Desert Flower continues its way in Poland

The vigil prayer and the Mass with Pope Francis were a very strong experience: beauty, depth of prayer and strong spirituality were the main aspects that should be stressed. Our young people listened carefully to the Pope's words, translated by some of us to small groups.

In our sector, maybe by chance, the organizers put together many of the delegations from countries in the Middle East: groups from Lebanon (around 1300 participants), Iraqis, Syrians, Egyptians, Jordanians and Palestinians (from Israel and Palestine). They were all around our little group of Hebrew speakers from Israel. At the very beginning, we felt a bit "lost", but little by little and with increasing frequency, our brothers and sisters from the Arab countries came to visit us and talk to us, trading with us souvenirs from their lands, and taking pictures with us. This was a liberating and hope filled experience.

A girl from Lebanon asked me to transmit her message to our people, a message of hope, of peace and of good will to build a better future. She said that as in the past, countries like France and Germany were enemies and today are partners, we can imagine a reconciled and united Middle East with open borders in the future. She also said that Christians are the ferment of the society and that they should inspire all by their good behaviour.

Also young people from Iraq and Egypt came to hug us and bless us, as well as Arabic speaking Christians from the Galilee and from other Israeli cities.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to meet all the groups we would have liked to meet, even though they camped 100 meters away from us: our flag was an insurmountable obstacle between us, making encounter impossible. Sadly, we understand this and keep this intention in our hearts, bringing it into our prayer.

We spent Saturday night in the open "Field of Mercy" and woke up on a very sunny day to welcome the arrival of the Pope for the concluding mass. The message of the Holy Father during the homily was very meaningful, and showed us how our encounter with the Lord can meet obstacles inside and outside us.

The way back home was quite difficult because of a sudden storm and a long walk in the mud, but at the end we reached the Franciscan convent and we could rest there.

On Monday we visited the town of Zakopane, a place full of Polish character, almost entirely built of wood. There we visited two beautiful churches, walked on a track in the forest and spent some free time in the more touristic place.

Tomorrow we will leave Wieliczka and will move to Częstochowa.