Dear Magdala Family,

I am delighted to send you this message and my best wishes as we approach the start of summer. I hope we can all enjoy more family time and a well-deserved rest. For those in the southern hemisphere, I hope winter is not too hard on you this year.

First, I want to dedicate two lines to thank everyone for their prayers and messages in light of the recent operation on my right foot. A childhood accident left me with a sequel that had worsened until it was necessary to operate. The doctors fused the bones of my foot’s internal channel in the navicular area. I understood these technical terms based on pain but little else. There have been weeks of discomfort and inconvenience, especially for the restrictive movement of my foot and inability to stand on it. Nonetheless, I have slowly been making a habit of life and activity and returning to my everyday routine. I genuinely appreciate your support and compassion during this period.

In the days of my operation, precisely on May 28, Magdala celebrated eight years of its inauguration. I watched the video we prepared for the inauguration to remember the day we officially opened the archaeological park and consecrated Duc in Altum. They are memorable memories that carry our gratitude to the friends and benefactors who honored us with their presence at those celebrations and made them possible. Since then, Magdala has been open to visitors and pilgrims worldwide.

I want to reflect a little on the subject. Magdala’s inauguration signaled the opening of a new window to the knowledge and experience of the gospel of Jesus. We have defined Magdala as a “crossroads of Jewish and Christian history.” I believe this is part of our essence, two religions, meeting in one place, with people from then and now, with a spirit that we try to live in the day-to-day of Magdala, and that forces us to feel and be, as best we can, humble servants of God.

Since 2014, the flow of pilgrims (people who come to the Holy Land primarily with spiritual and religious intentions) or visitors (mostly local people who visit the place with cultural, historical interests, etc.) has been increasing, obviously with the parenthesis of the pandemic. It has been amazing to witness how each person seeks to enter through that “window,” how each individual looks at the life of Jesus, his miracles, and teachings, and how they seek to catch a glimpse of His gaze or that of his followers. In all this effort, many legionary priests who are now in other ministries and consecrated women of Regnum Christi have collaborated with us.

I also want to highlight the service of our volunteers. They have personified the Gospel of Luke (8, 1-3), where, together with the Twelve, some women follow and serve Jesus in his apostolic ministry. It’s precious to think that the volunteers here in Magdala form a community of service in the service of the Lord so that our visitors, guests, and pilgrims have a profound experience in their lives. On our volunteer t-shirts, the volunteers proudly display this phrase from Saint Paul, “Ministri sumus et coadiutores Dei”: “We are servants and collaborators of God.”

As pilgrims resume their visits to the holy places, Magdala thanks the volunteers of yesterday, today, and the future for embodying this page of the gospel with the desire to serve and collaborate with the work of God in the lives of those whom they encounter. We have received many requests to participate in our volunteer program, and we hope to attend them soon.

Friends and family, on behalf of the entire Magdala team, I send you my best wishes and ask that we continually pray for each other in this period of grace and as we prepare to celebrate the feast of St. Mary Magdalene on July 22.

Fraternally,

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