wfn.org | Jerusalem Patriarch Sends Greetings from Bethlehem to America

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Churches in many lands, he says, have prayed, acted and spoken
supporting us "in our trial" 

Contact:  Fr. Raed Awad Abusahlia

P.O.Box 14152  Jerusalem  91141
Tel.  00 972 2 6282323/6272280
Fax  00 972 2 6271652
E-mail: nonviolence@writeme.com
E-mail: Latinpat@actcom.co.il
Website: http://www.Lpj.org
Website: http://members.nbci.com/nonviolence

BETHLEHEM,  West Bank, December 25, 2000---During the traditional Christmas 
Mass at the Church of Nativity early this morning, His Beatitude Michel 
Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, expressed gratitude to the churches of 
the United States and many other lands who have stood in solidarity with the 
people of the Holy Land during recent weeks of violence.  

In his homily, the Patriarch acknowledged the presence of the Palestinian 
President Yasser Arafat as well as others who had made the trip to Bethlehem 
for Christmas this year.  He said the meaning of the incarnation is evident 
in the reality of the quest for justice and peace.  The full text of his 
homily follows:

Christmas Homily 2000

1. Happy and Holy Christmas to all of you.  May we celebrate, with the grace 
of God, next Christmas with more peace, justice and human dignity.
 
Before beginning our meditation on the mystery of Christmas, I like to recall 
to mind the memory of our beloved brother Patriarch Deodoros, whom God called 
to him. For the repose of his soul, and for all the Orthodox Church, we pray.

I greet President Yaser Arafat, and all the civil and municipal authorities, 
our guests, Minister Johan Sauwens from Belgium, and Mrs. Louisa Morgantini, 
representative of the European Parliament.  A greeting goes to the consular 
authorities. To all of you I wish the light and the peace of Christmas.

I greet and thank H.E. Most Reverend Jean Orchampt, bishop emeritus of Anger, 
present with us this night, to represent the Bishops' Conference of France 
and to express the solidarity of the Church of France with the Church of 
Jerusalem in these hard days.

I greet and thank the numerous Churches of the world, Catholic, Orthodox, and 
Evangelical, who have expressed their solidarity through various messages and 
actions, in order to support us in our trial: 

I mean the Churches in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New 
Zealand, Asia and Africa. With us and for us, they have prayed, acted and 
spoken. 
I greet you pilgrims here present.  Some of you came walking afoot since 
months and arrived today here.  I greet your courage to be with us tonight, 
to share with us our difficult times and our prayer. 

I greet all our faithful, either here present or those accompanying us, in 
their own parishes, in Palestine, Jordan, Israel and Cyprus. 

2. On this Christmas night, we meditate the mystery of the Incarnation of the 
Eternal Word of God, as expressed in the first chapter of the Gospel of Saint 
John: "In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God and the Word was 
God… The Word became flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the 
glory that he has from the Father as only Son of the Father, full of grace 
and truth" (John 1,1,14).

St. Leo the Great commenting this mystery says: "God has condescended and 
appeared in our humility.  The Strong One has taken our weakness, the Eternal 
One our mortal nature.  And in order to pay the debt of our human condition, 
the inalterable nature was united with the nature exposed to all kinds of 
suffering.  Therefore, in order to better heal us, the only mediator between 
God and men, the man Jesus Christ must on one side be able to die, and on the 
other side, not be able to die.

It is therefore in the integral and whole nature of a true man that the true 
God was born; wholly in what belongs to him, and wholly in what belongs to 
us" (St. Leo the Great, 2nd reading of the 25th of March).

3. This is the mystery that we are invited to meditate in this holy night.  
It is the source of our joy, of our strength and our hope, in time of peace 
or war.  What does this mystery tell us now, amidst our trials, amidst our 
dead and wounded brothers, amidst our demolished houses, our churches and 
convents shelled, and our besieged towns and villages?

This mystery tells us first of all, that all our relations as Christians are 
founded on love.  This is the first feature of our identity.  As God loves 
all his creatures, we love all the creatures of God.  And Christian love is 
not limited to Christians, but embraces all without discrimination.  Love is 
the greatest force which has built this world until now and which will 
continue to build it.

The mystery of God tells us, that we, Christians of this land, we are the 
witnesses of Jesus in his land.   This is another fundamental feature of our 
identity.   Here, God wants us to be Christians, not elsewhere on the earth.  
 Whether we live at war, or in the Intifadah, whether our houses are 
demolished, our brothers are wounded or killed, it is here that God wants us 
to be Christians.   This is our land, to claim our freedom, among our 
demolished houses and in our besieged towns and villages.
 
This mystery tells us also in these days, that we are Christians in an Arab 
Christian and Moslem society, and in a Palestinian society which claims its 
freedom.  We are an integral part of this society.  We are in its heart, we 
are neither outsiders nor simple observers.  Again, be it amidst war, 
demolition and claim for freedom, it is in this society that God wants us to 
be Christians.

4. Christmas tells us that the Word of God was incarnated in our human 
reality, had assumed it totally, except sin, and has loved it.  On his 
example, we accept and we love all our reality in quest for justice and 
peace, even on difficult paths.  We accept it as a Palestinian reality: Arab, 
Christian and Moslem, and as a Jewish reality which we invite to cooperate 
with us for justice and peace.  All effort towards freedom intends to reach 
the love of God that extends to all men and women, Palestinians and Israelis, 
Christians, Moslems, Jews and Druzes.

This is the message of Christmas to us: to accept and love our human 
difficult reality, so that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, born in Bethlehem, 
sanctifies it, redeems it, and pours in it a new life.

5. Brothers and Sisters, We have concluded this year the Synod of the 
Catholic Churches in the Holy Land: we have established a common pastoral 
program.   Together, we shall be able to begin, with the new millennium, a 
new period in the history of our Churches.
 
Next week, we conclude the Year of the Great Jubilee.  His Holiness Pope John 
Paul II decided to send a special Envoy to our churches and to our political 
leaders, Israeli and Palestinian.  He will celebrate with us the world day of 
peace on the First of January, then he will preside the closure of the Great 
Jubilee year on the second of January.
 
God allowed us to end the year of the Jubilee with trials and sufferings.  
For all grace, for all trial, we thank God, because suffering is also a part 
of the grace of the Jubilee.  It helps to purify us; it allows us to see 
better the face of God, to better claim our freedom, since we become able to 
see the face of God in that of our brothers and sisters, and in the face of 
those from whom we claim our freedom as well.

During this year, we have welcomed the visit of the Holy Father, Pope John 
Paul II.  He brought to us a message of friendship, justice, and peace.  For 
some, it seems that this message did not give any fruit.  We rather see in it 
the grain of corn of which, says the Gospel, it cannot give fruit unless it 
falls in earth and dies.  The present sufferings are the time of its death 
and maturation.  Later on, it might bear fruits for our Christian and 
ecumenical life, for the inter-religious dialogue, and for the quest of 
justice and peace between our two peoples. 

Brothers and Sisters, let us pray so that God may restore in our hearts, in 
our houses and in the hearts of all the inhabitants of this land the true joy 
of Christmas.  Amen.

                                + Michel Sabbah
                                Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

-End-