Month: August 2017

Lucia and Nancy in Egypt

“We live in a world near to and yet far from the Kingdom of God. It is in this world, so loved by God, that we have been called. It is to this world that we are sent by the Church to proclaim our faith in God’s Kingdom already growing among us.” Const.12 On July 3 Nancy and I arrived in Egypt for the second experience of our apostolic year. We came to enjoy our sisters in Berba for summer activities in a village and to have a better understanding of the Arabic world. Our first week in Berba was very exciting and we enjoyed a lot our big community with: Sr. Jackie, Darlene, Victoria and Wafaa, Nancy, Lucia and Marceline form Congo. But for most of the time we have been four. It was amazing the care and the lovely welcome that the people gave us in the village and in their own houses as well. Everything here is simple, we found them very happy and generous people, for us they have what is …

Experience in Taize, France

Sr. Ania nds, María, Andrea and Agnieszka (Ania´s friend) lived a beautiful week in Taize in France where the brothers of Taize, sisters and volunteers received us with a warmth welcome. The Taize community is an ecumenical monastic order which invites people of different Christian denominations. Also It is a special place where many people from different countries around the world go to pray and seek the source of their lives. Andrea, Agnieszka and María went to share in small groups according their ages while Sr. Ania went with the silence´s group. We reflected on some texts of the Gospel of Matthew and four proposals about “together, open new paths of hope”. We tried to help each other with questions, listening, prayers and sharing our reflections. Sometimes the people shared personal and sacred situations in their lives. It was very significant since we could feel that the Holy Spirit led us to be open to one another. It was a good atmosphere. It was a week of personal and spiritual preparation and community living with …

Walking in KZ Auschwitz

I did not know how to start to write this report, since the experiences in Krakow for these three and a half months have been very meaningful in our life with new feelings, knowledge and growing. So, one day I sat down and I asked God for the wisdom to write. I started when I was in Oswiecim in Poland “my faithful love, my bastion, my citadel, my Savior; I shelter behind him, my shield.” (Psalm 144, 2) In the text we will find many questions perhaps some will have answers and others will not, since they do not need to be answered, because the silence is the answer or perhaps we know already the answer, we do not need to respond to it, otherwise it will take time and many pages. We, María and I lived in the community in Krakow with Sister Ania nds, who received us with a beautiful welcome. We lived Sion´s spirit and charism in our community life, prayer life and apostolates (JCC-Jews Community Center- and the Montessori’s School). “Community …

Apostolic Experience in Poland 2017

Excursions. Our three and a half months in Poland have been a very fruitful experience. Andrea and I arrived on May 2nd in Krakow and we were welcomed by Sr. Ania in the community. We have had a great time because in the first days and weeks we visited many different places around Krakow and especially the Old Town. We also joined the free city tour to the Jewish quarter, Kazimierz. Everything was about “our first time to see and taste” – to see the beautiful city that preserved the historical buildings from the Middle Ages and we’ve also enjoyed the taste of the Polish dishes. We had a chance to visit Wadowice, the town of Pope John Paul II where he was born. Another excursion was to Warsaw where we visited the Warsaw Uprising Museum with the exhibition of the history and complexity of the Warsaw Uprising during WW II, with photographs, documents, and actual artifacts. We also visited the Paulin Museum which is a modern museum designed with interactive multimedia exhibitions taking you …

„St. John in Montana“ News 07/2017

During these last months many sessions and activities have filled the city of Jerusalem, In one Session, “Healing Hatred” some of our sisters participated, others participated in the session on Reconciliation, some of our brothers and sisters were part of the Bat Kol program on Exodus and again others attended the Elijah Interfaith session of “Sharing Wisdom.” In the session of Healing Hatred I meet Rabbi Miriam Berkowitz who runs an organization that introduces spiritual care to Israeli hospitals and nursing homes based on the American CPE model. She is organising a training course in 2018 for spiritual caregivers and it will be an interfaith course where various faiths take part. Fluency in English and Hebrew is required. Somehow I felt that I have found a meaningful way of using the efforts I am making in learning Hebrew and perhaps I will be able to volunteer within a ministry of caregivers in a one of the different institutions here in Israel. Not all activities in Jerusalem have been life giving during this month of July, after …