It’s hard to believe that this edition of Encounter Magdala has already come to an end—it feels like it was just a few months ago that we began organizing it. I’ve had the privilege of serving as coordinator since the edition in the Holy Land in 2023, then in Puebla in 2024, and now in Madrid, Spain. In each place, I’ve witnessed Christ’s love revealed through each participant and every person who has collaborated in this mission.

What we’ve experienced these past few days is something truly difficult to put into words. So much has happened that trying to summarize it in a single space wouldn’t do it justice. We can design a great program, invite incredible speakers, and tend to every detail... but we never really know what will happen. We don’t know if the attendees will connect with what we’ve prepared, if they’ll leave a talk feeling joyful, if everything will follow the schedule, or if unexpected situations will arise. And yet, we always remember that this event is not ours. We are merely instruments, collaborators of Christ. Encounter Magdala belongs to Him, and nothing happens without His will. This gathering would have no meaning if we didn’t live it through faith, with prayer as the driving force behind everything, allowing God’s grace to move... and without a doubt, it has—deeply and personally for each one of us.

One of the things I enjoy most about being part of Encounter Magdala is witnessing the transformation of the pilgrims. Seeing those who arrived with doubts, nerves, or closed hearts, and watching how, little by little, God begins to touch and shape each soul. It’s in every talk, in every moment of prayer, and in each encounter with fellow pilgrims that this experience is built.

For me, this Encounter Magdala has been a true joy. Not just because I was part of the organizing team, but because I was able to see Christ’s merciful love reflected in each one of us. I have felt His call to launch out into the deep and cast our nets, to go to the depths of the heart. That’s where the Holy Land is truly lived—in the encounter with the pilgrims, and in the opportunity to enter into relationship with a God who became flesh out of love for each of us.

All I can do now is give thanks. Thank you to each member of the staff, our tireless team of volunteers, the speakers, collaborators, the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, the priests and consecrated men and women… and above all, thank you to God, who once again has come to meet us and gifted us a week full of grace and a mission that now lives in each of our hearts: to extend His Kingdom and to be that Magdala family that seeks to grow in love.

Until the next Encounter Magdala… or better yet, until the next Rabbuní.