A rain of blessings on Tiberias

The feast of the Chair of St. Peter was celebrated in St. Peter's Church, Tiberias, on Saturday the 22nd of February. It has become an annual appointment that fills the little Crusader period Church with parishioners, migrants, faithful from Nazareth, visiting pilgrims, Franciscans and members of Koinonia John the Baptist.

The heavens opened both before and during the celebration, which made the event a joyful occasion for giving thanks to the Lord for the gift of this year’s abundant rain.

This year, the Custodial Vicar, Fr. Dobromir Jasztal, ofm, presided the Eucharist celebration. The parish priest, Fr. Giacomo Bergamin and the new Father General of the Koinonia John the Baptist, Fr. Giuseppe De Nardi (parish priest until the summer of 2019) were among those who concelebrated. Fr. Giuseppe motivated the assembly in his homily to search for friendship and a relationship of trust with Jesus as each one answers the Lords question “who do you say that I am?”. Like Simon Peter we too can say “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” because our hearts are steadfast in Him and nothing can move us.

After Mass, a rich and festive reception was generously provided by the Koinonia and the Nimer family. Lastly, spiritually and physically nourished, participants returned home under the sun’s welcome rays and light.