Special mass in the Jerusalem kehilla


On Sunday, May 1, 2011, the second Sunday of Easter, a special mass was celebrated in the Jerusalem kehilla. Joy and sadness were mixed together.

In the Jerusalem kehilla, and in all the Catholic communities in Israel, the faithful celebrated the proclamation of Pope John Paul II as blessed, following the mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. Before the Sunday mass, some members of the kehilla, together with Father David, Vicar for Hebrew speaking Catholics, attended the hour of adoration in honor of the Feast of Divine Mercy at the Latin Patriarchate. After the adoration, the bishops of the Holy Land presided over by the Patriarch celebrated a thanksgiving mass for the beatification. However, Father David returned to the Vicariate for Sunday mass in the kehilla and there too the faithful gave thanks for the gift of the life of Blessed Pope John Paul II.

divine_mercy_mass

In this same mass, Natasha, daughter of our kehilla, received first communion. Local joy mixed with universal joy.

Yet, there was also sadness in the mass. This same evening marks the beginning of Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel. Before the prayers of the faithful, a member of the kehilla came forward to light six candles on a special candelabrum – fashioned with the figures of men, women and children representing the six million victims of the Shoah. After the candle lighting, another member read a memorial pray for the murdered and for the Jewish people.

Joy and sadness, life and death, light and darkness intertwine in day to day life and here they met in the light of our faith in the mass.

 

 

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