CHRISTMAS MESSAGES 2003

LATIN PATRIARCHATE OF JERUSALEM

Christmas Message, 2003

Once again we are preparing to welcome the Christmas feast and its joy in the midst of the very same trials that continue to assail us year after year. Despite this, and in the midst of these trials, at Christmas we seek to hear the angel announce to the shepherds of Bethlehem and to us as well: “Do not be afraid. Listen, I bring you news of great joy… a Savior has been born for you” (Lk 2:10-11).

In this world, leaders speak peace and make war. The word of the prophet applies well to our times: “They have mislead my people by saying “Peace,” when there is no peace” (Ez 13:10, Jr 6:14). In fact, we continue to live under occupation. We continue to endure violence, humiliation of the human person, fear and insecurity. When we pray and meditate the mystery of Christmas, we say that this must all change. After all, it is not for this that God created us in His image and
likeness. It is not for this that He gave us our liberty and our dignity. It is not for this that He wanted us to live in this Holy Land. God wanted us here, in this Holy Land, in order to be brothers and sisters to one another. He wanted us here in order that we might be a source of peace and justice for each other and in order that we might cooperate together in putting an end to all oppression and all evil in our lives.

For this reason, the Christmas message is first of all a message of hope and spiritual strength that opposes all material strength. It is a message of hope and spiritual strength despite all the obstacles that rise up in the way of peace. Truly, nobody, neither Israeli nor Palestinian, wants war and bloodshed. Israelis are in search of their security and Palestinians are in search of their land and liberty. In addition, the Holy Places, the arena of our daily lives and of our bloody struggle, are not places of death and hatred but rather holy places. They are places in which we put ourselves in the presence of God, in order to meet God there as well as to meet the children of God of whatever nationality or religion they might be. The holy place is a place of prayer and not a place of war. God says to all who contradict this: “My house shall be called a house of prayer and you make it a den of robbers” (Mt 21:13).

However, in order to reach peace, one must believe that the other is capable of wanting peace and of edifying with us. The rulers must begin by professing this. The voices that are now being heard from among the people and the diverse initiatives that call for peace and for an official change of attitude show that the two peoples want peace and that peace is indeed possible. The separation wall that is being erected is a measure that pushes peace further away, delaying peace until this same wall comes falling down. With its fall will also come crashing down hostility in the hearts and blood will stop flowing. Let all then say with the Psalmist: “Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation, and my tongue shall proclaim your justice” (Ps 50:16).

“Do not be afraid. Listen, I bring you news of great joy… a Savior has been born for you” (Lk 2:10-11). This is our message in the midst of trial and fear. Christmas renews our faith in God and in His mystery in our land. It renews our love for one another. Let us pray and rejoice. We ask that God fill the town of Bethlehem and all the inhabitants of the Holy Land with His joy. May His grace bring joy to the hearts of all families, giving them new life and renewed patience in the love and the strength of the Spirit.

Happy and Holy Christmas!

+Michel Sabbah, Patriarch
Bethlehem, Christmas 2003
 

Today is born to us the Prince of Peace

Bethlehem Grotto of the Nativity - 25.12.2003
Fr. Jose Rodriguez Carballo, OFM
Minister General

My dear brothers and sisters: May the Lord give you peace! On this Christmas eve of the year of the Lord 2003, we have just listened with great emotion to the words of that historic event that changed the thrust of humankind. And Mary Gave birth to her first born, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger We are especially profoundly moved, because it all happened here, in this very place! This is the place where Mary gave birth, this is the place where Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes, this is the place where Mary placed him in a manger -- the one whom we confess as the Son of the Most High, the Word made flesh -- moved by love of humanity, He placed his tent among us (Jn 1,14). Let the heavens be happy, let the earth rejoice (Ps. 95,1) because, Here in Bethlehem, the land of Judah, a Savior has been born to us: the Messiah, the Lord We sing to the Lord a new song because O a child has been born to us, a child has been given us (Lk 2,11). Let us proclaim his victory day after day, because, today The grace of God has appeared to us bringing salvation to all (Titus 2, 11).

It is Christmas: God definitively approaches man. It is Christmas: The Glory of the Lord envelopes us in its clarity. It is Christmas: the prayer of the Church -- that the heavens open and rain a Savior -- has finally been heard. Today, definitively, the heavens have opened and given us the Savior who has taken away our wickedness and transformed us into a purified people. Let us all rejoice in the Lord.

Glory to God in heaven, and on earth, peace to all who love God (Lk 2,14). The Prince of peace is born to expand his territory with a peace without limits. But, today as yesterday, He came into his own and his own received him not (Jn 1,11). And the violence, the terrorism, and the war do not cease.

My dear brothers and sisters, from the cave of the Nativity which over two thousand years ago witnessed the birth of the Prince of Peace we can do nothing less than shout with all our strength a condemnation of war -- with the great machinery of (word) attempting to cover and justify its economic, geo-political and strategic military interests; a condemnation of terrorism which continues the shedding of the blood of our innocent in our streets; and a condemnation of violence which wishes to impose the will of the strong without any respect for the rights of citizens. Once more with the weak word of Francis of Assisi but with the strength that comes from the Gospel, we shout; May wars cease! May terrorism and violence cease! May the walls of division be turned into bridges which make encounters possible. May swords be turned into plows! The love of all men and women without distinction of belief or of race makes us shout with all our strength Stop war Violence can never put an end to the violence. Only peace will guarantee us the security that we strive for and need.

From this holy place, we wish to announce to all men and women of good will the Gospel of peace (Ef 6, 15). Confronted with the temptation to think that peace is a reality that will never happen, there are so many of us who continue to believe in Christ Our peace that we can do nothing else but proclaim: Peace is possible, to seek it is a duty!

But peace, to be true, must be united with other realities: justice, development, truth, love and liberty. There will be no peace without justice, without development, without reconciliation, without liberty, without mutual forgiveness. To resist
the forces of death makes sense only when we adhere fully to the forces of life. What is important is not that we conquer death but that we celebrate life!

Christmas speaks to us of life, it speaks to us of dialogue. We cannot live side by side without knowing, respecting and recognizing in the other the same rights we justly claim for ourselves. Peace is born in a new heart that sees in the other a human being and not simply an enemy to be destroyed.

Blessed are the peacemakers (Mt 5, 9). My dear brothers and sisters, while we shout out against war and announce the good news of peace, we must seriously commit ourselves to work for peace. For this we, then, take upon ourselves the obligation of becoming educated and educating for peace; we take upon ourselves the responsibility of working without ceasing to surpass the logic of simple justice and open ourselves up to that of pardon (John Paul II); we take upon ourselves the responsibility of building a civilization of love, because only a humanity where love reigns can enjoy a true and lasting peace.

We, Friars minor, guardians of this holy place, reaffirm once more our commitment to be peacemakers on this earth where Francis of Assisi knew how to bring down the walls that separate the two worlds and to build bridges of communion that last until now. We are sure that light will triumph over darkness, love over hatred, and peace over war.

In the name of all the Franciscans of the Holy Land and of all the friars minor who live and work in the 125 countries of the world, from this cave of the Nativity, from Bethlehem, I wish all of you a holy and happy Christmas and a New Year filled with Peace and Good Will.

(word) In the original transmission via e-mail from NAFRA, one word was garbled. Will try to find out what it was.