“This is your day, it's your festivity, and it’s even your year!” With these words, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, greeted the congregation during the Mass for the Consecrated Life on Monday February 2nd. Traditionally celebrated on the day of the presentation of Jesus at the Temple (Lk 2: 22-40), it was particularly festive this year since 2015 was declared by Pope Francis “year of the Consecrated Life.”
The many congregations of the Holy Land moved and the Co-Cathedral of the Patriarchate was full. Veils and clothes of all kinds and colours, religious people from all origins and all languages, all of them were gathered by their common commitment towards Christ, the light of the nations.
“We received this light in our Baptism and our consecration, and we are called to transmit it by consecrating our whole life”, reminded the Patriarch in his homily. “This task is not always easy, because the consecration to a person or an ideal goes against the global thinking and culture of today: many people no longer believe in our Gospel values, in the fruitfulness of life given by love, in the spirit of the Beatitudes. However, we believe in this fruitfulness and facing this world, hostile to our choice of life, we are called to rediscover every day the intrinsic richness of our consecration, to experience the joy of our choice and its consequences ...”
Recalling the hard events that marked the diocese last year (Gaza war, violence in Jerusalem, influx of refugees escaping the anti-Christian acts in Syria and Iraq), Archbishop Twal insisted on helping to contribute to the world. “The characteristic of consecration is to incarnate in our geographical and human context and to discern the needs and expectations of men. It is to them that we must bring hope and comfort to help them recover. You have already shown your commitment to the poor and refugees. Thank you for the local and international solidarity. Do not stop donning the servant apron.”
He thus echoed the Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis to all the consecrated, dated 21 November 2014: “I expect that all forms of consecrated life wondered what God and the humanity of our days require. (...) It is only in this attention to the needs of the world and in docility to the impulses of the Spirit, that this Year of Consecrated Life will be transformed into an authentic Kairos, a time of God, a time full of grace and transformation”.
At the Latin parish of Saint Saviour in Jerusalem, Jesus' presentation was celebrated in the Temple, and His consecration to God, that applies to every baptized person. The Mass was held on Sunday, February 1st, so that more parishioners could participate, and began with the blessing of the candles in the courtyard followed by a procession into the church. “In recent years, we reintroduce this forgotten tradition of presenting newborns at the altar,” says Fr. Feras Hejazin OFM, priest of St. Saviour. “Jesus was presented in the temple 40 days after his birth. By repeating this, we signify the consecration of every family and every child to the service of Jesus”. A baby has been presented to the congregation during the Mass before all were found around the meghli, an oriental traditional dessert often eaten after the birth of a child.
Hélène Morlet
The many congregations of the Holy Land moved and the Co-Cathedral of the Patriarchate was full. Veils and clothes of all kinds and colours, religious people from all origins and all languages, all of them were gathered by their common commitment towards Christ, the light of the nations.
“We received this light in our Baptism and our consecration, and we are called to transmit it by consecrating our whole life”, reminded the Patriarch in his homily. “This task is not always easy, because the consecration to a person or an ideal goes against the global thinking and culture of today: many people no longer believe in our Gospel values, in the fruitfulness of life given by love, in the spirit of the Beatitudes. However, we believe in this fruitfulness and facing this world, hostile to our choice of life, we are called to rediscover every day the intrinsic richness of our consecration, to experience the joy of our choice and its consequences ...”
Recalling the hard events that marked the diocese last year (Gaza war, violence in Jerusalem, influx of refugees escaping the anti-Christian acts in Syria and Iraq), Archbishop Twal insisted on helping to contribute to the world. “The characteristic of consecration is to incarnate in our geographical and human context and to discern the needs and expectations of men. It is to them that we must bring hope and comfort to help them recover. You have already shown your commitment to the poor and refugees. Thank you for the local and international solidarity. Do not stop donning the servant apron.”
He thus echoed the Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis to all the consecrated, dated 21 November 2014: “I expect that all forms of consecrated life wondered what God and the humanity of our days require. (...) It is only in this attention to the needs of the world and in docility to the impulses of the Spirit, that this Year of Consecrated Life will be transformed into an authentic Kairos, a time of God, a time full of grace and transformation”.
At the Latin parish of Saint Saviour in Jerusalem, Jesus' presentation was celebrated in the Temple, and His consecration to God, that applies to every baptized person. The Mass was held on Sunday, February 1st, so that more parishioners could participate, and began with the blessing of the candles in the courtyard followed by a procession into the church. “In recent years, we reintroduce this forgotten tradition of presenting newborns at the altar,” says Fr. Feras Hejazin OFM, priest of St. Saviour. “Jesus was presented in the temple 40 days after his birth. By repeating this, we signify the consecration of every family and every child to the service of Jesus”. A baby has been presented to the congregation during the Mass before all were found around the meghli, an oriental traditional dessert often eaten after the birth of a child.
Hélène Morlet