A Day in the Desert
- 2025/03/30 -
The number of poetic texts that celebrate the beauty of the desert is almost incalculable – as a place of magnificent landscapes characterized by infinite solitude, but above all as inspiration for a spiritual retreat, as the Desert Fathers had already chosen, and thus ultimately as a place of intense encounter with God and with oneself.
When we Sisters of St. Charles set out with our Spiritual Father Jonas OSB for a spiritual day in the Judean Desert, it was a profound experience for each of us. Readings from the Bible, such as the story of the burning bush or the Gospel account of the temptation of Jesus, offered us inspiration not only for reflection on these texts, but also on our everyday lives and the experiences associated with the term "desert," which extend far beyond its geographical dimension.
A cloudy sky and the enveloping silence provided the setting for a particularly uplifting experience. Although we were not looking for a well, as Saint-Exupéry sensed and longed for, our time out nevertheless became a day of refreshment, on which we were able to satisfy our longing for seclusion and meditative contemplation - and not through physical asceticism, but strengthened by the food that is granted to the inhabitants of the oases: water, flatbread, olives, fruit and cheese.
German Hospice St. Charles Jerusalem - Lloyd George Street 12, 91080 Jerusalem, Israel - Tel. 00972 2 5637737 - info@german-hospice.de