Month: November 2014

The first candle is lit

Published by Juliana

Today is the New Year in the Church. Today on this First Sunday of Advent the liturgical year begins. Advent is a call to the spirit of poverty and hunger for God. Advent, Christmas preparation is a time for conversion, to follow and seek God’s presence. It is the reflection of the great mystery of the Incarnation, of humanity expecting a Redeemer who comes to save his creation. On the first Sunday of Advent, the invitation of the Word of God is to “to look and watch over”, to respond and to be aware of the realities of our time. The first reading from Isaiah describes the social and religious situation of the Jewish people who returned from exile but when they reached Jerusalem they found the temple abandoned, and encountered a vacuum. What they needed was a human community that received them well and made them feel at home but they did not find it. Isaiah invites us to prepare for the Lord’s coming, with calls for repentance and to put ourselves in the …

“St. John in Montana“ News, 2014/11

Published by Juliana

Ein Karem, Thursday, 27 November 2014 Dear all! It seems that time is running, not walking anymore we had so many activities in these last few months; or is it the other way round that we are running, not walking anymore!? We came home full of energy and refreshed after walking with Jesus in his home town where he grew up and walked the hills of Nazareth. During our Galilee Pilgrimage. We walked around the See of Galilee and it was a joy to have Sr. Darlene with us, and even more, Sister Colette. In Nazareth we slept in the youth hostel in the convent of the Sisters of Nazareth. We took public transportation for our Galilee Pilgrimage. In Tabgah we stayed with the German Benedictine monks. From there we walked to the other side of the lake, to Kursi, Bethsaida, Capernaum and the Mount of Beatitudes. We will not forget how much we enjoyed St. Peter’s fish and the prayerful atmosphere in Tabgah, where we slept in tents and a bungalow. After our return …

Christ the King 2014

Published by Juliana

Ez. 34: 11-12, 15-17; Ps 23, 1 Cor. 15:20-26, 28, Mt. 25: 31-46 A Shepherd of Love and Justice The readings for today’s feast, “SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING” portrays an image of a God who is a Good Shepherd. A shepherdwho tends one’s flock and look for the lost sheep. The prophet Ezekiel put it, “For thus says the Lord God: I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tend his flock when he find himself among his scattered, so I will tend my sheep, I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark”(34:11-12). This recognition of God as a Shepherd is beautifully crafted in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. In verdant pastures he give me repose…” However in the second reading there is a slight shift from a Shepherd God to the person of Jesus Christ who is the first fruit of all creation. From Him comes a new life. Christ as the Son of …

Community evening and …

Published by Juliana

“We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive” ore “One should treat all cratures of the world as one would like to be treated” or “The one who receives the other with a smile, even if he doesn’t give anything, it will be counted as if he had offered him the best thing in the world.” From the golden rules of Religions.

Happy Birthday Clara

Published by Juliana

Happy Birthday Clara!!! Today is Clara’s first birthday in Jerusalem! Our community prepared something special to make her day worth remembering and happy from decoration to wonderful meal. Clara is the last birthday celebrant from our community this year… Ein Karem Guest House: Our Ministry of Hospitality We have a Guest House in which we welcome pilgrims from all walks of life. The rooms are simple and comfortable. We have staff, associates, brothers, apostolic and contemplative sisters working together to in making the stay of our visitors enjoyable. As part of our formation, we the novices are going to be part of ministry of Hospitality. Starting this month until January two novices will help in cleaning the rooms, laundry, washing the dishes and welcoming our guest. For this month of November Clara and I (Arlyne) are doing the volunteer work. Being part of our ministry in the Guest here in Ein Karem is great opportunity to know more about our Charism as well as the people from different walks of life. Clara and I are …

Computer skills

Published by Juliana

After our walk in Galilee. Thanks be to God because we all came back very well – nobody broke anything like a leg or an arm… etc. This week we were busy because we did our shopping and cleaning of our house and we received a visitor from Germany, who came to know what we doing this year. Then we had lessons with Liz (friend of Sr. Darlene) on Excel. we received a French group: teachers working in Sion schools in France. They want to know what are we doing this year at this step called “Novitiate”. We shared with them our feeling and what we are doing here. One of their questions was: How did we know Sion??? Each one of us had a different story for how we knew Sion, because all of us know that God has different ways to know him through many people, situations, the things that attract each one of us. We are very happy to know Sisters of Sion and we find our hearts here. We had Entry …

The richness of Brazil present`s

Published by Juliana

Today we had a  meal made by Rozeni and Ivone from Brazil because this month it was the Brazilians turn to present their country. In the evening after our dinner we started with the “Salute of the flag of Brazil” – we put our hands on our hearts. We know that Brazil is a rich country especially for its “Gold” which is exported to many countries. The first sisters of Sion went to Brazil on October 9, 1888. They went to teach in schools. What is important for Sion in Brazil is the Bible and teaching Justice, Love, Sharing, Fraternity, Respect, Tolerance, Freedom. writen by Victoria