Month: February 2016

„St. John in Montana“ News 02/2016

First vows of six novices The 20th of January was a day filled with gratitude; at Ein Karem. There was excitement in the air when our 6 Novices pronounced their first vows in the congregation, each in her own language. We heard Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Tagalog, Besaja as well as Kitche an indigenous language of Guatemala. The whole Jerusalem Community of Sisters, Brothers Associates and Friends of Sion gathered for a beautiful Eucharistic Celebration with Fr. Carlos NDS as the celebrant and with Luciano as deacon. The new sisters all left a few days later to return to their countries for some holidays before each begins her first mission in the congregation, whether in Egypt, the Philippines, Brazil, Costa Rica or Nicaragua. On the way home Alejandra took a special route, traveling via the United States, in order to visit her brothers whom she has not seen for 15 years or more. We could only imagine what happy reunions the return of the new sisters would bring; we prayed and continue to pray that their …

Sunday Afternoon in Mea Shearim

On February 28th, we had chance for a walk to Mea Shearim, one of the oldest neighbourhoods built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is about one hour from our village Ein Karem going with by public transportation to the City Center. We haven’t heard much about the history of this neighbourhood but we could feel somehow the different atmosphere of this area to the rest of the city. First we felt strange while we were walking as we recognized that people look at us strangely. Most of the men and boys were in orthodox Jewish dress with a long black coat with the black round hat or some were with a kippah and formal black shoes. The women were in a modest dress, with skirt and most of them cover their head. This was a good experience for us because it helps us to understand a little bit better the different groups of Judaism. Some announcement or newspaper are posted on the walls so that people who are passing by …

Interfaith Prayer in Jerusalem

On Feb 25th, we attended a joint interfaith prayer outside Jaffa Gate in the Old City at 18.00 o’clock in the evening. We arrived in the place with a few people but the people were keeping coming as we continue our prayer. Members of the three religions, the so called Abrahamic religion – Muslim, Jewish and Christian – come together to pray for peace side by side. We started the prayer separately and concluded together at the end. This joint prayer not only calls us to our awareness of the need for the unity among Muslim, Jews and Christian to pray for peace in Jerusalem. It also is a witness to other people who are passing by that we are all together, whether you are a Jew, a Christian, a Muslim or any other believer, you can bring peace. The peace that “begins with me”, from within our very self. As our congregation lives this charism of love, understanding and dialogue, we hope and pray that we will be able to deepen our love and …

Our walk through Wadi Qelt

“Bless the Lord, my soul, Lord my God, how great you are! Clothed in majesty and splendor, wearing the light as a robe.” Psalm 104 On Sunday 21st we were privileged with a walk through the mountains where Jesus was tempted by the devil. We were ten people: Andrea, Lúcia, Nancy and Maria (novices) Sr. Juliana and Sr. Ivone, Luciano, Sema, Ada and Mark (associates and friends of Sion). We started our journey super excited and admiring the beauty of God’s creation. It was great for us to see flowers between the stones. This taught us to always have hope, even if the walk is full of stones. It is necessary to be life among stones. In our break, we prayed and reflected Psalm 23. “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. In grassy meadows he lets me lay down. By tranquil streams he leads me to restore my spirit.” The green of plants and colors of flowers invite us to meditate the greatness of the Lord and glorify the Lord as the “Good …

A first educational week

Encounter with Sr. Maureen Cusick NDS We had the privilege to start a process of human development with Sr. Maureen Cusick NDS. She worked with us under the topic of “We are God´s Image”. She started with the very beginning of the life, from the conception to an age about two years. She divided the topic in four steps: trust and mistrust; autonomy and doubt; purpose; confidence. She also reinforced that “we have to be who we are”, because we are God´s image and unique in this world. Class in Judaism with Sr. Anne-Catherine Avril NDS On February 19th 2016, we began with Sr. Anne Catherine NDS classes about Judaism based on biblical tests. She explained to us the meaning of circumcision: it´s the alliance with God. “You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that will be the sign of the covenant between myself and you. As soon as he is eight days old, every one of males, generation after generation, must be circumcised, including slaves born within the household or bought from foreigner …

Ash Wednesday 2016

On Wednesday, February 10th, we had a mass in the chapel with the contemplative and apostolic sisters, brothers and friends of Sion. We are invited to live a beautiful time of conversion, personal and community growth. Also, Lent time invites us to go to find Jesus, His presence in our silences and our senses in this land and say like the prophet Samuel “Speak, Lord; for your servant is listening”(1 Sam 3, 10). This year is very special to us since it is our first time here living this moment and that Pope Francis invites us to live in mercy: “Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice” (Mt 9, 13). So this time asks us to be merciful, to grow in love, to be closer to God and feel His mercy in our lives. Only we need to be amazed by Jesus in this time of preparation in His Land. We felt that Lent is a favourable time to keep us with all our heart and hear “Come back to the Lord your God, for …

First Orientation Week 2016

During this week we have been learning many details of how to live in our new house, the Novitiate. Everything is new and exciting to us. We are working hard and also enjoying this experience. It will be an efficient formation for our lives. To start our reflections and in order to become more aware of the importance of the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the temple; Sister Anne Catherine gave us our first lecture about Rites of the birth of a Jewish child. This reflection was a beneficial knowledge to understand the biblical background of this feast. Also it facilitated us to understand the sense God’s revelation to all the nations and what the meaning of it is for us as believers. To complete the experience of the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the temple, the contemplatives sisters, the brothers, other sisters and us visited the Kehillah, where they had a special mass of this feast presided by the Patriarch. We had a good time sharing the mass, …