Fr. Benny's Trip to Austria

On Saturday 14 I arrived in Salzburg from Munich by train. There friends were waiting for me for lunch, and after that, they drove me all the way down to the southern town of Klagenfurt (3 hours!), where I attended the last representation of the KiSi produced musical Bethlehem. KiSi is the Austrian movement, whose vocation is to raise children in the love of God, through music, singing, acting and dancing. You may remember this name because it is with them that we put together the musical Ruth with our youth. The founding couple, Birgit and Hannes, good friends of ours, where there and introduced me to the spectacle. After a quick dinner, we had a 4 hours' drive to the KiSi Haus, their headquarter, where at midnight I slept. The next morning, I was able to hear confessions and to offer Mass in their beautiful chapel, in English and Hebrew, surrounded by about 120 people, between kids and parents.

After a little nap, I was taken to my next destination: the famous town of Schladming, hosted by the parish priest, Fr. Andreas. On the way we stopped to visit a family of shepherds who lives in a 400 years old beautiful house, taking care of their sheep. That was a lovely surprise as I was able to interact with the sheep and enjoy the warmth and beauty of a simple meal with good people.

On Monday 16 my new-made Hebrew speaking friend Kristine gave me a ride to Salzburg for two meetings: one with the so called Ehe und Familien Referat, and one at the Loretto Community.

The first meeting was more formal but at the same time very friendly. I sat with most of the staff who runs the pastoral work with families in the archdiocese. They carefully listened to my recounts of the state of families and children in our communities and asked several questions. It was a touching experience to see how, despite the specific differences in culture, society and latitude, as Catholics we face similar challenges. Before leaving, I homaged the office with postcards of the two icons of our Jerusalem Kehilla – the Visitation and the Presentation, and a little Jewish mezuzah.

For the second meeting, Franz Joseph, from the Loretto Community received us in the inner courtyard of a beautiful ancient parish, and patiently showed me all their facilities and explained the vocation and mission of their community, mainly focused on the evangelization of the youth in a Marian – Eucharistic – Charismatic and Ecumenical way.

In the evening I concelebrated at Mass in Haus, a small village not far away, and stayed for Adoration, where I was asked to sing a few songs in Hebrew. The same I would do on the next day.

After prayer, we gathered together for a fraternal meal and I was given the chance to enlarge a bit more about the current situation in Israel: society, Church, culture, religion... One of the participants, deacon Hannes, took us so much to his heart, that he immediately posted an article on his personal blog.

On Tuesday 17 at 8 a.m. I was in a school, meeting young pupils and teaching them about the monotheistic religions of the Holy Land. One hour later, in another class in a nearby school for another meeting with younger students, and then a break until lunch.

In the afternoon we drove again, from Schladming to the historical Benedictine abbey of Admunt, for a meeting with the abbot, Gerhard. This was a really amazing meeting, since we were able to meet in the private part of the monastery and engage in a on hour deep talk with the abbot, who showed himself as a very friendly and good-hearted person. He was touched and impressed by the multiple activities carried out by the vicariate and particularly by our attention and care for our children and youth. It was good though to brief him also about our interfaith commitment and our peculiar call to be a bridge between the Church and the Jewish people. I was honored to be asked to sign the visit book of the monastery, a huge and heavy book, used since the 60's, on which not long ago an Israeli diplomat also left a greeting in Hebrew, which i was glad to translate for them.

This was my last official commitment, after which I could start re-packing everything and head back to Munich.

I am extremely grateful for these 3 full intense days, for the kind and welcoming people I met, the beauty of the snowy landscape and the generosity with which I was received.

Our friend Monika Faes has been the mind and the heart of this whole trip: she organized all the meetings and put together a very enriching schedule which made this experience very meaningful. To her goes my biggest Danke!