Year: 2014

Christmas cookies and…

Published by Juliana

Our house is full of Christmas carols and community activities, baking Christmas cookies, decorating the house inside and outside as we are preparing Our Hearts and the Decorations in Our House. This week we changed our volunteer work so that each of us now is with a different person. It is really a learning experience and a very good one for all of us; we are taking care of the children, which is different from what we have been doing so far in the Novitiate. All of us are busy. We had a very nice dinner at the Guest House, with all of the Sion Sisters in Jerusalem, to celebrate the birthday of Sr. Marge; it was good to see all of the sisters again. Sr. Juliana and Sr. Ivone went to “Rami Levy” to buy food for us and supplies for our Christmas biscuits. We will help Sr. Juliana, who is our Chef, to make them. They bought many things and someone commented, “That’s lot!” They responded, “We have a big family!” We had …

The second candle is lit

Published by Juliana

Second Sunday of Advent. Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11, Psalm 85, 2 Peter 3:8-14 Mark 1:1-8 This time of Advent is a good opportunity to go more deeply into ourselves and with God to see what we did last year and what we should let go of this year. We can think about what step I can take to grow and to renew my relationship with God and others in the new year. I should be ready while waiting for God, like John the Baptist who asks us to prepare ourselves and repent because the kingdom is near. How can we prepare ourselves for the Child Jesus to be born in our hearts? Are we able to wait for Jesus like John the Baptist says to us? What kinds of seeds should I bury in the good earth letting them die to be able to grow and produce much fruit? All these questions will help me to think about my life and how can I be with God. We can return to God with humble prayer and …

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.