From the Holy Land, best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014

A bright light will shine to all parts of the earth; many nations shall come to you from afar, And the inhabitants of all the limits of the earth, drawn to you by the name of the Lord God, Bearing in their hands their gifts for the King of heaven. (Tob 13:11).

As Pope Francis reminds us, Christmas is the encounter with Jesus who will be waiting for us here in the Holy Land in the coming year. From a recent interview with the Holy Father:

“Christmas always makes us think of Bethlehem, and Bethlehem is a precise point in the Holy Land where Jesus lived. On Christmas night, I think above all of the Christians who live there, of those who are in difficulty, of the many people who have had to leave that land because of various problems. But Bethlehem is still Bethlehem. God arrived at a specific time in a specific land; that is where God’s tenderness and grace appeared. We cannot think of Christmas without thinking of the Holy Land.” (Read the complete interview).

We take this opportunity to thank all of you who have supported us, through your prayers and concrete aid: in so many different ways you are always present with us in this Holy Land.

In the coming year we will continue to carry out a wide range of activities for safeguarding the Holy Places and protecting the ancient Christian communities of the East. So that the Lord who comes can be recognized and loved by all the people who converge here, consciously or unconsciously searching for Him.

We invite you to come to the Holy Land in 2014, to stop and pray at the Holy Places and at the same time learn about our projects and meet the living stones of the Holy Land.