The Day of the Communities

On Saturday, October 2nd, the Monastery of Bethlehem Sisters in Deir Rafat hosted the Hebrew Speaking Communities. In the beautiful Sanctuary of Our Lady Queen of Our Land the Holy Mass of the first Sunday of Great Advent was celebrated. It was also an occasion to the farewell celebration of fr. Rafik Nahra, the former Vicar of St. James (from 2017).

The Liturgy of the first Sunday of the Great Advent brings the picture of Creation by God. The phrase: "It is not good for the man to be alone" was interpreted by fr. Piotr Zelazko (the new Vicar) as an encouragement to "build the Kingdom of God" in our small communities where "everyone would feel welcome". "May there not be lonely people in our Vicariate" - said fr. Piotr - "may all find their brothers and sisters in our small Church that we are trying to build together".

At the end of the Mass the representatives of various communities brought a small gift for fr. Rafik - the artistic handmade ceramic tiles with the so called Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers (6:24-26). It is the oldest ever found biblical text and the version made especially for fr. Rafik by an Armenian artist contains the text of the blessing in Hebrew and Arabic:

[May] the Lord bless you, and guard you –

יְבָרֶכְךָ יהוה, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ‎

[May] the Lord make His face shine unto you, and be gracious to you –

יָאֵר יהוה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וִיחֻנֶּךָּ‎

[May] the Lord lift up His face unto you, and give to you peace –

יִשָּׂא יהוה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם‎

After the final blessing Fr. Christian Carreńo was presented as a new priest of the Community in Haifa and all prayed for fr. Sergey who actually fights against his illness: May God bless both of them.

The words of gratitude were expressed also during the picnic. Wonderful cake offered by the Neymar family from Tiberias was a great beginning of the afternoon full of joy.

Mutual meal shared by everyone, games of fr. Beny, presentation of the trip to Austria (by Danielle and the Youth Group) and the meeting with the new Vicar - finished with the common prayer (led by fr. Roman).

Words of gratitude should be directed to all who helped to prepare the liturgy, the music, the place, the food, etc. May God bless us all who are trying to build the reality of our local Church.