On Sunday 26th September, the Franciscan sanctuary of Emmaüs El-Qubeibeh welcomed its first group of pilgrims for four months. For the feast day of saints Cleophas and Simeon, the Custody of the Holy Land did not fail in the tradition of its pilgrimage to this village in the West Bank where Jesus is traditionally believed to have met these two disciples who were walking “with dark faces”.
In the bus that took him with his brothers to Emmaüs, Father Beda did not recognize the route, and with good reason. The traditional road, which each year became harder to take, is not totally cut off. The Israelis have built a road to connect one Israeli settlement with another, in this Palestinian area and to “ensure their security”, they have built another one to be used exclusively by Palestinians. But is it a road ? On the right and left, it is bordered by high walls with barbed wire on the top. We could not see the sky above us and around us there were no more landscapes.
Nevertheless, to reach this road, the Custody’s pilgrimage asked and obtained a favour with the exceptional opening of the checkpoint of Qalandya. This favour lengthened their journey by about twenty minutes, but this is a favour that Fr. Franciszek Wiater, the guardian of the sanctuary, did not benefit from. To reach Jerusalem, eleven kilometres away, it takes him at least an hour then “everything depends on the wait at Qalandya. It can take up to two hours.”
because of this, no groups come to Emmaüs El-Qubeibeh any more. “There is no shortage of groups that want to come and celebrate here,” the porter of the convent assured us, “but when they hear how to reach the village they give up the idea.”
Commenting on this situation, Fr. Artemio Vitores, the Custodial vicar, compared life to a difficult path “that men sometimes make even more difficult. During the Mass, we prayed for peace so that these walls can disappear and men can find the ways of communicating.”
The homily of the Mass he presided had already been part of this hope. “Are we really sure that Jesus is the centre of our lives and that the cross is the path towards the glory of the Resurrection ?” “It is our turn to ask the Lord to stay with us and make us go from sadness to the joy of Easter, from pessimism to enthusiasm.”
Convinced that they had been in communion with Christ during the Eucharist, the small group, joined by some Christians who live in the surrounding areas, shared a fraternal meal in the convent refectory.
The friars then returned by the same route with the same desire to share the good news in Jerusalem: “He really did conquer death and resuscitated!”
To read the homily of Fr. Artemio Vìtores, click here (in Italian).
Mab
In the bus that took him with his brothers to Emmaüs, Father Beda did not recognize the route, and with good reason. The traditional road, which each year became harder to take, is not totally cut off. The Israelis have built a road to connect one Israeli settlement with another, in this Palestinian area and to “ensure their security”, they have built another one to be used exclusively by Palestinians. But is it a road ? On the right and left, it is bordered by high walls with barbed wire on the top. We could not see the sky above us and around us there were no more landscapes.
Nevertheless, to reach this road, the Custody’s pilgrimage asked and obtained a favour with the exceptional opening of the checkpoint of Qalandya. This favour lengthened their journey by about twenty minutes, but this is a favour that Fr. Franciszek Wiater, the guardian of the sanctuary, did not benefit from. To reach Jerusalem, eleven kilometres away, it takes him at least an hour then “everything depends on the wait at Qalandya. It can take up to two hours.”
because of this, no groups come to Emmaüs El-Qubeibeh any more. “There is no shortage of groups that want to come and celebrate here,” the porter of the convent assured us, “but when they hear how to reach the village they give up the idea.”
Commenting on this situation, Fr. Artemio Vitores, the Custodial vicar, compared life to a difficult path “that men sometimes make even more difficult. During the Mass, we prayed for peace so that these walls can disappear and men can find the ways of communicating.”
The homily of the Mass he presided had already been part of this hope. “Are we really sure that Jesus is the centre of our lives and that the cross is the path towards the glory of the Resurrection ?” “It is our turn to ask the Lord to stay with us and make us go from sadness to the joy of Easter, from pessimism to enthusiasm.”
Convinced that they had been in communion with Christ during the Eucharist, the small group, joined by some Christians who live in the surrounding areas, shared a fraternal meal in the convent refectory.
The friars then returned by the same route with the same desire to share the good news in Jerusalem: “He really did conquer death and resuscitated!”
To read the homily of Fr. Artemio Vìtores, click here (in Italian).
Mab