Tradition......tradition!

Hotel room with a view ~ Mount Etna, Sicily

We’ve just come back from a visit to Catania, Sicily for the Refugee Highway Partnership annual roundtable.  https://sites.google.com/site/rhpeurope/welcome

What a great experience!  Great networking among people working with refugees across Europe, great testimonies of God’s amazing provision and protection from those who have traveled the refugee highway.  And great moments of enjoying the local cuisine (how many kinds of pasta can Italians eat?!) and local traditions.

Ah, tradition!  So many times during our first day in Catania I was reminded of Tevye and his daughters from Fiddler on the Roof. He's the Jewish farmer who kept singing "tradition, tradition!" The tradition that is celebrated in Catania on February 5^th is the celebration of the martyr Saint Agatha, the patron saint of Catania.  Now, to make a very important point very clear, I am not into saints.  Or worship of saints.  I worship the one true risen Lord Jesus Christ.  And it’s so good to have these reflections going on in my head during the season of Lent, when we prepare our hearts to celebrate Christ’s death on the cross and His victorious resurrection which is celebrated on Resurrection Sunday (also known as Easter).

It has been said “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”.  Well, we weren’t quite in Rome, but Rome was close enough by us so…..when in Catania, join in the festival of Saint Agatha with the locals.  Actually, we kind of stumbled upon the procession on Friday night; we were actually out and about looking for a place to eat supper.  But here are some of the photos that we gathered that evening.

Out and about in the city ~

The supports to carry the towers in the procession

To help you get a perspective on the side of the towers

The faithful carrying their candles and trimming the candle wicks

The candles were huge and strapped to their backs

 

The 14 towers lined up in the Duomo Cathedral in Catania

 

Close up of the details of a tower

Our real purpose in being in Catania these days was for the RHP roundtable, and we were greatly encouraged to hear of some of the amazing things that God is doing as the wave of refugees continues to stream into Europe. 

Our Italian Evangelical Alliance hosts

Getting 73 people on the bus to visit the local refugee camp

There is a story behind this photo.....

Relieved enough to smile that it's all over!

So thankful for traditions, old and new.  So thankful for the RHP and those who are reaching out to welcome the strangers and new foreigners in our midst.  So thankful for our God who is in control of it all.