On July 20 at the Shrine, memorial of Moses, on Mount Nebo in Jordan, Brother Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land, presided over Mass in commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the arrival of the first Franciscan friars there. A Shrine that is a treasure that so many can admire today, thanks to the service and dedication of many friars - especially those of the Studium Biblicum franciscanum - who over the years have restored beauty and spirituality to this holy place. An ancient pilgrim of this place said, "there is a therapeutic atmosphere for the soul here." In the Homily, the Custos spoke of Moses as a man of God who sought to do God's will. "A life that was not easy," continued Br. Patton, "because he came out of Egypt, walked in the desert and when he was about to enter the Promised Land he saw it only from a distance". "On the other hand," the Custos again highlighted, "Moses is an example of a man who trusts God and does what the Lord commands him to do". About his death, which occurred on this mountain, according to Deuteronomy, Br. Patton tells a beautiful story from rabbinic tradition. Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "Moses dies when God with a kiss comes to take his soul. With the death of Moses, even our death is not the end of everything, but a moment of passage from earthly pilgrimage to life in God. It is beautiful to imagine that the time of death is the moment when God with a kiss takes our life to give it back to us eternal and forever." "Mount Nebo an ideal place to stretch our gaze toward the Holy Land but also an ideal place to reflect on the ultimate meaning of the pilgrimage that is our life." Read More