Dear Magdala Family, friends and virtual pilgrims, May our greetings for a happy and holy Easter reach your homes and hearts! We had not communicated in recent months due to our Virtual Lenten Pilgrimage, Journey Through the Holy Land, Inspired by Abraham, our Father in Faith. During Lent, Holy Week and Easter week we have…
Flavius Josephus, already a prisoner of the Romans, describes how Vespasian, having subdued the city of Tiberias, headed towards Magdala (Tarichaea) to conquer it. All the insurgents of Galilee had taken refuge there. It was around the year 67 of our era. Vespasian arranged two thousand archers on the slopes of Mount Arbel and commanded…
Pilgrimage In Faith Join our Lent / Holy Week Pilgrimage Dear Magdala Family, Last October, we had the grace of offering a 31-day Holy Land Virtual Pilgrimage & Retreat. It was our first experience with ‘virtual pilgrimaging’, and we were delighted to receive so much positive feedback from many of you who made this journey…
Dear Magdala Family, We are about to celebrate an exceptional Christmas: Merry Christmas! As we have expressed on several occasions, our proposal for this Christmas is to have a PANDEMIC OF TENDERNESS. Allow me to share here the definition as I have found it so we may be on the same page. TENDERNESS: “The feeling…
Dear Magdala Family, Since we finished our virtual pilgrimage/retreat I bring to mind a great invitation for each and every one of you: We will prepare the best Christmas of our lives! Yes, I’m not kidding. I am afraid that some of the past Christmas´ we have experienced in the past had so many trees,…
Magdala through history In the year 66 of our era the Jews rebelled against Rome. Josephus, a Jewish priest, about 30 years old, had just assumed the post of chief commander of the Galilean rebels. To prepare the country for war, he fortified the main cities, among them the famous Tarichaea, that is, Magdala. Before…
In Magdala, the path from the synagogue toward Duc in Altum is lined with centuries-old olive trees on either side. By late October, the silvery-green leafed branches bow down to visitors, weighed low by hundreds of fleshy green and brown dangling fruit. In November, a team of volunteers usually rake trees and shake branches until…
By Raquel Hernández When I finished my university studies I decided to pack my bags to come to Israel not knowing exactly what to expect, and, to be honest, not knowing what my heart was looking for. My experience as a volunteer had ups and downs, as is normal in any change of routine, especially…
Have you ever felt such a void in your chest that it doesn’t even allow you to breathe? That’s how I felt, lost. I lived my life routinely, stressed, unhappy and in an automatic mode, not stopping to look back or excited about the future. To be honest, many years ago, I had left God…
My first morning in Magdala a year ago, tall reeds formed a living green tunnel as I made my way with Soter, our guard dog, from Duc In Altum toward Capernaum along the shore. This old path has been underwater since winter, opening up new tracks for hikers on the “Gospel Trail” around the Sea…
