EASTER 2006

“Al-Masih Qaam!  Hakkan Qum!
Christ is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!

Dear Friends of Bethlehem University,

As we enter into the sacred mysteries of Holy Week commemorating the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, we are deeply grateful for the prayers and generous support of the friends of Bethlehem University throughout the world.

The CROSS looms large not only during Holy Week but each day in Bethlehem.

Yet we all have crosses to bear.  We tend to think of our particular cross as a burden, something or someone that demands time and energy from us.  We consider whatever weighs us down, causes us pain and anguish, traps us in lives of desperation as the “crosses” we have to bear.  We dream of the day when we can lay our crosses aside, never to pick them up again.

But many of our crosses are opportunities to be sources of hope, of joy, of discovery, of healing, of life—for ourselves and others.  The challenge Jesus calls us to take up is to transform our crosses, as he did.   These crosses, when taken up in a spirit of humble compassion with which Jesus took up his, are the first light of Easter dawn.

The Easter gospel is retold each day at Bethlehem University by so many of our faculty and students who daily meet the challenge of reaching the University for classes and returning home despite the WALL which now surrounds Bethlehem; by so many families who are not able to visit relatives and friends in Jerusalem due to the great difficulty in obtaining travel passes; by parents who struggle to cover some of the cost of their son or daughter’s education at Bethlehem University with the economy so crippled by occupation and the lack of freedom of movement.

In a very real sense, everyone of these crosses can become a moment of grace, a seed of the tree of Easter life.    The faculty and students at Bethlehem University daily show that our crosses can be moments of grace, and I experience it each day. 

On behalf of our entire Bethlehem University community, I thank you for your faithfulness in supporting us.  You have been a tremendous sign of hope.

May you know the joy and peace of the Risen Lord!

Brother Daniel Casey, FSC
Vice Chancellor