Twelve days with the next generation


Father David writes a brief reflection on the twelve days spent in Deir Rafat (July 15 to July 26) with the Hebrew speaking, Catholic youth and children.

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Joy and exhaustion, thankful sprit and very sore body! This year, we set off for Deir Rafat for twelve days rather than the five we have spent there in past years. The twelve days were divided into three distinct parts:

- two days with the young people from the Hebrew speaking Catholic communities getting ready for their pilgrimage to Italy. All the young people who will travel, 17 in number, attended as well as a few others.

- five days with children from the Hebrew speaking Catholic communities. The children, 35 in number, are the children of our parish communities with whom we have ongoing contact and who meet regularly through the year on other occasions too: the community days at Easter and Sukkot, the family weekends in Lent and Advent and the Easter camp.

- five days with Hebrew speaking Catholic children from a variety of communities: predominantly our own Hebrew speaking communities, the Filipino community and the Lebanese Maronite community. The children, 63 in number, are all Hebrew speaking and integrated in Jewish, secular Israeli schools. The majority of them had already met last year during the summer camp.

We have already published brief reports on this period on our internet site but I would like to dwell on a few aspects of this truly blessed time:

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- Joy: The joy of seeing the future in the present, the not yet right here and now choked me up more than once. These children represent our future as they are native Hebrew speakers, Israelis by culture and formation (even if some are not citizens) and beginning their journeys as disciples of Christ and members of the Church. Their diversity, some Jews, some Arabs, some Russians, some Lebanese, some Filipino… to mention just a few of the diverse origins… represent the wondrous mosaic of what we are called to become.

- Service: The deep sense of commitment of the eighteen counselors who accompanied the youth and children over these twelve days inspired me. Priests (five of the Vicariate priests participated), religious, consecrated men and women, lay people – Israelis, Poles, Italians and other nationalities – came together to serve the growing body with no compensation other than the deep sense that we are answering a call from the Lord. The Lord has sent wonderful workers to his vineyard.

- Discipleship: Pride filled my heart to see the assistants to the counselors from among the young people. Those that have grown up in our communities are now ready to contribute their part and they worked tirelessly to help the counselors. Their role will grow more and more important in the future camps and they assure the continuity of the work.

- Tenderness: Being tender with the children at all times in order to allow them to experience the tenderness of Christ and his embrace was a wonderful challenge. Each evening, the counselors met to review the day and this was the moment to renew the commitment to be tender and kind, believing that in each of the counselors each child encountered one sent to him or her by Christ.

- Creativity: The gifts that each one brought to the project provoked in me a sense of wonder each day anew. The theater production put on by the children from the first camp for the newly arrived children for the second camp brought these gifts together in a wonderful symphony of color, sound and experience. Those that wrote the script, trained the children, prepared the music and songs, designed the sets, all collaborated to produce a spectacular play on the work of the Holy Spirit.

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- Unity and diversity: The children, youth and counselors represent an incredible diversity of ethnic origins, language, culture and perspective and yet all are united by Christian faith, Hebrew language, life in Jewish Israeli society and commitment to the Church. It is not a given that it will work and yet it does thanks to an effusion of the Holy Spirit, hard work and conviction that this is our vocation. The challenge is to open ourselves more and more to bring in those who are still absent. Most urgent is the outreach to the children of the various African communities – migrant workers and asylum seekers who are still not attending the camps. (Sadly four African children who were supposed to attend cancelled their participation at the last moment).

- Fun: Yes! We had fun after all is said and done. An experience of Christ and the Church is not only deep, serious and hopefully transforming… but also a lot of fun! How wonderful it was to hear so many children say at the end of this time together: “Finished already? Can’t we stay another week or two?”

- Thanksgiving: Thanks to the Lord, to the parents, to the children, to our hosts, to the counselors! At the end, thanksgiving is deep and resounding. Thank you, Lord, for protecting us and gifting us with each day. Thank you, Lord, for showing us a vision of the future. Thank you, parents, for trusting us with your most precious treasure: your children. Thank you, children, for participating with openness and love and teaching us how to love you and care for you. Thank you, dear Sisters of Deir Rafat, for sharing with us your home and taking such good care for us… and praying for us always. Thank you, counselors, for giving yourselves 100% so that we can cultivate the treasure the Lord has given us… building up his body in his land!

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