A good thing about doing this second course in the Holy Land is that I am able to refresh my experience by revisiting some places. Today we went to Bethlehem. I went there a couple of weeks ago but it was a different visit this time. Apart from the church of the Nativity we were able to go to the Shepherd Field Church. There we had an outdoor Mass. As I was concelebrating the Mass I couldn’t help looking around. The hills surrounding recall the great mystery of an angel telling the shepherds about the birth of Christ and sending them to Bethlehem. Well, today the site is a suburb of the town but 2000 years ago it was outside. However the most important thing is that in this place the Good News was proclaimed for the first time. God didn’t want to keep it secret but he wanted all the people to learn about the Salvation that was being brought to the human family. The shepherds from the hills here were the first to hear it, we are the ones who can benefit from the fact that God wanted all to learn about Jesus. I spent some time in the church too. The altar of the church reminds that it is the shrine of the angels and shepherds. I spent some time reflecting on what it means to be a shepherd. In the Biblical time shepherds were those who were entrusted with looking after the essential livelihood of local people. For those who lived here sheep and goats were the matter of life or death. Sheep and goats weren’t pets but they provided much needed supplies. One wouldn’t let a stranger to look after them. The shepherds would take the sheep to the wilderness for grazing. The shepherds would spend long weeks there often on their own. That’s why lots of them would develop a strong relationship with God and sensitivity to his presence. They would “compose” songs like the Psalms we know. King David was a shepherd too. It is believed that in this way God prepared him to be the shepherd of his people in the future as their king. Those who are familiar with the tradition of that time hear the poetry of shepherds in his Psalms. I hope that my time here can help me to develop much stronger relationship with Jesus and great sensitivity to his presence.
After the Mass and quick picnic lunch we made our way to Bethlehem University. Bethlehem University of the Holy Land is a Catholic Christian co-educational institution of higher learning founded in 1973 in the tradition La Salle brothers, open to students of all faith traditions. Bethlehem University, the first university established in the West Bank, and can trace its roots to 1893 when the De La Salle Christian Brothers opened schools in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Nazareth, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. During the historic visit of Pope Paul VI to the Holy Land in 1964, Palestinians expressed their desire to establish a university in their homeland. After consultation and study, and in the midst of the post-1967 war era which resulted in the West Bank and Gaza being under Israeli military occupation, it was in 1972 that the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Pio Laghi, formed a committee of local community leaders and heads of schools in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to establish an institution of higher learning which would offer a broad and practical university education in arts and sciences to meet the needs of the Palestinian society. It opened with 112 students. Today more than 3000 young men and women study here. For most of them the University Campus is an oasis of peace and joy. Those who follow the situation of the state of Israel and the Palestinian territory probably know how complex it is. Probably an honest thing to acknowledge is that at the moment nobody knows a solution. However our prayer should embrace the town where Jesus was born. Somebody said that Jesus was born in the worst possible place as it is so hard to get here. It is so unstable politically. There is so much hurt, division and hatred here. However as I was walking around the campus I looked at the statue of the Boy Jesus on the top of the University Tower which is the highest point in Bethlehem and it hit me that Jesus wasn’t born here so that we may have a nice resort to visit but he was born here because he is the only hope for peace in this area. It is a reflection for all of us that we need Jesus not for some nice celebrations like weddings, First Holy Communions, school graduations or anniversaries but we need him all the time, in all aspects of our life, as he is our only hope. Two more things I would like to mention that are significant for the University Chapel. On the walls, there are frescos of Martyr Saints from different countries. What struck me was that the saints are shown as children. The truth is that at some stage they were children too but with the grace of God they had grown to embrace such a sacrifice. The second powerful image is the fresco of the Holy Innocents. Most of us visiting Bethlehem remember Christmas Story here but the place was also the stage of killing of little boys. As we know it was done at the orders of King Herod. What you can see in the painting is a group of happy little boys playing with each other. It reminds us that what they lost here on earth has been given to them abundantly in haven: joy, peace and security.
After the Mass and quick picnic lunch we made our way to Bethlehem University. Bethlehem University of the Holy Land is a Catholic Christian co-educational institution of higher learning founded in 1973 in the tradition La Salle brothers, open to students of all faith traditions. Bethlehem University, the first university established in the West Bank, and can trace its roots to 1893 when the De La Salle Christian Brothers opened schools in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Nazareth, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. During the historic visit of Pope Paul VI to the Holy Land in 1964, Palestinians expressed their desire to establish a university in their homeland. After consultation and study, and in the midst of the post-1967 war era which resulted in the West Bank and Gaza being under Israeli military occupation, it was in 1972 that the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Pio Laghi, formed a committee of local community leaders and heads of schools in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to establish an institution of higher learning which would offer a broad and practical university education in arts and sciences to meet the needs of the Palestinian society. It opened with 112 students. Today more than 3000 young men and women study here. For most of them the University Campus is an oasis of peace and joy. Those who follow the situation of the state of Israel and the Palestinian territory probably know how complex it is. Probably an honest thing to acknowledge is that at the moment nobody knows a solution. However our prayer should embrace the town where Jesus was born. Somebody said that Jesus was born in the worst possible place as it is so hard to get here. It is so unstable politically. There is so much hurt, division and hatred here. However as I was walking around the campus I looked at the statue of the Boy Jesus on the top of the University Tower which is the highest point in Bethlehem and it hit me that Jesus wasn’t born here so that we may have a nice resort to visit but he was born here because he is the only hope for peace in this area. It is a reflection for all of us that we need Jesus not for some nice celebrations like weddings, First Holy Communions, school graduations or anniversaries but we need him all the time, in all aspects of our life, as he is our only hope. Two more things I would like to mention that are significant for the University Chapel. On the walls, there are frescos of Martyr Saints from different countries. What struck me was that the saints are shown as children. The truth is that at some stage they were children too but with the grace of God they had grown to embrace such a sacrifice. The second powerful image is the fresco of the Holy Innocents. Most of us visiting Bethlehem remember Christmas Story here but the place was also the stage of killing of little boys. As we know it was done at the orders of King Herod. What you can see in the painting is a group of happy little boys playing with each other. It reminds us that what they lost here on earth has been given to them abundantly in haven: joy, peace and security.
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