This year the feast of St. Anthony in Jaffa was special. The main celebration was Holy Mass presided by the Custos, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, with the friars of the community and the neighbouring convents, St. Peter and Ramleh. We were delighted to have with us Father Costantin, the Greek Orthodox parish priest, Father Elia, the Melkite parish priest and Father Michail, the Coptic Orthodox parish priest.
During the sermon, Fr. Toufik underlined the international character of the parish of St. Anthony: it is a multicoloured parish because of the active and numerous presence, as well as of Christian Arabs, of Africans, Indians, Filipinos and Sri Lankans, all foreign workers living in Tel Aviv. He dwelled at length on the meaning which the unity of the parish takes on in this context, where local Christians belong to different rites, as do the foreign workers. St. Anthony is a church open to everyone and at everyone’s service.
The Readings – and the proclamation of the Gospel – were in Arabic and English. The parish choir of the Arab community performed Gregorian chants: a rarity, being a little way from Jerusalem.
At the end of Holy Mass, everyone was invited to the parish centre, where the Custos blessed the premises which have been completely renovated. This blessing included all those who come to our parish, celebrating the reopening of the centre with fireworks, laser ray effects and the performance of a very talented group of youngsters whose music provided the entertainment for the evening. People were comfortably seated at the tables and enjoyed the refreshments prepared in abundance by the parishioners.
The words of the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Mr. Roni Kolday, expressed satisfaction and he extended the best wishes of the city to the whole community. The members of the new Board of the club were introduced one by one on the stage and thanked for their work over the past few months: everybody congratulated them with warm applause.
The parish priest, Fr. Toufik, had words of encouragement to work better and better in the future, to ensure cordial collaboration and fraternal collaboration with the parish priest, whoever he may be. He also explained that the St. Anthon Family Club, as its name says, has to be a centre open to all, Arabs and foreigners, where everyone can feel at home. And in the same way, everyone must feel responsible for the centre: just as has been done now for all the expenses, the result of fund-raising and donations by the faithful that he, as parish priest but also the parish priests before him, set aside for this complete renovation which was possible without being a burden on the Custody of the Holy Land.
May the Lord bless all and may St. Anthony, protector of the Custody and of the parish centre, increasingly enlighten us to serve the poor, as theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Fr. Arturo Vasaturo ofm
During the sermon, Fr. Toufik underlined the international character of the parish of St. Anthony: it is a multicoloured parish because of the active and numerous presence, as well as of Christian Arabs, of Africans, Indians, Filipinos and Sri Lankans, all foreign workers living in Tel Aviv. He dwelled at length on the meaning which the unity of the parish takes on in this context, where local Christians belong to different rites, as do the foreign workers. St. Anthony is a church open to everyone and at everyone’s service.
The Readings – and the proclamation of the Gospel – were in Arabic and English. The parish choir of the Arab community performed Gregorian chants: a rarity, being a little way from Jerusalem.
At the end of Holy Mass, everyone was invited to the parish centre, where the Custos blessed the premises which have been completely renovated. This blessing included all those who come to our parish, celebrating the reopening of the centre with fireworks, laser ray effects and the performance of a very talented group of youngsters whose music provided the entertainment for the evening. People were comfortably seated at the tables and enjoyed the refreshments prepared in abundance by the parishioners.
The words of the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Mr. Roni Kolday, expressed satisfaction and he extended the best wishes of the city to the whole community. The members of the new Board of the club were introduced one by one on the stage and thanked for their work over the past few months: everybody congratulated them with warm applause.
The parish priest, Fr. Toufik, had words of encouragement to work better and better in the future, to ensure cordial collaboration and fraternal collaboration with the parish priest, whoever he may be. He also explained that the St. Anthon Family Club, as its name says, has to be a centre open to all, Arabs and foreigners, where everyone can feel at home. And in the same way, everyone must feel responsible for the centre: just as has been done now for all the expenses, the result of fund-raising and donations by the faithful that he, as parish priest but also the parish priests before him, set aside for this complete renovation which was possible without being a burden on the Custody of the Holy Land.
May the Lord bless all and may St. Anthony, protector of the Custody and of the parish centre, increasingly enlighten us to serve the poor, as theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Fr. Arturo Vasaturo ofm