Desert Flower begins the year in Tabgha

On the dates, September 18 and 19, we, the members of Desert Flower, met for our first meeting this year in Tabgha, which is on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This year, different from the past years and much to our delight, we reached the number of thirty young people at the meeting. This excited us… in fact we had been waiting throughout the summer vacation for this moment.

For the duration of the first day of the meeting, when everyone had finally arrived, we spent time getting to know one another better and specially getting to know the new members and explaining to them what happens during our meetings.

The beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee, the place where Jesus had walked on the water, was an integral part of these two days and was unforgettable. Even though the heat made it more difficult to get through the day, sitting on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and letting our thoughts run through our minds created an atmosphere of calm and made us forget the heat.

A few of us began the second day with a swim in the sea, while the sun was rising. By seven in the morning others were preparing breakfast and then we went off for a trip to the Mount of Beatitudes and there, as planned, we met Father Roman and the kehilla from Haifa that were visiting the area. There we had mass, celebrated by Fathers Roma, Apolinary and Piotr. Although we did not know all the members of the Haifa kehilla, we felt connected to them spiritually, knowing that we all pray to God and celebrating mass in His honor caused us to be in communion with them. After returning to our sleeping quarters, we had lunch and then Fathers Apolinary and Piotr taught us in two groups.

After the lesson, we reached the end of the weekend and we began to disperse, each one going home and we all reached our destination safely, awaiting the next meeting.