My dear family,

I have just returned from a “Prayer Workshop” in Italy, part of one of the new pilgrimage routes of our recently relaunched travel agency, New Gate Tours: “Routes of Holiness.” It was an experience filled with grace, encounter, and deep prayer.

I returned to Israel on November 7, the 21st anniversary of my arrival in 2004. How much spontaneous gratitude springs forth when remembering everything lived! These are twenty-one years of ministry in the Holy Land, from where we have sought to welcome pilgrims and bring the Gospel to so many corners of the world.

God has been immensely good, and you—our family—are an essential part of this story.

November, which might otherwise seem like a somewhat grey month, holds several beautiful anniversaries for us. On November 16, 2004, while contemplating the sunrise from the Primacy of Peter, I received the light to begin the Galilee Project, which would later become Magdala. My first sunrise on the Sea of Galilee marked my life forever and set me to work—almost without realizing it—for twenty years of my life. I value the symbolism of it happening at sunrise, almost like a promise, a new opportunity, a great hope. I am fascinated by the sunrise over the Sea of Galilee; it always brings me back to that first one that would definitively shape my path as a priest and as a believer.

But also, November 24, which in 2019 was the Solemnity of Christ the King, reminds us of the blessing of the Magdala guesthouse. How many hopes rose on that fresh late-November day! And how quickly they would be shaken by the pandemic and later by war. But God always has perfect ways… These two periods of trial and conflict were, in fact, wonderful opportunities for Magdala to bring the Holy Land to the whole world through virtual pilgrimages. God’s ways are definitely His own, and they are always perfect.

I would like to share with you that, for several weeks now, a different air has been felt in the Holy Land—a change, a hope. Pilgrims have begun to return, timidly at first, now more consistently. Our reservations department is dusting itself off, and for the year 2026 we are already seeing a steady return of pilgrim groups. Blessed be God! We eagerly await the day when Magdala will once again be filled with pilgrims longing to immerse themselves in the public life of Jesus—in His environment and His story.

In the meantime, the upcoming jubilees are approaching quickly and promise to be fruitful and full of hope: 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033… Two thousand years since the public life of Jesus. The words of the Master will once again resound with the same strength, clarity, and life.  

I end with a fraternal request, full of confidence: November 27 is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Since living there from 2000 to 2004, I have loved that celebration—giving thanks to God, lifting our eyes to Heaven to acknowledge that all gifts, blessings, and graces come from above. It is also a time of generosity, of sharing, of giving. From Thanksgiving until the end of the year, for religious, fiscal, and other reasons, it is traditionally a time for giving. We are deeply grateful if you keep Magdala in mind among the entities blessed by your generosity. We need it. We have resumed construction of the restaurant and the priest residence; at last, we will have a space where, as priests, we can live in community, strengthening our fraternity and spiritual life here in Magdala, amid this conflict that is not yet fully resolved.

We trust greatly in your generous support, and we are deeply grateful to all our benefactors and friends who, through their prayers, support, and donations, help us carry forward the entire mission of Magdala.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Fr. Juan María Solana, L.C. and the Magdala Team