara Ambs, worked out the details of the online visit with Miss Ruya. They each prepared their own students, and pulled off this miracle visit, not giving up, even after technological problems forced them to cancel the first two attempts.
And look who else was in the classroom in Nablus: Father Johnny, the parish priest of St. Joseph.
A Palestinian girl asked her question. She spoke in English. She and her classmates began studying English in the first grade – and French, too. Notice the piece of paper. Isn’t that cute? She had her question ready.
Then she smiled, as she got an answer from her new American friend, who also spoke in English, of course. It would have been a very short visit and conversation, if our students needed to speak in Arabic.
It was fun for all: students, teacher and parish priest – on both sides.
This smile says it all. It’s for the children!
“We are not killing, fighting, just praying”
27 Feb
One day I will celebrate Mass on a Friday afternoon in an olive grove in Beit Jala with Father Ibrahim Shomali in prayerful protest of the land confiscation and the building of the separation wall at the Cremisan monastery, ensha’allah (God willing).
Father Shomali is the parish priest of the Catholic Church of the Annunciation, in which I have celebrated Mass on several occasions. I have enjoyed the hospitality of the Latin Patriarchate seminary, which is connected to the parish church in Beit Jala, and at which I have been honored to speak to the new seminarians under the care of Father Faysal Hijazeen shortly after their arrival for the new school year. I have visited the children and teachers at the Latin Patriarchate School on numerous occasions, and in 2008 I was humbled and delighted with an invitation to address the high school graduates and their families at the graduation ceremony on the outdoor plaza overlooking Bethlehem. I have walked from the Beit Jala parish to the Cremisan monastery to buy wine to bring home with me. I know Beit Jala. I know the people of Beit Jala and I know Father Ibrahim, and am blessed to be able to call them my friends.
They need my prayers – and yours! They deserve my attention – and yours!
At the Friday afternoon Mass they are not killing, fighting – just praying.
17 say “yes” for the children
20 Feb 
Photos by Mark Bowen/HOPE
Since the initial planning of a working-pilgrimage of teachers from schools in our archdiocese to the Holy Land, situations in the Middle East have worsened, particularly in Syria and in relation to Iran.
In the midst of a flurry of emails with information, questions and concerns, a few (4) pilgrim-teachers have decided to delay their visit until 2013. But the majority has recommitted themselves to make the trip. The educators, under the auspices of HOPE (Holy Land Outreach to Palestinian Educators) will spend a significant amount of time learning with teachers from Catholic schools in the Holy Land, in addition to visiting the holy sites.
In renewing her decision, one of our pilgrims spoke for herself and another, “We figure we should make our decision based on the reality of today and not on what might or might not happen in the future. We will trust that, if God wants us to go, He’ll provide the safe path for us to travel.”
HOPE leaders and participants have believed, since the beginning of the project, that “it’s God’s project” and “it’s for the children.” It will be an honor for me to be with them as their chaplain.
Photos by Mark Bowen/HOPE
C-D at BU
31 Jan
During a Holy Land pilgrimage with a group of 50 archdiocesan priests Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan of New York visited Bethlehem University.
Catholic News Service reports the visit in their online “New York cardinal-designate: Bethlehem U. helps build culture of peace.”
While at the university, the priests met with students who told about their experiences as Palestinians.
“Opportunities for work in Palestine are very limited,” noted third-year accounting and business administration student Christina Jueejet, 20, of Beit Sahour, West Bank. “There are a lot of educated people, but not enough jobs. We can only look for jobs in a limited area, in the West Bank, not even in Jerusalem.”
Father Andrew Carrozza of St. Ann’s Parish in Yonkers, New York, said he was humbled listening to the students’ experiences and struggles to receive an education, including having to go through checkpoints and border crossings to get to school. It made the priests take stock of everything they had taken for granted during their own college studies, he said.
at station #5 and #12
23 Jan
In honor of our partnership with the Holy Land, our St. Andrew Welcome Connection – the committee of parishioners who welcome new parishioners – gives to every new member an olive wood rosary. In our partnership and in our prayer we hope to help the Christians in the Holy Land, so that they will know that they do not carry their cross all by themselves.
This message is with the rosary:
This rosary was made by the Rosary Makers of St. Andrew Parish using olivewood beads from the Holy Land. The beads were shaped by Palestinian hands in and around Bethlehem. The knots tied in the cord were made by the hands of a member of St. Andrew who lives in or around Milford. This rosary is a symbol of the partnership between the Christians of St. Andrew Parish in Milford and the Christians of Annunciation Parish in Beit Jala, Palestine.
We hope that every time you use this rosary, you say a prayer for our Christian brothers and sisters in Beit Jala.
“We notice around your church the Stations of the Cross…You are at station number 12 – you are being crucified with Christ. We are at station number 5 – we can be Simon of Cyrene for you to help you carry your cross” (from a homily given by Father Rob Waller at Annunciation Church, Beit Jala, Palestine, July 18, 2005).
the “we” will mean something different
11 JanAt the end of our first two-hour session, with our minds on our June 2012 Pilgrimage of Hope to the Holy Land, we sang “The Servant Song.” We will sing this hymn often, as we continue to prepare “for” pilgrimage together in June, and as we remember that we are already “on” pilgrimage together right now.
When we arrive in the Holy Land, we will sing this hymn with our brother and sister Christians in Jordan, Israel and Palestine. Imagine the feel of the words, as we alternate verses between the Americans and the Arabs. The “we” will mean something different to us then. The hymn will take on new meaning.
Will you let me be your servant?
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I may have the grace,
To let you be my servant, too.
We are pilgrims on a journey,
We are brothers on the road.
We are here to help each other,
Walk the mile and bear the load.
I will hold the Christ light for you,
In the night-time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you,
Speak the peace you long to hear.
I will weep when you are weeping,
When you laugh I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow,
Till we’ve seen this journey through.
When we sing to God in heaven,
We shall find such harmony.
Born of all we’ve known together,
Of Christ’s love and agony.
Will you let me be your servant?
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I may have the grace,
To let you be my servant, too.
to Our Lady of Palestine
10 JanThe preparations for the next HOPE (Holy Land Outreach to Palestinian Educators) pilgrimage have begun. Twenty-two of us, more than half of them teachers themselves, will visit and interact with teachers and administrators in the Latin Patriarchate schools in Jordan, Israel and Palestine.
This pilgrimage is the third step in what is hoped will be a lasting relationship. American teachers have been to the Holy Land. Holy Land teachers have been to America. With this pilgrimage, the partnership in learning continues: another group of American teachers will be on their way to the Holy Land in June 2012.
At the very beginning of our preparation, we prayed a “Prayer to Our Lady of Palestine.”
O Mary Immaculate,
gracious Queen of Heaven and of Earth,
behold us prostrate before thy exalted throne.
Full of confidence in thy goodness
and in thy boundless power,
we beseech thee to turn a pitying glance upon Palestine,
which more than any other country belongs to thee,
since thou hast graced it with thy birth,
thy virtues and thy sorrows,
and from there hast given the Redeemer to the world.
Remember that there especially
thou wert constituted our tender Mother,
the dispenser of graces.
Watch, therefore, with special protection
over thy native country,
scatter from it the shades of error,
for it was there the Sun of Eternal Justice shone.
Bring about the speedy fulfillment of the promise,
which issued from the lips of Thy Divine Son,
that there should be one fold and one Shepherd.
Obtain for us all that we may serve the Lord
in sanctity and justice during the days of our life,
so that, by the merits of Jesus
and with thy motherly aid,
we may pass at last from this earthly Jerusalem
to the splendors of the heavenly one.
Amen.
“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.
See how they shove one another
29 Dec
There was a “fight” between the Greek Orthodox and the Armenians in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on December 28. Some 50-60 priests and monks were swinging broomsticks at each other, until Palestinian police came in to break it up.
The fight started while they were cleaning the church. It often happens between the three religious denominations that have rights and services within the church. There is a principle that asserts that “if you clean it, it must be yours.” The Greeks and the Armenians have certain sections of the church that are under their authority. Apparently, someone was sweeping a spot that belonged to the other, or at least so it must have been charged.
Fortunately, from the Catholic point of view, the Franciscans were not involved in this one.
Father James Martin, S.J. cleverly commented, “See how they shove one another.”
With Open Doors 