Neocatechumenal Way Holy Land Pilgrimage

by Admin · June 30, 2023

Pilgrims at the Chapel of the Ascension on top of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem

By Dino Furgione – The community of the Neocatechumenal Way in Delft, parish of St Lawrence, in Cape Town has just returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which marked the fulfilment of a 38-year-long journey of rediscovering their Catholic faith together.

It was the first Neocatechumenal community to be born in Southern Africa as well as the first to complete this itinerary of faith.

The Neocatechumenal Way is a charism born as one of the fruits of the Second Vatican Council, and acknowledged by St Paul VI as “a form of ‘follow-up to Baptism’, which will renew in today’s Christian communities those effects of maturity and deepening which in the early Church were achieved by the period of preparation for Baptism” (General Audience, 8 May 1974) and recognized by St John Paul II as “an effective means of Catholic formation for society and for the present time” (Letter Ogniqualvolta, 1990).

After rediscovering, step by step as a community, the vast treasures given by the Church in the sacraments and also seeing the many wonders worked by God in their lives, these brothers and sisters were finally able to crown their journey of faith with a long-awaited “honeymoon” in the Promised Land this year.

During the first part of the trip, they were hosted at the Domus Galilaeae, a monastery and pilgrim house on the top of the Mount of Beatitudes, with a breathtaking view over the Sea of Galilee.

A roof view from the Domus Galilaeae in Galilee, a monastery of the Neocatechumenal Way

This house was a cherished desire of Carmen Hernandez, co-initiator of the Neocatechumenal Way, who constantly stressed the importance of the Jewish roots of Christianity and of studying the Scriptures in the very context where the Revelation took place. Today, the Domus is a platform of evangelisation for the Middle East as well as a place of fruitful dialogue with the Jewish people. There all the pilgrims passing through are welcomed with the same words uttered by Pope John Paul II as he blessed the house in 2000: “The Lord has been waiting for you on this mountain!”.

The group was able to visit many holy sites such as Mount Carmel and Mount Tabor, Capernaum and the villages around the lake where Christ lived and preached, as well as the Jordan River springs at Caesarea Philippi.

For the reason that Kiko Arguello, initiator of the Neocatechumenal Way, was inspired by the Virgin Mary to form “Christian communities that live in humility, simplicity and praise like the Holy Family of Nazareth”, it was a great gift to be able to give thanks, in the Basilica of the Annunciation and in the house of Mary and Joseph in Nazareth, to the Lord for this calling.

In the final days of the pilgrimage, after praying at the Nativity grotto in Bethlehem, the community followed in Jesus’ footsteps as he walked up to Jerusalem to fulfil the Father’s will, entering into death so that we could become partakers in his Resurrection. There all the pilgrims were delightfully surprised to see a familiar face: Luis, a Colombian seminarian from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of Cape Town, currently spending a time of mission and formation in Jerusalem, who joined them in the Garden of Gethsemane for the Via Dolorosa, which leads through the narrow streets of the Old City up to the Holy Sepulchre.

It was touching to see this community of brothers and sisters, some of whom are very elderly or with severe health conditions, helping and supporting each other as they walked along the Via Dolorosa, just as they learned to do during 38 years of “walking” together.

Finally, after a short visit to the Chapel of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives, the group departed to return to Cape Town, ready to share with family and friends the abundant blessings they had received on this pilgrimage.