Sr Margaret (Marge) Zdunich, is Director of the Centre for Biblical Formation (CBF) on the Via Dolorosa. She offers a moving glimpse into daily life in Jerusalem today: the challenges, the unexpected moments of grace, and the quiet perseverance that keeps hope alive.
Jerusalem is a city that many associate with life, encounter, and pilgrimage. “Jerusalem is the gathering place of so many traditions,” Sr Marge reflects. “In peaceful times, it’s a wonderful city to live in, so full of life,” But in recent months, that reality has changed.
We live with a lot of uncertainties, anxiety, fear… You just have to live day by day.
Daily life now unfolds under the shadow of uncertainty. Sirens can sound at any moment, sending people quickly to shelters, sometimes several times a day, sometimes in the middle of the night. “You don’t know when the sirens are going to go off. People are up during the night and don’t have much sleep.”
Alongside these practical challenges is a deeper emotional weight. “We live with a lot of uncertainties, anxiety, fear,” says Marge. “You just have to live day by day.” But the atmosphere of the city feels different: “There’s a kind of heaviness in the air.”
And yet, as she points out, the lived reality is often more nuanced than what is seen from afar: “We live through it in our little piece of the city.” Still, the danger is close enough to be felt: “It’s not so comfortable when you hear these alarms and crashes, and you know it’s encroaching.”
This instability has inevitably affected the work of the Centre for Biblical Formation. Planning, once demanding but steady, has become uncertain and fragile. “We think things are getting better, so we go ahead and plan,” Sr Marge explains. “And then we have to cancel everything.”
The repeated cycle is exhausting: “It was unprogramming, reprogramming, cancelling programmes, cancelling professors…” And yet, the call for commitment endures. “We need vision, we need commitment, and a lot of courage to stay with it.”
In the midst of all this, community has become a vital source of strength.
Early in the conflict, when a group of about twenty guests were stranded at Ecce Homo, the experience became something more than a difficulty. “People came together for prayer, it was really beautiful,” Marge recalls.
We try to be a strong presence for people, to listen, to be in solidarity.
Time spent together, even in shelters, became an opportunity for connection. “The group took turns at talking about themselves. We heard the stories of different people, and that was really a way of bonding.” Shared meals, moments of prayer, and just watching a film together in the evening helped sustain a sense of normality and hope.
Small gestures have taken on a new depth. A sister’s 100th birthday was celebrated through visits to her in shifts throughout the day rather than a large gathering – a quiet but meaningful sign of care.
At the heart of it all is a simple presence: “We try to be a strong presence for people, to listen, to be in solidarity,” explains Sr Marge.
Despite the challenges, the CBF’s mission continues, often in new and unexpected ways. “You can’t let it die,” Marge recalls being told. This conviction has shaped every decision: finding ways to continue formation, even when Jerusalem is inaccessible.
One major shift has been towards online learning. During COVID, all courses were moved online, and now those tools are being used again. Creativity also shapes content. A new course on justice, peace, and hope – values at the core of Notre Dame de Sion – brings together Jewish, Christian, and Muslim voices. There is also growing attention to the role of biblical women, an area where Sr Marge sees both richness and untapped potential for formation.
At the same time, the CBF has expanded beyond Jerusalem, offering programmes in other lands where the Bible story unfolds. After the success of courses in Rome and Greece, a course on Paul’s first missionary journey will lead participants on an exploration through Turkey later this year.
There are also plans for outreach in regions like Africa and India, responding to the needs of growing churches. And the possibility of virtual, AI-supported programmes, with guided journeys through biblical sites from one’s own home, remains open.
Yet even as new formats develop, the value of presence remains central. “Nothing replaces being there and actually walking through the places where these events happened,” Sr Marge insists. It is this lived encounter with Scripture, rooted in place, in people, in shared experience, that makes the programmes so impactful. Participants, Marge notes, are often “blown away” by what they describe as a transformative experience.
Looking ahead, a new chapter is beginning. Currently in her tenth year of service at CBF, Sr Marge is preparing to step back from her role. “I’m ready to still stay connected, but in a different way,” she says, envisioning a continued involvement while making space for new leadership.
Her own path to Jerusalem was gradual and deeply rooted: from early immersion experiences as a young sister, through years of Scripture study and teaching while gaining administrative experience in schools, to eventually leading the CBF.
The challenge now is to find someone with the experience, vision, and creativity to carry the work forward. At the same time, there is a growing sense that the future lies in shared responsibility. “It’s not a good model to have everything on one person,” Marge reflects. “We’re trying to develop more of a team approach, bringing our academic and planning teams closer together, and working more collaboratively with other people involved with CBF.”
Hope, in these circumstances, is something that must be nurtured. “Some days I find that a big challenge,” Marge admits. And yet, it is sustained through community, through shared purpose, and through the quiet persistence of the Sion charism of justice, peace and hope. “Having a sense of community gives us hope.”
Having a sense of community gives us hope.
There are also signs of encouragement: continued interest in programmes, new possibilities for outreach, and a deep conviction that this work matters. The call to deepen engagement with Scripture, building dialogue and understanding, can perhaps help people stay grounded in a time marked by uncertainty and division.
The approach of CBF remains distinctive and vital. Participants encounter not only academic study, but a lived integration of text, land, and relationships. It is this combination that makes the experience so powerful, and so necessary.
For this reason, Sr Marge’s final message is both simple and urgent: “We invite people to continue to choose our programmes, to support CBF, to come.”
Even now, the engagement continues, with faith, creativity, and hope.
Main photo: Sr Marge teaching a course about biblical women in India.