Desert Flower in Haifa

On Friday, March 14, 2014, we, the young people of the Desert Flower group met as we do each month.

This time we held the meeting in Haifa. As the kehilla house in Haifa is undergoing renovations, we stayed in the Latin parish in Haifa. When we had all arrived on Friday evening, we began with the celebration of Holy Mass all together. Then we had dinner. In the free time that remained we walked around the city a little and we chatted with one another about the month that had gone by since we last met.

Then, we gathered again for prayer, this time “lectio divina”. The prayer was guided by Father Apolinary, who explained to us the stages of this kind of prayer and the meaning of each stage. At the beginning we read the text from the Gospel of Saint Matthew 17:1-10. We, then, read it again but this time each verse alone and very slowly. After that, each one read the text a third time alone. Then we took time in silence to pray, the third step. The final step of the “lectio” we concluded during the Sunday mass.

The next morning, we began with morning prayer followed by breakfast. Immediately after breakfast, we left in order to go and volunteer in a place founded by the sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul for children with handicaps. When we arrived, we were taken around the place and shown the dining hall, the rooms where activities take place and the living quarters. We then went to the room where the children are during their free time and we played with them (games with chairs and balloons, making sure that the games were suitable for them and that they could participate). We then took them out to the amusement park.

At noon we said our farewells to the children and the sisters. But not before, the responsible for the place had prepared lunch for us in order to thank us. For some of us it was really difficult to see the children in this condition. For me personally, the hardest and yet most meaningful moment was when we saw the residential quarters. There was a baby there, very small, who was connected to an oxygen mask. It was really hard for me to see such a small child connected to a machine all the time. It is impossible to take him out of the room and take a walk with him, to play with him and do what any child of his age might do.

This volunteering activity affected each one of us in some way. Even though it was difficult to see the children in his condition, they also represent a wonderful example of love and joy provoked by the simplest of things. It was also beautiful to see a place that accepts these children as they are with so much love, looking after them well, giving them love and warmth. We were only there for two hours and it was hard for us but the sisters and the people working there are with the children every day and live with them, trying to provide a good environment for these children.

After the volunteer work, we returned to our lodgings in the parish.

From there we went to meet four women who belong to a group called the Focolare and they received us in the apartment in which they live. We began the meeting with two games that they had prepared and then they showed us a film that documented one of the last projects that they had worked on. After the film, they told us the story of Carlos and Alberto, two young men who were good friends and full of love for others. They also told the story of Chiara, who following the story of these two young men, founded, together with her friends, the movement. It was beautiful to hear about their way, a way of unlimited love towards others and it was beautiful that the movement accepts everyone, Christians, Jews, Muslims and others.

After the meeting, we went to the Shalom Community and joined the Haifa kehilla there for mass. When mass was ended we went back to our lodgings for dinner.

After dinner, we gathered for a meeting and during this time we were directed in an exercise that Benny had prepared. We closed our eyes and, in silence, brought to mind all the moments we had lived during the day, all the things we had done, the emotions that had swept over us and the experiences lived. Usually, we forget and just go on even when something meaningful happened. We simply forget and go back to routine.

A few also shared what the group means to them and why they participate in the meetings time after time. After this meeting, we remained with a memory of the day we had lived. It was a beautiful atmosphere and then we went to bed.

On Sunday we had a rather special day because it was A Sunday that we could spend together because usually the meetings only last Friday and Saturday and Sunday is usually a regular day of studies, work or army service. We began the day with morning prayer and breakfast and then went out to wander around the city together. Part of the outing was also a time to continue filming our little presentation for the Italian group that will come in the summer.

Then, we went to the convent of the Carmelite nuns in order to hear about their life and the way they have chosen to live as disciples of Jesus. At the end of the meeting, whoever wanted to have a private meeting with the nuns could do so.

We then went back for mass followed by lunch and then we said our farewells and went on our way back home.

This meeting was very intense, full of experiences and we learnt about a variety of ways to live Christian faith and to follow Jesus.

We can pray that each one of us will find the appropriate way to live as a disciple of Jesus!