Family gathering in Tiberias about our children's education

More than 20 families, representing most of the Hebrew and Russian speaking Catholic communities in Israel participated in the family workshop to discuss the question of the Christian education of Hebrew-speaking, Catholic children in Israel. The parents gathered for discussion while the children engaged in a variety of different activities, under the guidance of Benny and the sisters from the community of Koinonia John the Baptist. In addition there was a strong and very welcome presence of a number of babies.

The workshop began on Friday afternoon with a session to get to know one another and an introduction by Father David, Vicar for the communities, regarding who are our children. Already in the initial stages of the discussion, many parents expressed themselves and emphasized the importance of the subject.

On Friday evening, after a delicious meal, the whole group, parents and children, walked the length of the Tiberias promenade in order to view a water, sound and light show that focuses on the history of the city. These leisure hours allowed a deepening of relationship and a continued conversation,

Saturday began with morning prayer in the Church of Saint Peter, adjacent to the hostel. This was followed immediately by breakfast, taken together, and then again the participants broke into two groups. The children went off for a variety of activities: religion class, singing, fun and a trip. The parents, meanwhile, continued their discussions. At the beginning of the morning, Father David gave a description of the present situation regarding existing activities for our children:
- the children summer camps,
- the project of publishing religious catechism books in Hebrew for our children,
- religion classes for our children and the search for religion teachers,
- the youth group preparing to go to Madrid in the summer,
- the need for Catholic religious education in Hebrew,
- the attitude to Christianity and Christians in Israeli, Jewish society.
After the description, parents were invited to speak about their experiences, their needs and the challenges of educating our children in the country.

The lunch break was the occasion to renew energy – by means of a delicious meal and rest. This occasion also allowed the parents and the children to celebrate Benny from the Vicariate community whose birthday is on Sunday.

The discussions began again at 15.30 and the parents expressed their hopes and desires. Father David took extensive notes promising that this essential meeting would be the first of other meetings in the future for the purpose of serving our children and to help them integrate in the society and in the Church.

At the end the workshop, the participants gathered in the church for mass, the fifth Sunday of Lent. Parents and children gave thanks for this blessed and fruitful time. At the end of the mass, the children sang a song they had prepared while their parents had been discussing our future.

We parted from one another and from the place with the promise that we would be back… and we must thank Father Giuseppe, head of the community of Koinonia John the Baptist in Tiberias, the brothers and sisters, who received us like members of family. We also give thanks to the Scouts from Italy who provided us with the grant that made this weekend possible.