On this Sunday 23 November, Solemnity of Christ the King, the commissaries of the Holy Land took part in Mass in the parish of Saint Saviour.
A church filled with catechism children, parents, young people from various groups, scouts and others, families and pilgrims.
The celebration, presided over by the parish priest Fr. Rami Asakhrie, saw the presence, in addition to the commissaries of the Holy Land gathered for the congress, also of the custos Fr. Francesco Ielpo and of other friars of the Custody of the Holy Land.
On the Solemnity of Christ the King the liturgical year is fulfilled and the heart of faith is revealed, recalls Fr. Rami: all kingdoms built on force and domination, from antiquity to modern ideologies, are destined to fall, while the Kingdom of Christ remains because it is founded on love and service.
The readings remind us that "there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends" and that true greatness lies in becoming servants. The Good Thief, on the cross, points the way to enter this Kingdom, to recognize Jesus as the only Saviour, to have a humble heart and to ask for the gift of heaven.
Fr. Rami continues: "It is the same truth witnessed by Saint Josephine Bakhita, who, despite having known slavery, chose as her only King the One who does not crush but saves, who does not demand but gives life."
A call that today reaches every believer, to let oneself be guided by Christ in love and service.
In the afternoon, divided by language groups, the friar commissaries of the Holy Land set out towards the convent of the Flagellation, in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem, for a guided visit to the Terra Sancta Museum.
Next to the church of the Flagellation stands the Terra Sancta Museum, a large museum project of the Custody, in continuous development and which should see its completion in 2026.
Fr. Eugenio Alliata, extraordinary professor of Biblical Archaeology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, guided the groups through the rooms of the museum, among stones, ceramics, coins and artefacts of every origin and era.
Today the museum preserves and enhances a rare archaeological and artistic heritage of Christianity, a treasure kept by the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land for over 800 years.
The artefacts come in particular from holy places and sanctuaries such as the Holy Sepulchre, Magdala, Capernaum, Tabgha, Dominus Flevit and many others.
Francesco Guaraldi
