Dear friends of the Seminary,
In this time of Advent, the Church guides us to lift our eyes to heaven and celebrate the mystery of Christ, who descended amongst us and made himself a child to save us. This time invites us to live having our eyes fixed on Jesus, since our life deep down, is none other than an advent itself; a way to meet He who comes small to redeem us who think ourselves big. As Blessed Paul VI full of faith affirmed: “Today everything is sought after, but not God; it is said that God is dead, and we don’t need to take care of that anymore. Yet God is not dead, he is simply lost, lost by so many men of our time. Would it not be worthwhile to look for HIM? Behold the great moment of Advent!”
This our dearest, is what we, from here in the Holy Land, ardently wish for you: that you may look for him, that he may be found by you. That in this Advent and Christmas so near, Jesus Christ may renew the grace of the new life in each of your hearts.
As you probably already know, these are days of strong tensions here in the Middle East. Everything seems farther than ever from Christ’s humbleness, who came not only to give glory to God but also “peace on earth, to those he loves”. For such, we feel called in this land to give witness of God’s Love for each man, and the possibility of living as brothers despite all that still separates us today.
Even in these hard days, the Lord nevertheless has not let us miss out on a moment of great joy: this previous December 9, the Apostolic Administrator of the Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem, Msgr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, ordained three deacons from our seminary: Sliman from Israel, Marek from Poland, and Miguel from Spain. (Attached to this letter, we send you the link with the article and some pictures of the event, from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem’s website). During the homily, the Archbishop addressed to the new deacons and all of us present, the invitation that we feel urged to extend to you as well in this time: “Let us free ourselves of our projects, expectations and projections so that we can prepare the way to the Lord who comes to visit us; so he can enter our lives, as well as that of our families and communities”. May this marvelous encounter, dear brothers, truly take place in our lives!
In giving you our blessing, we take this opportunity to thank you for the help you have offered us in this time, and for what you always generously want to continue to donate to us. From our part, we do not feel embarrassed to ask you always for help, since we know from the same words of our Lord that whomever gives something for love of Christ “will receive a hundred-fold and will inherit eternal life” (Mt 19,29)
May the lord grant you a holy Christmas
The formators of the Seminary.