A retreat in the monastery of Saint Dorothy

This year, our community in Jerusalem organized the retreat before Easter very early, on Saturday, March 7, before the second Sunday of Lent. For the first time, we gathered in the monastery of Saint Dorothy, a lovely place, with a beautiful garden well cared for and full of flowers. This time we asked Father Philip, a friend of our community, to prepare us for the holidays. Father Philip took us on a very interesting spiritual journey between the two mountains: The Mount of Temptation we heard about on the first Sunday of Lent, and the Mount Tabor, Mount of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, we were being prepared to hear about the day after, the second Sunday of Lent. In this journey, we looked at both Jesus tempted by the Devil in the desert and Jesus wearing splendor and light. We were reminded that we must not only follow Jesus but also unite ourselves with Him in His passion and death to inherit resurrection with Him. We also learned how Jesus corrects his disciples' perceptions of the Messiah.

May God help all of us to prepare properly for Easter, particularly in these hard days in which many people face difficulties of all kinds. May we all arrive to Easter celebrations in health and peace.