Editor’s Note: Last week, Barbara B. Daly, the Pastoral Associate at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Parish in Ambler, Pennsylvania, shared the story of her parish’s extraordinary relationship with a parish in Jordan, a relationship brought about by CNEWA, and told how they were connecting for the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. Now, she has an update.
St. Anthony Parish in Ambler, Pennsylvania, is currently hosting eight Catholic families from Jordan for the events surrounding the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia and the visit of Pope Francis. For the past seven years, St. Anthony Parish and Immaculate Conception Parish, Huson, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem have been sister parishes, a relationship brokered by CNEWA.
St. Anthony parishioners have visited Huson on three occasions and now it was time for the parishioners from Immaculate Conception to return the favor. Six families from St. Anthony’s have opened their homes to the Jordanian families, whose members range in age from 7 months to 70. The St. Anthony community has opened wide their arms; parishioners have cooked and served, accompanied the Jordanians on day trips and made more than a few forays to the mall.
In hopes of making their visit to America memorable, visits were made to Washington D.C., New York, Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore. While in Washington, the Jordanian community and their friends from St. Anthony’s were welcomed by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. The Archbishop greeted the community and gave his blessing. The rest of the day in D.C. was spent visiting the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, the White House, and the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. A trip to New York included a visit to St. Patricks’ Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, and Times Square, where the Jordanians were exposed to a variety of characters in costume: roaming Elmos, super heroes and, yes,even the “naked” guitar-playing cow girls. (I don’t think they have that back in the old country!)
St. Anthony Parish hosted a number of evening meals wherein the parishes could break bread together. A “pot luck” supper was an opportunity for a wide range of ethnic delicacies — from the Italians, the Irish, the Germans, as well as Arabic specialties provided by the Jordanians. The evening will be added to the annals of parish history: a hookah made an appearance, giving us a real taste (puff?) of the Middle East! St. Anthony’s has a vibrant and growing Mexican community, so of course there had to be a “Mexican-Jordanian Night” — a rare nexus. The event was strictly BYOS/K: bring your own sombrero or keffiyeh.
We were also blessed to have a visit to St. Anthony Parish by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal. His Beatitude said Mass, took questions and joined the community for an evening meal. He touched everyone’s heart with his humility, his gift of presence and his impassioned plea that the Christians of the Holy Land not be forgotten. He asked that Catholics visit the Holy Land, as well as offer their support to their fellow Christians. St. Anthony’s is firmly committed to this mission and undertakes a biennial pilgrimage to the Holy Lands of Israel and Jordan. Our next visit will take place in April 2016.
St. Anthony’s and Immaculate Conception share a great honor as one of our Jordanian families addressed the Holy Father during the Festival of Families that closed the World Meeting of Families. Six families, one from each continent, were chosen to speak before Pope Francis about the joys and challenges of Catholic family life. The Sweidan family — Nidal, Nida, Faten and Dima — represented the Catholics of the Middle East. Immaculate Conception Parish is located in Huson, one of the ancient cities of the Decapolis. The Christian families there have been practicing their faith for 2,000 years and now witness it in an increasingly hostile culture. They understand that “Christian families currently living in the Middle East, our homeland, are called to be like candles, shining against the darkness of destruction, wars, killings, and persecution.” The Holy Father warmly greeted them after their talk and encouraged them to continue their good work. The family received an amazing outpouring of love and support from their fellow Christians back home in Jordan. The week’s events concluded with the Papal Mass celebrated by the Holy Father on Sunday 27 September.
These have been truly blessed days for both our parishes. The presence of the Holy Spirit has been felt blowing through every nook and cranny. So much has happened in the past week that it is hard to take it all in. We do feel that we have formed deep bonds over shared laughter, food and experiences, but particularly our shared faith. We are not sure where our relationship will take us but we trust in the Lord that it will be where He wants us to go.