Christmas message by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Nuncio to Israel and
Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem and Palestine

a) Searching for the face of God and the Christian meaning of life
In Advent frequently in the prayers at Mass we pray that as "pilgrims on earth" we may be shown the "Christian meaning of life". A pilgrim who sets out for the Holy Land opens his heart to this revelation. Like Abraham the pilgrim obeys the voice of God: "Leave your land, your homeland, the home of your father and go to the land that I will show you" (Gen. 12,1). In other words, leave your certainties, which fill you with fear, leave for a while the monotony of daily life, which you find meaningless and empty. Set out to find the footsteps of God in the history of humanity and in your personal life.
Pope John Paul II in his Letter Concerning Pilgrimage to the Places Linked to the History of Salvation (June 29 1999), recalling his own pilgrimage to the Holy Land writes: "It is a witness which sets me in a long procession of people, who for two thousand years have gone in search of the "footprints" of God in that land, rightly called "holy", pursuing them as it were in the stones, the hills, the waters which provided the setting for the earthly life of the Son of God. (4). The Pope tells us with what spirit we must make this search and discovery: "To go in a spirit of prayer from one place to another, from one city to another, in the area marked especially by God's intervention, helps us not only to live our life as a journey, but also gives us a vivid sense of a God who has gone before us and leads us on, who himself set out on man's path, a God who does not look down on us from on high, but who became our travelling companion." (ibid 10).

b) At the roots of the Church. " The visit to the Holy Places of the Redeemer's earthly life leads logically to the places which were important for the infant Church and which saw the missionary outreach of the first Christian community." (ibid 9). The rediscovery of the spirit of the first Christian community is an extraordinarily significant experience, lived by countless pilgrims. "The multitude who had come to the faith were one in heart and mind" (Acts 4,32) and they were filled with a spirit of service. "They were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God's word with confidence" (Acts 4,31). "They devoted themselves to the apostles' instruction and the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers". (Acts 2,42). Coming into contact with the cradle of the Church the pilgrim rediscovers not only the way of life of the Christian community 2000 years ago but also the way of being a Christian today in the family, the community, at work, in society.
It is important to visit the "holy stones". Every pilgrimage should include an encounter with the "living stones" , the Christians living today in the Holy Land. They are the memory and the continuity of the early Church; they keep faith, hope and charity alive in the places of Revelation and Redemption which would otherwise become lifeless museums. They are ambassadors and spokesmen of all the Lord's disciples throughout the world.

c) Pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a duty and a right. Saint Paul felt this need: "For the moment I am going to Jerusalem to render service to that community; Macedonia and Acaia made collections for the poor in the community in Jerusalem. They did this because they are their debtors: in fact since the pagans shared their spiritual gifts, they feel bound to render a sacred service to their material needs". (Rom. 15, 25-27).
Today the material needs of the Holy Land are enormous. But what they need most of all is the presence, the encouragement, the brotherhood of pilgrims. Christians' fear, exaggerated, of coming here increases the fear of local Christians of remaining: they feel abandoned by the Christian world, Pilgrimage is a right: the warring parties have made an international commitment to allow free access to the Holy Places. In fact no pilgrim has ever been a victim of the situation. Several groups told me they were afraid before they arrived but that the pilgrimage took place with no trouble at all. The Christian world, (and also the Jewish and Muslim worlds) must raise their voice and demand loudly the right to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Places, to the roots of the faith and the Church, in total security. But this voice is silent. Besides being an act of faith, courage and solidarity, pilgrimage is a seed of peace and a presence of distension. Archbishop Pietro Sambi (Translation Fides Service Fides Service 21/12/2002)