Michael KellyMichael Kelly reflects on his experience in the Holy land as a “deeply spiritual encounter with Christ”
I’m just back from the Holy Land where I was part of a Christian Solidarity Pilgrimage led by Archbishop Eamon Martin. The trip was a concrete gesture of support for local Christians who have been feeling pressure in recent decades. The number of Christians living and working in the land where Christ spent his earthly life has continued to dwindle and there are now real fears that within a few generations there may be only a handful of Christians left.
As well as showing support for the local Christian community, the trip was also a deeply spiritual encounter with Christ.
The Holy Land – those places associated with Christ’s earthly life – has often been described as ‘the fifth Gospel’.
Real sense
There is a real sense in which the very stones of the place speak of the Gospel. I’ve been to the Holy Land on numerous occasions in the past, but on every trip I experience something new. It was marvellous on this occasion to be in Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem with so many Irish pilgrims who were making the trip to the Holy Land for the first time.
One woman told me how she now understood the Gospels in a radically new way because she had the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Christ and see the things that he saw.
It’s true that while some of the buildings may have changed, the landscape is remarkably similar to that which Jesus lived.
Another man told me that he would never think of the readings at Mass in the same way again since he could not identify with the places mentioned in the Gospel.
In Islam, Muslims who can afford to and are capable of performing the Hajj pilgrimage are obliged to. There is no such obligation within Christianity, but a visit to the Holy Land is a unique opportunity to engage with the Gospel stories in a life-giving way that can enrich and enhance faith.
I think Archbishop Eamon Martin spoke for all the 175 pilgrims when he said we “leave Jerusalem physically exhausted but spiritually refreshed and renewed, especially for the remainder of this Jubilee Year of Mercy and beyond”.
“We are conscious that our pilgrimage does not end when we return home. As Pope Benedict XVI reminded us during his own pilgrimage to the Holy Land ‘no individual, family, community or nation is exempt from the duty to live in justice and to work for peace’,” the archbishop said.
The carpenters’ craft: We know very little about the life of Jesus between the time of his birth and when he began his public ministry around the age of 30. What we do know, of course, is that St Joseph – his foster father – was a carpenter. It doesn’t take a leap of imagination to believe that Jesus spent his formative years in Nazareth also working as a carpenter. I thought about this as I watched local Christian craftspeople in Bethlehem carving nativity scenes just metres from the place where Jesus was born. The skill, devotion and faith that goes in to every piece is remarkable. These craftspeople and their families having been making a living carving in olivewood for centuries.
In the run up to Christmas, The Irish Catholic hopes to sell some of these products crafted by local Christians in Bethlehem through the paper.
As well as beautiful Christmas scenes from the birthplace of Christ, the cribs and Christmas tree decorations are also a valuable source of income that makes it easier for local Christian families to stay in Bethlehem.
Some good news for the Christians
A lot has been written – in this newspaper and elsewhere – about the Christian exodus from the Middle East. Whether fleeing war, Islamist persecution or in search of a brighter future, many Christians in the region see the West as their only destination for a sustainable future at present.
But, one country is bucking the trend: Israel is, in fact, the only country in the Middle East where the Christian population is actually rising year on year. It’s a modest rise – a few thousand a year – and Christians still make up less than 2% of Israeli citizens, but any rise in such troubling times is something to celebrate.