We have recently spent ten days in the Holy Land, on a pilgrimage with our parish. We are so excited by all the things we have seen, the places we have been, the people we have met – I hardly know where to begin. So, a few impressions…
This country is full of pain and fear. Their land
sliced into hundreds of little pieces by walls, electric fences and barbed
wire, Jews and Palestinians regard each other with shocking, but
understandable, malevolence. I had thought that there was just “a wall” which
the Israelis have built along their borders with Palestine. But no, there are
walls all over the place: Jewish enclaves in Palestine, Palestinian enclaves in
Palestine, Israeli highways cutting across Palestinian land, minefields along
the Jordan valley etc. – all surrounded by barbed wire, electric fences and
concrete walls, and marked out with great big bright red signs warning the
wrong sort of people not to pass this point at the risk of their life.
So, in the south, we stayed in Bethlehem – and visited Jerusalem from there, rather than the other way around. Bethlehem was, until c. 50 years ago, a predominantly Christian town. The exodus of Christians has been exacerbated by the Israeli blockade, which makes it harder for people to make a living, especially as so much of the town’s income comes (or came) from tourism. There we met Rony Tabash, Christian shop-keeper, travel agent and singer/songwriter (see e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRsJLQQAKgg). He said to us: “This is the land of Christ. Our mission as Christians is to stay, to witness to Him in the place of His birth. Please help us to fulfil our mission.”
Our Christian coach driver, Shadi, hailed from
Nazareth, another Arab town with a large Christian community. Our stay in
Galilee coincided with Yom Kippur, when observant Jews avoid all travel or use
of motorised vehicles. Shadi took us back to our pilgrim house on the shores of
the Lake early the afternoon before, so he could get home to Nazareth before
sunset: “otherwise they might throw stones at me!”
Amidst the suffering, the grace. Some examples:
- Praying the Angelus on the rooftops of Nazareth,
where one can hear the bells from all the churches in town pealing
simultaneously at midday. How amazing to say together, “Behold the handmaid of
the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word” just yards from where those
words were first spoken. And to say “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us” just yards from where He was indeed made flesh.
- Mass at dawn, led by an order of German Benedictine
monks, in Tabgha, at the place where Jesus fed the five thousand (Mk. 6). The
church had been fire-bombed by Jewish extremists a few weeks previously. Yet,
there we broke bread, over the very rock where Jesus divided the loaves and
fishes.
- Standing in the ruins of the synagogue at
Capharnaum, where Jesus stood when He said, “I am the bread of life” (Jn. 6).
- Praying at the Western Wall of the Jerusalem Temple.
The Jews say that the Shekhinah will never leave this place – and I can believe
it. One almost has no choice but to stand “at a distance” and say, “God, have
mercy on me, a sinner” (Lk. 18:13).
- A.M. and A.S. singing the Magnificat in the
Church of the Dormition on Mount Zion, where, it is claimed, its authoress
passed from this life. A few hundred yards down the hill in the Garden of
Gethsemane lies her empty sarcophagus, in a quiet underground Greek Orthodox
church.
- Standing in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem,
watching all the comings and goings: liturgies sung by Greek Orthodox, Syrian
Orthodox, Catholics etc., each in turn and at their allotted times. And every
now and then a Muslim family would come in to visit the place of Jesus’s birth;
Muslims too, like their Christian brothers and sisters, have always venerated
Jesus and Mary.
- Mass before dawn in the grotto of that Church of the
Nativity, led by our own Fr. Con. A couple of days later, Sunday mass with our
Bethlehem Catholic brothers and sisters; hundreds of people, packing the church
full.
- Divine Liturgy in the Syrian Orthodox Church in
Bethlehem. What an amazing church! The Syrian Orthodox trace their lineage back
to Antioch, where “the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26);
their founder is none other than St. Peter, whose primacy (naturally) they do
not question. Their liturgy is sung in Syriac – the language most similar to
the Aramaic Jesus spoke. Their Bible was the first ever translated out of the
Hebrew, from the 1st century on. When they give the sign of peace, they
interlink the fingers of both hands with each other, and then touch their hands
to their face – almost literally the biblical “holy kiss” of Rom. 16:16 etc. I
want to find out more about these chaps…
- Visiting an orphanage and school for severely
handicapped children in Bethlehem, run by a South American order of nuns.
Mother Maria Pia, cradling in her arms a boy with cerebral palsy who had been
abandoned by his family, said to us: “We welcome children regardless of their
religion. Muslims as well as Christians may come here. We will do good to them,
even if they do bad to us. That is the Gospel.”
This was a journey of a lifetime. If you have never been to the Holy Land, save up for it. Fifth Gospel Retreats is run by Della Shenton, a delightful, gracious, prayerful Christian lady who has made a mission of friendship and support for the Christians of the Holy Land. This trip had just the right balance between sight-seeing and prayer. Every day began with lauds and ended with vespers, and featured a Eucharist somewhere (often, as above, somewhere amazing!). Every place we visited was placed within its scriptural context – usually by reading the Bible account of exactly what happened or was said there. Everything was included in the price, including all meals, and all the bottled water throughout the day. Get in touch with Della, and find out what she has on offer: https://www.5gr.org/
Love from N. & A.F. & the family
P.S. Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee was rather fine
too…
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