Twenty years ago this fall, a group of 25 priests and I visited the Holy Land, which was part of our sabbatical program held at the North American College in Rome. This visit was the highlight of our sabbatical experience and the memory of our time in the land where Jesus walked lingers in my heart to this day. Although one can certainly be one with Jesus in the holy places through prayer, there is definitely something special about being physically present and walking the same paths that Jesus walked, seeing the same sites that Jesus saw and breathing the same air that Jesus breathed. LIVING THE PAST When we toured Nazareth it was not difficult to imagine Jesus running through its back alleys as a little boy or being baptized by John in the Jordan as we stood on its shores. It seemed as though I could hear the wedding guests celebrating the marriage of their loved ones while in Cana and I could hear the beautiful words of Jesus during his Sermon on the Mount as we looked down at the Sea of Galilee. Later that day, when our tour guide took us for a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and the boat operator stopped the engines in the middle of the sea, it was not hard to call to mind the countless hours Jesus spent on that same body of water teaching his close band of apostles and assuring them that they need not be afraid. While walking prayerfully through The Garden of Olives I was filled with profound gratitude as I pictured Jesus struggling to do the will of his father as he approached his imminent death. We toured what could have been the house of Caiaphas and a deep cistern where Jesus likely would have been incarcerated overnight. We viewed what might very well have been the praetorium where Jesus was taken to be mocked by the soldiers and we walked the Via Dolorosa on the way to Mount Calvary. Truly, the highlight of our visit was when we celebrated Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Standing at that altar as the principal celebrant, I was filled with appreciation to our Divine Savior, whose death and resurrection opened the doors of heaven to us all. Little wonder the land we visited is called holy! FRANCISCANS MAINTAIN SITES Currently, the Franciscan Order is charged with serving these and other holy sites in the Holy Land. In fact, the Order has had a presence there since 1217. In recent times the General Definitorium of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, with the approval of the Pope and the Holy See, appoints a Custodian, or Custos, who is in charge of all the Franciscans, some 300 friars and 100 sisters. His jurisdiction covers Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and the islands of Cyprus and Rhodes. As I have mentioned, the Franciscans serve the principal Christian shrines, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Basilica of the Annunciation at Nazareth. The Custodian’s offices are at the Monastery of Saint Savior, a 16th-century Franciscan community near New Gate. The Franciscans perform various duties at the holy sites, caring for their upkeep, helping pilgrims, serving the needs of the local people and generally doing what any parish priest would do. YOUR HELP IS NEEDED All of this brings me to the point of my article today: the Franciscans need your help. Their many pastoral ministries require our generous financial assistance so they can continue to serve God’s people in the Holy Land and preserve and protect the holy shrines that we have venerated for centuries. As a matter of fact, your help is needed now more than ever. Sadly, as we all know too well, the Holy Land and the entire Middle East is at the epicenter of terrible conflicts and even brutal violence. While it is true that three of the world’s great religions – Christianity, Islam and Judaism – share a common history with and love for the Holy Land, the political, social and religious struggles over the centuries have marred its beauty and quarreled with the name of its capitol, Jerusalem, which means "city or abode of peace." VIOLENCE AGAINST CHRISTIANS The last few decades have seen what could be called a mass exodus of Christians from the Holy Land and the Middle East in general. Catholic churches have been set on fire, Christian homes have been vandalized and Christians in general have been brutalized and even killed. Richard L. Russell, in Crisis magazine, reports that "Christian Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza continue to be squeezed out of Palestinian society, economy, and land. The Christian Palestinian community has been reduced to almost insignificance and lost in the fray between the Israelis and the secular Palestinian Authority and the Islamist Hamas Palestinians. The Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem worries that the Holy Land is fast becoming a "spiritual Disneyland" with holy sites as theme park attractions but empty of local Christians to worship." HOPE FOR THE FUTURE There is hope, however. The three major religions represented in the Holy Land are making strides to come together and provide for a peaceful future in which all people can live together in the land that is holy to so many. While our help will always be needed, it is now more urgent than ever and I ask that all of us in the Diocese of Salt Lake City do what we can to offer support and assistance to our brothers and sisters who live in the abode of peace and its environs by giving generously to the Franciscan appeal this Passion (Palm) Sunday and/or Good Friday. I am grateful to you ahead of time for your generous response to this appeal. I am also grateful to the Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, who do so much to assist the Catholic Church in the Holy Land. As we approach the great solemnity of Easter I pray that the peace of the risen Christ will be with you and with our brothers and sisters in the land we call holy.
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