This will not be my first visit to the Holy Land. Just a few weeks before my priesthood ordination in 1983, I was part of a pilgrimage from the North American College in Rome, where I was living and studying at the time. I am grateful for the opportunity to make a return visit, and to do so in my capacity as ecumenical and interreligious officer of our diocese.

It is one thing to make such a journey with a group of one's coreligionists, and quite another to do so with people of a differing faith stance. The Jewish-Christian tension is, as we know, utterly unique. The Christian keeps in mind that our Christianity emerged from Judaism. We think of Jesus, his mother Mary, St. Joseph, and the disciples of Jesus. They were adherents of the ancient Abrahamic faith in one God, which clashed with the practices of surrounding nations who worshiped a variety of strange gods. Christians hold to this startling belief in one God.

We know very well the controversy arising from the truth-claims of Christianity. The Christian Gospel of the identity of Jesus, as Son of God, as true God and true man, as the Word of God made flesh, as the universal Savior of humankind — this is a set of claims which is not necessarily predicted by the Jewish understanding of who God is. Indeed, in many respects, this Gospel seems to come out of nowhere. God cannot be identified with any image or idol, and certainly not with a human form. Christians must appreciate this Jewish sensibility.

The official teaching of our church in the last 50 years has been a welcome admonition, bidding us remember, as the Vatican II Declaration on Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate) has stated, that God does not retract his covenants, and that the Jews remain a people with a unique and lasting bond with God.

We remember as well the visit of Blessed John Paul II to a Rome synagogue in 1986, and his recognition of the Jewish people as "elder brothers" in the journey of faith. Both John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have prayed at the Western Wall which is the surviving remnant of the Jerusalem Temple, understood in Judaism as the unique dwelling place of God on earth.

I look forward to this return to a place I delighted in on my first visit. I anticipate a great deal of learning and enjoyment with my fellow travelers. I will remember the people of our diocese when I celebrate Mass in Jerusalem, reflecting on the "scandal" of God become human, God become the sacrifice for the salvation of God's people, God become our food and drink.

While I am in Israel, from this Wednesday, April 24, to Thursday, May 2, I will be blogging on our diocesan website; go to www.dio.org/blog.