Resurrection
I do not know if I was just excited of still suffering from jet lag, but
I awoke at 4AM this morning. A group of us were going back to the church of the Holy Sepulcher to see if we could have a different experience than we did yesterday. Well we did. The church was anything but quiet. But, the noise was the noise of 4-5 different masses going on at the same time. (the picture on the left is the slab where Jesus laid inthe tomb)We went first to the Chapel of Saint Helena, the wife of Emperor Constantine. No one was down there so we got to spend some time there. Then we went to the room below the chapel; which is at the foot of Mount Calvary. There we got to touch the rock and pray in silence. Bishop Michael blessed some of the crosses that the group had purchased. I had my small olive wood cross that was given to us at the start of the stations yesterday blessed. I wasn’t expecting this so I left some items that I had purchased back at the hotel. So I vowed to bring them back to bless them myself later in the day.
We then went up to the sepulcher where a priest was saying mass inside on the altar above the slab where Jesus was laid. We prayed the mass with the people that were there and received communion. Now think about this – we were inside the tomb where Jesus was laid after his crucifixion and we received his body in the sacrament of the Eucharist. I will never be the same again, nor will the hymn “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord” ever mean the same for me again. I now know what it means when “sometimes it makes me tremble, tremble, tremble…” That is because I was trembling when I left the tomb and for sometime after that.
Emmaus
There are several places in the Holy Land that claim to the place where the event on the Road to
Emmaus took place. (Luke 24:13-35) This place we went to is a Benedictine Monastery that is about seven miles from Jerusalem in a village called Abu Gosh. Other places are further or in a different direction – one is in the West Bank. We celebrated the Eucharist in the chapel in the monastery. I had the privilege of reading the Gospel.Shopping and Recreation
The rest of the day was free time. A few of us ate lunch at a small restaurant right inside the New Gate. Let me tell you, they had the best falafel I have ever had. It was moist and flavorful like nothing I have ever tasted.
Then we went shopping. I purchased a stole at the Melia Woman’s Co-operative. This place employs Palestinian women in the West Bank and Ramalla and the quality is outstanding. Actually, I purchased two stoles. One to take home and they will ship one to me.
Kelli Grace, Diane and I then went to the Armenian Quarter to pay for the Stations of the Cross that I purchased for Saint John’s at Vic’s Ceramic Arts. They will be shipped to us in time for Holy Week.We then went back to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where I blessed the items that I had
purchased before and I used my new stole in the ceremony. Along the way we picked up a few other items. I purchased some incense (5 shekels) and chalice and paten (54 shekels).Where I really got into trouble is in Elia’s Photography shop. Elia’s son had taken his father’s beautiful photographs and reproduced them. They are exquisite. We all purchased a photograph of a flock of sheep on the Mount of Olives with the Dome of the Rock in the background. I purchased one of a women standing next to a water fountain in the Armenian Quarter. You would not believe the eyes of this person. All of the prints we purchased are printed on Kodak metal paper to give an antique metallic patina to the print. (200 shekels) Yes, I have no more shekels. Ok, I have 3. Really these prints took my breath away!
I have finished packing and am about to upload the blogs and have a glass of wine with my friends before dinner. We are getting up at 2:15 in the morning to go to Tel Aviv for a 7:00AM flight. It will take us 23 hours to get back to LA.
This has been an awesome and life changing experience. Thank you God…
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