The month has flown by and it’s time to bid farewell to this “holy land” where Jesus and the Prophets walked, where God chose a people, where miracles were performed, where we were redeemed by the God of love. God has visited us, His people.
Our group has been saying good bye now for a number of days. Some leave on the 29th, I leave on the 30th for a 12 hour flight to Newark then on to Nova Scotia. I arrive about midnight. It’ll be a long day.
The Israel leg of my journey has been another good one. The people of Tantur that I’ve met and prayed with have formed strong bonds based on our common roots as people of Jesus. There have been many faiths and lots of experiences that will affect not only our prayer and our homilies, but also our lives. I’m grateful as well for this leg of my journey.
One highlight of the last week was meeting Samah Qumsieh. Samah is the local coordinator for Blest Art Co. that sells the Olive Wood products in our church. I had the joy of meeting her family and a number of the craftsmen who produce the olive wood statues and the mother of pearl items that are on sale.
Some of Samah’s family now live in Beloit and sell products in many of the parishes in the state of Wisconsin and beyond. I’ll post a picture of some of my experiences on the blog. The Blest Art People will be at Holy Family in September so be prepared for another real treat.
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1 comment:
Father Pat,
I really have enjoyed reading about your sabbatical. Can't wait to here all about it when you get back.
DN
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