Jerusalem community celebrates its feast

 On Sunday, January 31, the Jerusalem community anticipated the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and celebrated the feast of the community house named for Saints Simeon and Anne. Father Apolinary invited Father Paul Collin, the parish priest of Beer Sheba, to celebrate mass and preach.

Many members and guests came to the community house in Jerusalem in order to participate in the feast of the house. The prayer began with the traditional blessing of candles. Father Paul mentioned in his homily that the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (on the occasion of the redemption of the first born and the purification of Mary), was first known in the Early Church as the Feast of the Meeting. This meeting was between Jesus and Simeon and Anne, who represented the people of Israel waiting for their Messiah. However, through them Jesus also meets all the nations as he is, in the words of Simeon "light for the nations and the glory of your people Israel" (Luke 2:32). Simeon also points out that he "is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed" (Luke 2:33). Simeon foresaw that Jesus would cause division even though his ardent prayer was that we might be one. At the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity we pray not only for the unity of all Christians but also for the unity of the Church and Israel.

Present at the prayer were representatives of most of the Hebrew speaking communities in the country (Father Paul from Beer Sheba, Elisheva Hemker from Haifa and Father David, who is also parish priest in Jaffa). Sister Maria and Sister Esther of the Coptic Orthodox Church also participated. After the prayer, the faithful gathered for a generous reception in a warm, fraternal atmosphere.