Yom Kippur days of prayer

Last year, 13 members from the Haifa community travelled together to Kiryat Yearim during the period of Yom Kippur with the responsible of the Haifa community, Father David, in order to pray, to study and to repent together with the people of Israel. This year it was decided to continue the tradition but also to invite members of other communities. Therefore, this year, from Friday, September 25 until the end of the Yom Kippur fast on Monday, September 28, 22 members of the different communities met in the convent of Our Lady Ark of the Covenant of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Kiryat Yearim. In addition two members came for only part of the time. The participants in these pray days included 10 people from Haifa, 4 from Jerusalem, 4 from Tel Aviv – Jaffa, 3 from Beer Sheba together with the animator of these days, Father David, responsible for the communities in Israel.

Each day began with morning prayer. After breakfast, Father David gave a lecture and this time the theme was the faith of our father Abraham. On the first day, the lecture focused on the command to Abraham to leave his home, on the second day, the fo was on Abraham's pray for Sodom and Gomorrah and on the third day the focus was on the binding of Isaac. During the day there was time for silence and prayer in order to meditate on the Biblical texts. Towards the end of the morning, the Eucharist was celebrated in the presence of a wonderful group of musicians from the different communities. In the afternoon, the group met in order to share about the texts that were proposed for reading and prayer. This time together was particularly rich as each one spoke on the significance of the text, his or her approach and the meaning of Abraham in each one's life. After the sharing, the participants gathered in the chapel for a time of silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. On the first evening, the Israeli film "James' Travels in the Holy Land" was screened and on the second evening the Israeli film "Ushpizin" was screened; both dealing with a story of conversion and repentance.

The silence of the place and its beauty, the hospitality of the sisters and their Filipina assistants, the atmosphere of fraternity among the members of the different communities, the wonderful music at times of prayer (led by Myriam, Viviani and Sharon from Haifa and Lioba and Sinead from Jerusalem), the intensity of prayer of all the participants – all this helped make these days a time of spiritual renewal and uplifting. Thank you Lord for Your presence among us.