In the dark night, the full moon is missing. On the Feast of Communities (Yom HaKhelot), celebrated by the Patriarchal Vicariate of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community. At Rosh Hashanah on 5 October, a meeting was held focusing on hope. The lost hope that souls yearn for, in the midst of the past year, immersed as they are in the dark nights of tragedy and the scourges of war. Fr PIOTR ZELASKO Latin Patriarchal Vicar of Hebrew-speaking Catholics The New Year is a good opportunity not only to tell God that we are tired of the events of the past year, but also to ask him to grant us blessing and peace in the coming year. Fr BENEDETTO DI BITONTO Catholic Hebrew-speaking Community After a difficult, complex and painful year, in which a huge number of people live in a state of sadness, grief and weeping, we can only look forward and arm ourselves with hope, that is what remains. About 200 faithful attended the celebration in the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant, affiliated to the Order of St Joseph of the Apparition in Kiryat Yarim, known as ‘Abu Ghosh’. The ceremonial mass was presided over by Father Piotr Zelasko, Latin Patriarchal Vicar of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community. He said in his homily that the celebration of the New Year leads us to the beginning of the creation of the world, as the Book of Genesis says. This passage describes the state of happiness and complete harmony between man, woman and nature. The New Testament also testifies that God decided to replace the old Adam with the new one, after man fell into sin. Father Piotr added: ‘We have turned idealism into a field of battle and ambition, seeking our own interests, while we have forgotten that others exist. With the start of the New Year, we want to be united in sorrow, but also in Christ, who is the only answer to all our fears and tensions. Fr PIOTR ZELASKO Latin Patriarchal Vicar of Hebrew-speaking Catholics I also announced that we are starting the Year of Hope in our Patriarchal Vicariate and this year we will focus our activities on the search for hope. Fr BENEDETTO DI BITONTO Community of Hebrew-speaking Catholics We can indeed rise from the rubble, death and suffering around us and start building. We can pick up all the stones and build new houses, new people, new society, new values, so let us look forward and seek hope. There was a shared moment that included lunch, children playing, and connecting the groups in an atmosphere of faith and hope. YURI What unites us and what drives us to come here is to come together, to pray together and to raise our children with Jesus. CATRINA Yes, to be part of this community here in Israel. Our numbers are not large, but we exist!!! ALFRED Haiffa In the past I always looked at the glass as half empty. Since coming to church I have experienced how beautiful the idea that God does good to people is and how much hope it gives us. It is a Hebrew-speaking community that witnesses to the Church of Christ and believes that following in the footsteps of the Lord is what we need to find hope. Read More