Father David visits the Archangel Gabriel convent in Migdal HaEmeq

In the heart of Migdal HaEmeq, a Jewish town in the Galilee, there are two churches that serve as a reminder of the Arab village that existed there until 1948. The Orthodox church has become the center for the activities of the Orthodox priests who work with the Orthodox Russian speaking Christians in the State of Israel. The Catholic church nearby is the meeting place of a group of Christian Arabs who come together there to pray and give praise to God. The pastor of the group is Father Jack Karam of the Franciscan order, who has been leaving on site since 1999.

Father Jack founded the prayer group that took the name "Spirit and Power", a group that comes together to pray, to sing and to act together to contribute to society. The convent has a website in Arabic and it is worthwhile to visit it in order to be impressed by the life of the community and its activities.

http://www.dmgm.org/

Even if you do not know Arabic, the pictures and the music clips bear witness to a wonderful community, full of joy and prayer.

Father Jack invited Father David, Patriarchal Vicar responsible for the Hebrew Speaking Catholic communities in Israel, to celebrate mass with him on the feast of the Dedication of the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulcher) and to preach the homily. Father David told his personal story and the story of the Hebrew speaking communities. He emphasized that Arabic speaking Christians and Hebrew speaking Christians have a common vocation, to live lives of joy as a result of the resurrection and this to be sources of light in our society.

We can hope that this happy encounter will be only the first in a series of meetings between the faithful who pray in the Convent of the Archangel Gabriel and the faithful of the Hebrew speaking Catholic communities.

A description of the visit in Arabic is on the site of the convent: View and read

Photographs from the visit: View