Day 9 and 10

Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given

I have decided to combine day 9 and 10 as we spent most of day ten in an airport or flying from Jerusalem to Rome. I am unsure of how many photos I will be able to add whilst in Rome because we have limited GB available.

Two main areas today – Stations of the Cross leading to Golgotha and the Resurrection and  Jericho.

We awoke this morning to rolling thunder, lightening and rain. Fitting weather for the day we were about to embark on, following in our Lord’s footsteps on the Via Dolorosa.

St Anne’s church and the Pools of Bethesda

Before we started the Stations of the Cross we visited the Church of St Anne. The site of this church is situated over what traditionally Catholics believe was the home f Anne and Joachim. They were Mary’s parents and Jesus’ grandparents. The crusaders built the church standing today. Although it was simplistic in design the vaulted ceilings have wonderful acoustics as was noted when the group sang a lovely hymn. A section of it can be heard on the video.

The church was surrounded by beautiful gardens and a had a deep sense of calmness to it.

POOL OF BETHESDA

Close to the church are the ruins of he Bethesda pool. John 5: 2-15 refers to the time when Jesus healed a paralysed man. It is believed these are the pools where this story took place. Can you imagine how strong this man’s faith must have been to wait for thirty eight years to be healed.  When Jesus healed him it was the beginning of the end for Jesus, as it gave the people a reason to persecute him. The interesting facts we need to consider when reading this story is that it occurred on the Sabbath and healing is not allowed on the Sabbath. In the Jewish law any form of work on the Sabbath is seen as breaking the law. Not only did Jesus heal on the Sabbath he also directed the man to pick up his mat and walk. A mat during Jesus’ time was also seen as a piece of furniture so for the man to pick up his mat and move it , he too was breaking he law. When asked the man did not deny that Jesus had healed him in fact he pointed Jesus out. How courageous was he to follow Jesus? I wonder are we as courage as this man?

Stations of the Cross.

Our prayers were answered as we left the Church of St Anne, the rain cleared and we started on the journey with Jesus. In groups of three we carried a large cross through the streets of Via Dolorosa. Starting at the First stations: Jesus is sentenced to death by Pilate to Station 8: Jesus consoles the women. Each member of the group prayerfully carried the cross from station to station as we prayed together as we remembered Jesus’ suffering and humiliation. It was the first time I realised how narrow the street were and how he must have been pushed and pulled on the way to Golgotha.

Station 9-14 are said in the nearby Coptic chapel of St Helen. 

When Stations concluded we walked into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Within the church we touched the ground where Jesus was crucified. During the time of Jesus only dangerous criminals were crucified and normally they were not nailed to the cross , however their hands were bound and they were tied to it. The crosses they used were not the smooth crosses and well built ones we imagine sometimes they were just large branches from trees. All prisoners had to carry their own cross up to the place of crucifixion.   Rami described today a game the soldiers used to make the prisoners play. It was called the Kings game, he was not sure how the game is played but the winner was treated like a King for a day. He could treat the other prisoners like slaves. This also meant that the winner would be crucified at the end of the day. It was yet another way for them to mock and humiliate these people. They did not ask Jesus to play this game because they were already mocking him by calling him the King of the Jews.

The stories just continue to reinforce the richness of our faith.

Within the church we also went into the tomb where jesus was layed. My new learning for today was finding out there were two rooms in the tomb. The first room is called the weeping room as this was the room that the dead were layed to rest and anointed and left for three days. The reason why they were left was so to make sure they were truly dead. You need to remember that modern medicine was not available during Jesus’ time and sometime people were just in a coma. After three days the women would return and if the person was really dead they would be moved to a tomb. The tomb is normally situated underground.

Two storied make more sense to me now. One the story of Lazzareth  and of course the story of Jesus being placed in the tomb. I will speak to you about these upon my return.

The resurrection of our Lord is a glorious event and it should invigorate us to want to spread the good news to all we meet.

THE ROAD TO JERICHO

Although it was Rami’s day off he took us to Jericho. Within thirty minutes we were at Jericho, looking at the change in landscape you would think it was further away. The story of the Good Samaritan was set on the road to Jericho. Look at the isolated mountains it is easy to recall the Parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:30-37) Can you imagine the robbers hiding there? I wonder why the Samaritan stopped to help? When are we Samaritans in our lives?

 

Day 10 Good by Jerusalem hello Rome

Our time in Jerusalem has come to an end. This place has touched more than my heart it has touched the soul of my being. Today ended perfectly with a beautiful mass from Father Chris. He spoke about the fruits of Resurrection and that the first fruit is peace. He asked us to reflect on the meaning of gifts, by recalling our favourite gift. What is your favourite gift?

He made the point that a gift is not really gifts until we use them. He referred to the gifts of the spirit as well as gifts from others. By reminding us of the importance of using our gifts we can truly serve God and spread the good news. It is when we compare our gifts and want the gifts others have rather than using our own that we can forget that the Lord has given us all different gifts and wants us to spread the Good News by sharing them. When we use these gifts we have the courage to and strength to be our true selves.

He ended his homily today by reminding us that every time we celebrate Eucharist we are using the language of love.

During these days in the Holy City my faith has been made stronger by the sites, words and people I have met along the way. I hope you have enjoyed walking with me and may you continue to do so as I head into the land where our Catholic Church stands strong today.