For the first time in more than fifty-four years, on Sunday, January 10, the Custody of the Holy Land celebrated the Baptism of Jesus in the Franciscan Church of St. John the Baptist, located on the west bank of the Jordan River, in the area of Qasr al-Yahud. In the 1967 war between Israel on the one hand and Jordan, Syria and Egypt on the other, the site had been closed, and had since become a minefield. Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "Despite the total absence of Pilgrims, what we feel today is a feeling of great joy and also of satisfaction, because you can see that when you are patient, persistent and believe in your dreams, they come true. We are very happy because in a very Franciscan way, that is, without expecting the site to be perfectly restored, we had the joy of being the first to be able to celebrate the Eucharist on our site." In his homily, Br Francesco Patton invited us to contemplate the Baptism of Jesus and to bring the strength of the vocation and mission assigned to us by the Father to become witnesses of that gratuitous love which saves and redeems, reconciles and brings peace. The Custos then recalled the last two priests who celebrated Mass here for the last time in 1967, and then thanked the civil authorities for their efforts to bring this place back to life. Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "President Rivlin has shared this idea many times with Pope Francis; and with us he has always explicitly talked about the idea of valuing and preserving this site; valuing it because it is a significant place for millions and millions of pilgrims and preserving it, that is, making sure that it becomes not a "commercial" place but instead remains that "land of monasteries," as it is called, and that is a holy place, a place of spirituality and prayer." SHAI CARMONA Vice President Civil Administration "People can visit the church area and get close to the water, in an area that has been cleared of mines. But we have a very broad program here, because the demining conducted so far is only a first step. The next step is to fix the roads and the land around here. We have a lot of work to do, and hopefully by the end of 2021 we can have a much more settled site. We're talking about a budget of over 15 million shekels, which has already been approved." The Custos of the Holy Land then reopened the Holy Mass register to connect the past with the present, having turned the page from a history of war and mines to a history of peace. Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "What was a field of war - because this was a minefield - is now a field of peace and prayer...a beautiful sign of hope." Read More