Fra. Artemio Vittores Ofm

In the third week of July we visited Fra. Artemio Vittores Ofm., the Vice-Custos of the Custody of Jerusalem. In his talk to our brothers he shared the following insights, “Here in the Holy Land you can touch, see, hear and feel the presence of God in Jesus.”  Referring to the Encounter that St. Francis had with the Sultan he said that when St. Francis met Sultan he was impressed by Francis. He seemed to have said to his fellow men: “This man is ready to die for me and I cannot kill him.” And to Francis he is assumed to have said, “here I will go against our law  because you came to die for me.” Here the fraternal ways of St. Francis had the power to conquer the human heart of this ruler. God is equal for all and we are all equal. We are called to live a transparent lives enriching one another. We the Franciscans have been the custodians of the holy places in and around Holy Land. We also support the Christian community and others by creating work for people through schools, medicine, and apartments for the pilgrims. Thus the local people are sustained. We call on all of you to encourage people to visit the Holy Land, experience God and also support the people who live here.