Feast of Saint Peter in Jaffa

On Saturday, in the Church of Saint Peter, we celebrated our patron, who is usually celebrated on June 29. The church was cleaned and prepared the evening before by the faithful themselves after weeks of intense work: the father and uncle of Franciscan Alberto Pari renovated and renewed the doors of the church and the father of Father Apolinary renewed the gold decorations in the highest parts of the interior walls of the church. Father Eduardo Sanchez prepared the flower arrangements and the church looked more festive than ever.

The international mass was celebrated by Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who honored us with his presence and the Franciscan friars who live in Jaffa concelebrated with him and among them: Father Zaher, parish priest for the Arabic speaking community, Father Carlos, superior of the community, Father Apolinary, responsible for the Polish and Hebrew speaking communities, Father Tojy, chaplain of the Indian community, Father Eduardo, chaplain of the Latin Americans. Brother Fadi, who serves in Ramleh as a deacon was also present and he will be ordained in October.

He mass liturgy was indeed international and with the help of a enlarged choir, we sang songs in Hebrew, Polish, Spanish, English and Malayalam.

In his homily, Father Pizzaballa spoke about the question Jesus asks his disciples “Who am I?”. He explained that despite the complex reality of the Christians in Israel, if we claim to be with Christ, we must walk with him in acts and not just in words.

After mass, we gathered in the hall for a reception, tasty dishes and desserts made by us. There was great joy to be had in tasting an Indian dish, a Polish delicacy and having a Filipino dessert.

The mass and the celebration afterwards were wonderful, full of the Holy Spirit.

Until next year…