Youth group weekend in Jerusalem


Brother Alberto from Jaffa sent us a report about the weekend of the youth group "Desert Flower" in Jerusalem on February 17 and 18.

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For the first time, the youth group of the kehillot, Desert Flower, met in the home of the Vicariate in Jerusalem, hosted by Father David, Benny and the other members of the community. It was the peak of winter, however the storm outside did not prevent the young people from arriving on Friday, towards evening. After having participated in the daily mass, having eaten a hurried meal, the young people made their way to the convent of the Poor Clares in the city, in the Arnona neighborhood. This meeting was the first of a series that would characterize the weekend – a night encounter, like the one between Jesus and Nicodemus, the text that was chosen for the prayer, Taize style, that followed the meeting with the nuns. The youth were fascinated by what the nuns had to say – words that radiated silence and serenity – and which exhorted the young people to reflect on the radical choice of following the Gospel, on the courage to choose for love and on the depth of the silence and the calm.

On Saturday morning, after joint morning prayer, the youth met in order to coordinate the activities in which they will participate: helping at the weekend of families, counseling at the Passover camp for children, and the summer program. That morning, the sun accompanied the group as they made their way to the Old City but the air was frozen and there were some spells of hail. On their way to the

Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulcher), they passed through the courtyards of the Franciscan monastery of Saint Savior, in order to visit an exhibition of crèches from North Italy. Without it being planned, they were able to meet the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who, to the delight of the youth, addressed them in Hebrew, and told them a little of the work of the Franciscans in israel and in the surrounding countries. The visit to the Church of the Resurrection was guided by Father Apolinary, who explained the places, the traditions and the challenges of this place, so special to Christians all over the world. Thereafter, the young people made their way through the market to the Western Wall where they could pray at this place so holy to the Jewish people.

After lunch, shared with four members of a family from the Jaffa kehilla, who were visiting Jerusalem, another meaningful encounter took place. Elie, a Christian Arab from Jerusalem, came to meet the group and get to know it. Elie, a young man who lives in the Old City, is the counselor of one of the youth groups in the Arabic speaking Catholic community in Jerusalem. This was an opportunity for Elie to get to know the youth of the Hebrew speaking community and for the youth to get to know the reality of the Arabic speaking youth. The hope now is that a joint meeting of youth can be organized from the two communities, to start building bridges over the wounds of the past.

The meeting ended with mass in the Jerusalem community. After the readings, that seemed to have been chosen especially for this occasion, each one was invited to share his or her thoughts. The main theme was the "Word" – what we do with words that come out of our mouths and the importance of controlling our tongues. In the Gospel reading, on the high mountain at the time of the Transfiguration, Peter does not control his tongue because he does not know what to say. There were clear echoes from the meeting with the Poor Clares and especially the importance of silence, meditation and discernment in the attempt to guide our lips and control, our mouths.

During the weekend, the youth prayed often for one of the group who had been invited to be godmother to a baby who was to be baptized the following day in the Jerusalem kehilla. Likewise, they prayed for the youth who are going to be mobilized in the months ahead in order to do their obligatory military service.

The desert flowers are growing and soon they will give their fruit. Let us pray that the members of the kehillot will help them to remain faithful to their faith and that they will pray for them.

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