Advent Retreat of Jerusalem Kehilla

That's why the theme this year was: "Expecting the coming of the Lord in times of trouble". In this atmosphere Father Benny chose not to organize a normal seclusion with a lecturer and a preacher, but rather an opportunity to meet together and share the feelings to dig into the depths of the heart and bring to light everything that is happening inside. The Christian faith, and especially Christmas, is based on the principle of the incarnation of the Word of God, therefore the Christian believer must always connect the flesh and matter with the spirit.

The day was held at the Ratisbonne Monastery in Jerusalem and began at 10:00 with a prayer. The first activity was answering three questions by choosing 3 cards with different illustrations.

1 How do I feel at this moment?

2 What is the thought that most concerns me lately?

3 How does God see all this?

After a time of reflection and silence, the participants gathered in a discussion circle and explained the chosen cards.

After that, we went on a guided tour, learning about the history of the Ratisbonne brothers. Brother Elio Passeto, NDS from the Congregation of the Religious of Sion guided us in the place built by Alphonse Ratisbonne and told us about the development of his life story and the life of the Congregation.

At noon, we could eat the meal in the dining room of the Salesians, which was festively prepared just for us, and after the meal we were given an hour of quiet and free time. Some friends asked to confess.

The next activity was a personal meditation on a chapter of scripture. Various books were distributed among the participants and each received a text for personal prayer. An hour later we met again in a sharing circle about the meaning of these texts.

The day ended with the Lord's Supper in the beautiful church, under the protective gaze of our mother Mary.