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 …

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 …