Make 2021 the year you walk in the footsteps of Our Lord

O little town of Bethlehem

How still we see thee lie

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by

Yet in thy dark streets shineth

The everlasting light

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight.

We all have our favourite Christmas carols. My own is probably O Little Town of Bethlehem set to the tune of Forest Green.

I have stood many times in that ‘little town’ of Bethlehem as I have led pilgrimages to the Holy Land and sang that hymn. It never ceases to move me as I visit the site of the nativity. Far from the image on the Christmas card, the place of Christ’s birth is a dimly-lit rock cave. A 14-point silver star on the marble floor of the Grotto of the Nativity bears the words Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natusest – Here Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary. The hopes and fears of all the years…

I only managed one trip to Bethlehem this year back in February before the Covid-19 restriction prevented travel. But, talk of vaccines is giving me fresh hope that 2021 can see a return to pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

Trust

Putting our trust in God, we’ve decided to go ahead and organise pilgrimages in the autumn of 2021 and I would like to invite you, dear readers, to think about joining us.

It really is the trip of a lifetime and I can promise you it brings the Gospel alive in a new and engaging way. The opportunity to walk where Jesus walked in Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem makes the biblical accounts real in a way that is hard to explain. To walk the way of the cross – the via dolorosa – in Jerusalem to Calvary is an unforgettable and moving experience.

From the earliest times, Christians from all over the world have gone to the Holy Land to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. After St Francis visited the Holy Land in the 11th Century he was so inspired that he began creating nativity scenes in towns and villages in Italy so that people of Faith could have some experience of what it was like in the Holy Land that first Christmas.

While towns like Nazareth and Bethlehem are now bustling cities far from anything Jesus would’ve known, the holy sites associated with his earthly life are preserved and revered to this day. Crucially, these places that roll off our tongues when we think of the Gospel are also home to a small but vibrant Christian community.

Through The Irish Catholic I have been privileged in recent years to be part of a series of Christian Solidarity Pilgrimages to the Holy Land. What started out as a once-off has now become a regular feature of our calendar due to the popularity of the trips and so we are already planning to go ahead this coming autumn.

In recent years, we have walked in the footsteps of Jesus and visited the sites around Galilee where he lived the three years of his public ministry.

Nazareth

In Nazareth, we have experienced the place of the Visitation and the hometown of the Holy Family, while in Bethlehem our pilgrims have been able to enter the Church of the Nativity and touch the place where tradition records that Christ was born some 2,000 years ago.

Some people call the Holy Land the ‘fifth Gospel’, for at these places the scriptures really come to life. Standing at the edge of the Sea of Galilee and remembering all the Gospel passages that speak of the sea instantly brings to mind the ministry of Christ and his encounters with his disciples.

As part of the trips, we have also been blessed to meet with local Christians and hear about their joys and struggles to keep their Faith alive in sometimes challenging circles.

I invite you to join us and be part of this unique pilgrim journey. The No. 1 question I get asked when people speak to me about the Holy Land is ‘is it safe?’ My answer is always an emphatic ‘yes’.

The people who live in the Holy Land – what Pope Benedict XVI called the “living stones” – love to see pilgrims coming. They love to know that they are not alone, and that they have not been forgotten about. Much like during the conflict in the North of our own country, media headlines sometimes frighten people and distract from the reality of the situation on the ground.

The Holy Land is a vibrant and unforgettable journey of Faith, fun and friendship. It is also an unforgettable way to bring your Faith to life in a new and refreshing way. I hope you will consider joining us.

The Irish Catholic will organise two pilgrimages to the Holy Land in autumn 2021. The first will depart Dublin on September 28 and return on October 7. The second will depart Dublin on October 3 and return on October 12. If you would like more information, please see Pages 26 and 27 or don’t hesitate to drop me an email on michael@irishcatholic.ie