Bishop David Malloy is asking Catholics in the Diocese of Rockford to contribute to an Emergency Appeal for the Holy Land. The bishop sent a letter earlier this month to all parish pastors asking them to take part in the appeal set for this weekend (Dec. 16-17).

 

When the letter was received in our office we included it in our news planning meeting. I told the staff we could illustrate the news of the collection with photos I took in the Holy Land during my travel there with the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, a pontifical mission society.

 

I have been associated with CNEWA for many years through the Catholic Media Association where I served as the president and on the board of directors. During those many years I have worked with the CNEWA director of Communications, Michael LaCivita. Michael publishes a dynamic award-winning magazine called ONE. Its photography and written content rival National Geographic. It is geared to tell the story of the missionary work of the Catholic Church through the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, founded in 1926 by Pope Pius XI. It serves those in need in the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe.

 

I traveled with Michael and other journalists to Jordan and Israel some time ago. We were able to see first-hand the way the Catholic Church, through CNEWA, is hard at work to alleviate suffering in all its forms.

 

Moments from that trip came flooding back as I pulled up the photographs captured along the way. Of course I had many photographs of the historic places we visited and of the newsmakers we interviewed and spent time with. But the memories that stand out the most were the faces of those we 

met and the stories they shared — ‘the living stones’ — as they were referred to. 

 

We visited Iraqi refugees in the camps in Jordan, patients in the hospital, wee babes in the orphanage in the West Bank and spoke with the elderly men at a senior center in the old city of Jerusalem. All had stories to tell of life within the boundaries of walls and checkpoints. There were stories of what it’s like to be a Jew, a Catholic or Muslim in a land considered holy and sacred to all. It was heart-wrenching and heart-warming all at the same time. And all these folks were being assisted and their lives made more liveable by the benefactors of the CNEWA.

 

I consider myself very fortunate to have been in the missions many times during my long tenure with the Rockford Diocese. The sights and sounds and stories I experienced make the requests, like this emergency appeal, very real and very important. That experience helps me assure you, dear readers, that your contributions go to very real and very important work, and it accomplishes so much. And today, it is being hampered and even undone by war. 

 

While it’s difficult in our own homes to make ends meet sometimes, we have to remember what my mom always told me … “no matter what, there will always be someone worse or better off than you,” and in some way, shape or form, we all are called to help each other. 

 

The people and places in the Holy Land need our help. This is the very land where the Christ we are now waiting for in this Advent season, first came among us. This is what we are preparing to celebrate with all our card sending, cookie baking, family gathering, shopping, caroling and gift-giving frenzy. And all the while there is violence and horrific need. And yes, while the reasons for fighting aren’t always clear and a resolution seems far from sight, there is still hurt, hunger, homelessness and unimagined suffering in the land where Jesus walked, taught, lived and died for us.

 

The least we can do in this season of goodwill is reach out with a gift. Our faith teaches us this is what is required of us and, at the end of days, we will need to answer for what we did or did not do for the least among us. Please be generous to our brothers and sister in the Holy Land. Merry Christmas.