Holy Land: Mount of Olives

May 19:  We started at the village of Bethpage on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus mounted a donkey to begin the last week of his life with his entry into Jerusalem with people waving palm branches.  There is a little church with quaint mosaics to commemorate the event.  Inside, there is even a round stone that the (12^th-century) Crusaders identified as the stone on which Jesus stepped to help him mount the donkey.  Devotees of course like to see such things.

A king normally enters a major city riding a proud military horse or stallion.  Jesus rode a donkey to allude to the prophet Zechariah who said that the new king of Israel would not be militaristic but a humble & peace-loving king.  Some scholars think that Jesus & the crowds were also making fun of king Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee on behalf of Rome, who loved to enter Jerusalem in a grand way.  Imagine if Herod, since it was the week of Passover, was also entering Jerusalem from another gate but at the same time as Jesus.  This would have contributed to the decision to have Jesus executed.

We proceeded to the Pater Noster Church, which has several versions of the Our Father on its walls including Tagalog, Pampango & Cebuano.  This church on the Mount of Olives is also considered by some devotees as the site of Christ's Ascension, if one follows the ending of Luke's gospel.

The best part of our day was the visit to the Basilica of the Agony, or the Church of All Nations (because Roman Catholic dioceses from all over the world contributed to the building and the decor).  The Basilica has a garden of olive trees some of which are at least 2,000 years old (& they do look old but still bearing fruit) and thus they could have been silent witnesses of Jesus' agony and arrest.  Different flowering plants were also in the garden & it was a beautiful sight.

Inside the church which was architecturally designed to be somber & with dramatic darkness, there was an exposed portion of a large rock in front of the altar & this was lighted just right.  The rock was where Jesus could have prayed in agony.  It was moving to kneel and pray & observe devotees who would touch the rock with their hands or even place their foreheads on it as they prayed.  I did not touch the rock myself because it was not my way of praying. Still I truly felt the nearness of God & I remembered especially Deeda, Sophie & Dennis.
 
I would count this church as a must when I hopefully return to Jerusalem with loved ones.  From what I have seen so far, I think Sophie & Dennis will have to be at least teenagers to truly appreciate Jerusalem.

We had picnic lunch before entering the Church of St Peter Gallicanto (at the Crowing of the Rooster) to recall Peter's denial and his repentance.  What is more interesting about the site was below it: the ruins of the palatial house of Caiaphas, the longest serving high priest during the Roman occupation & of course the high priest when Jesus was arrested.

Archeological diggings found the ossuary of Caiaphas, and they uncovered dungeons, one of which is a deep pit in which the bound prisoner was lowered.  We were able to go down to the dungeons and even the pit.  The gospels mention that Jesus was brought to the house of the high priest and it was in the courtyard where Peter's denial occurred.

Although not mentioned in the gospels, it would have been possible that Jesus was temporarily kept in one of the dungeons or even in the pit before he was turned over to the Romans.  This is another site that I would consider a must to visit.

We ended our day at the Church of the Dormition or where Mary could have passed on from this life.  Strictly speaking, nobody really knows where the mother of Jesus died, but devotion has chosen this as one site.  The other possible site is a house at Ephesus.

At the lower part of the church, there is an image of Mary lying in state with a canopy of beautiful mosaics.  Just for the mosaics, the place is worth visiting.

Holy Land Travel: Ain Karim

May 18, morning, we went to the quaint village of Ain Kerim on the outskirts of Jerusalem.  We got to see a rural & idyllic part of the hills of Judah.  This village has been identified by ancient Christian devotees as the birthplace of John the Baptist.

Ain Kerim is also the place of the "Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth," John's mother, after Mary was informed by the angel Gabriel that, like her, Elizabeth would bear a son through God's power, even though Mary was a virgin while Elizabeth was old & barren.  We went to two churches that commemorate these stories, and our guides, Sr Helen Graham & Glenn Witmer shared their reflections and helped us meditate on these stories.

The Visitation Church had copies of Mary's Magnificat, which she sang after Elizabeth called her "blessed among women" for her faith in heeding God's word.  They were in several languages on a wall outside the church, a Filipino translation included.

We met a Franciscan from Austria whose community is responsible for the church &, recognizing us as Filipinos, told us that he loved the tune of the Magnificat in Filipino.  He also mentioned Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD, who led a group who sang the Magnificat when they visited.  We sang a few lines to him too.  I have seen beautiful geraniums, & many roses have a scent like that of rosaries from Rome made from rose petals.

Late afternoon we went to a Reformed Jewish synagogue where a young rabbi led the prayer service. He opened the locked doors and initially we all thought he was just an assistant.  The service was interesting: all prayers & songs.  The readings and the "homily" will be for Saturday morning service but we won't go.
The Friday evening prayers & songs are for "welcoming the Sabbath," which is personified like a bride.  At a certain point, you turn to the open main door to welcome her.  They all sang acapella.  Orthodox congregations do not allow the use of instruments.  Reformed ones allow but there happened to be none here.  I had to wear a kipper or skull cap like all the men, and all my companions said it fit me.  They had prayers books with the English words but the whole service was in Hebrew.
Many people would sway & move their bodies as they sang, like a Pentecostal prayer meeting.  This congregation was also very inclusive.  They had a portion where they had a line from an Islamic prayer in Arabic and they used the Arabic word Salaam (peace) in one of their songs.  (The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom.)

Holy Land Travel

For the 1st time in my life, I went on a study tour to Israel last May 16-30.  I am sharing my journal below and in the next blog posts.

May 17, upon awakening after my first night at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute, Jerusalem:  It is a nice place with views of Jerusalem & Bethlehem.  It is 5 hours behind Philippine time here.  So I just had an 8 am breakfast.  We had bread, hard-boiled egg, cheddar & cottage cheese & fresh fruits including grapefruit.  I did not try the latter yet because the others were sprinkling sugar on it.

At the 12-hour El Al (Israeli airline) flight from Hong Kong to Tel-Aviv on May 16 in which we arrived at Tel-Aviv at 11 at night, they gave me a middle seat because El Al said that the plane was full.  We were a group of 24 from the Philippines & we noticed that 20 of us were all given middle seats & spread out in the plane, even though most of us asked for aisle seats.  We conjectured that this was a security measure since El Al knew that we knew each other.

I was originally seated between two non-Filipino women, but then the flight attendant requested that I exchange seats with a Filipina & I ended up sitting between two ultra-orthodox (Hasidic) Jewish men who could have been rabbis.  They were big with full beards, curled side burns, prayer shirts under their coats, & black hats.  I was told that they would not sit beside a woman & so their original seatmate had to be moved.  It was interesting to encounter it first-hand.

The two were solicitous especially when they saw that my food seemed delayed.  They called the attention of the flight attendant.  They were served first because they had a special diet.  My Filipino companions had a good time talking about my "fortunate" seating & Pol Repotente took a picture of me sleeping between the "rabbis."  The two would stand up at certain times to find a place where they would pray standing & slightly swaying back & forth.

The weather at Tantur is like Baguio in the summer.  You can go outdoors with just your t-shirt.  It is dry & it can get hot under the sun & so regular drinking is advised.

It was sunny this May 17 afternoon.  We were out 3 hours to have a panoramic view (from the south) of the Old City of Jerusalem.  You could see the golden Dome of the Rock, which is one of the holiest Islamic shrines & which has been off-limits to visitors for some years now.  It is where the holiest section of the Jerusalem temple used to be.

We also saw the Hinnom Valley where ancient Israelites sacrificed to idols including human sacrifices that were condemned by the prophets.  By the time of Jesus, it was already the city dumpsite because it was considered an abominable place.  This was Gehenna, where “the fire always burns & the worm never dies” like Smokey Mountain & Payatas dumpsite.

In the meals at Tantur, there are always fresh greens for salads, luscious cherry tomatoes & bell peppers.  There are 3 choices of dressings: all creamy.  The honeydew & pears are so sweet.  Last night we had lamb & beef rolls with lots of pine nuts.  I initially thought the nuts were garlic, & I was removing them, until somebody corrected me.

Tantur has a huge garden with flowering trees & bushes.  It is a school that promotes mutual understanding between Jews, Muslims & Christians.  The property straddles the original border between Israel & the West Bank, now under the Palestinian National Authority.  The front gate of Tantur is in Israel while the back gate used to be part of the West Bank, so that Israelis and Palestinians can enter separate gates to meet in the institute for dialogues.  Unfortunately, the Israelis moved back the border & set up an 8-meter high wall, which one could see from Tantur.

Prayer for (Hacienda Luisita) Farmers

O God of life and love,

You created the earth, its seas and lands.

You let the land produce vegetation to be food
for all peoples and the beasts of the earth.

 
From humus You formed humankind
to till the ground and take care of the earth.

You fill parched lands with water,
and bring in those who are hungry
to settle there and cultivate the soil.

 
You have wanted farmers to plant
and to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Yet a voice is heard in the countryside
mourning and great weeping,

raging and deep despair.
Farmers rage and wail for their children,
for their future seems so bleak and dreary.

 
You have heard their groans and moans.
You are the God of all families on these islands.
All of us are your people; all of us your sons and daughters:

the poor and the rich, the landless and the landed,
the hungry and the healthy, the simple and the smart,

living in huts and haciendas, in dumpsites and mansions.

Bring us all closer together in our shared humanity
and our shared faith in You
as a God of justice, peace and freedom.

May we feel your Spirit of compassion and wisdom within us.

Touch our hearts, and enlighten us on how best we can empower
poor farmers to raise themselves from their affliction.
Set them free from their bondage to hunger and misery.

May those who have oppressed them for so long
repent and repair what they have ruined.

We ask this with trust in your justice and mercy.

Atoning Sacrifice

Christians believe that the story of Christ expands the meaning of Hebrew Scripture. For example, the First Letter of John (2:2) says that Christ “is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
We understand better how Christ is the atoning sacrifice by turning to the Book of Leviticus which in Scripture has the biggest collection of ritual & sacrificial teachings especially for the priests of the tribe of Levi.

One reads: “When any human comes near to sacrifice to Yhwh...” (Lev 1:2). Yakriv (Heb: come near) has the same root (k-r-v) as korban (Heb: sacrifice). Thus, “a sacrifice...is the means by which we draw near to God & God draws near & is drawn near to us” (Shoshana Gelfand).

The offerer laid his hand on the animal’s head, as an act of identification, & slaughtered it himself (1:4-5). Then “the priests shall bring the blood & sprinkle it against the altar.”
“Since the layman has identified himself with the animal, & since the altar represents God, the sprinkling of the blood around the altar is symbolic of the union of the offerer & God; one life (blood) flows between God & the offerer” (Marcel Gervais).
Thus, for a believer, to drink Christ’s blood especially in the Eucharist is to be united with his life & mission of sacrifice.

In Leviticus (1:7-9), the priests burn the victim’s remains on the altar as “an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.”
“The (burnt offering) represents the kind of flaming passion in which the individual is totally consumed by the relationship with the other” (Gelfand). At least one can say that, if you want to respond to God’s call to come near (the fire of divine love), you sacrifice (& get ready to have burns).
Unfortunately, many Christians want to enjoy the benefits of divine love without undergoing the requisite sacrifice. As one Hiligaynon proverb puts it:
Kon diin ang luto, didto ang sunggo;
Kon diin ang hilaw, didto ang likaw.
(Once cooked, all gather,
but for the cooking, all evade.)

In Leviticus (1:9), the burnt offering is turned into smoke that rises as “an aroma pleasing to Yhwh.”
“The pleasant odor that rises from the burning victim represents the offerer himself rising to God & being accepted by God as pleasing. The goal of the sacrifice is atonement, i.e. at-one-ment, union of the offerer & God.” (Gervais)
Leviticus helps us understand better this Christian proclamation: “Christ loved us & gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering & sacrifice” (Ephesians 5:2).

Christ is the Atoning Sacrifice because he kept faith in the nearness of the loving Father despite the hellish foulness of Golgotha, where he was unjustly executed, demonized by his enemies, forsaken by his friends & besieged by the sheer silence & seeming absence of the Father.

Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins because his cry on the cross & last breath, or the complete Spirit he yielded, enable sinners, even the foulest kind, to discover the mysterious nearness of God in the depths of themselves, within their individual & collective bodies, and to return or go deeper into this fragrant mystery.

Easter Gifts

While his male disciples abandoned him, Christ’s female followers witnessed his crucifixion & his burial “from a [safe] distance” (Mark 15:40-41,47).
While after his execution the disciples of John the Baptist came to take his remains for burial (6:29), the disciples of the crucified Jesus were too afraid or ashamed to come forward to do the same.

“The fearlessness of Joseph of Arimathea in requesting the body of Jesus is noted in contrast to the cowardly dispersal of the disciples. Joseph does what the disciples of Jesus should have done. He courageously associates himself with the crucified Jesus & gives him a proper burial.” (Stephen Binz)
“Within Judaism the anointing of a body for burial was the highest corporal work of mercy because it made those who performed it unclean themselves.
“To anoint the body of a condemned criminal, especially one who was crucified, was seen beyond the limit of service, for many Jews believed that such a one was abandoned even by God.” (Megan McKenna)
Joseph supplied what was lacking in the fearful disciples & lived up to his name, Yosef (Hebrew): may He add.
“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body” (16:1).
Perhaps their reflective silence in observance of the Sabbath strengthened the women to do a belated work of mercy. Thus the first recipients of the Easter message (“He has risen”) were women who attempted an act of mercy.
Even belatedly, “we must go forth, after we have worshipped, into the tombs & cities & their outskirts to make sure that all those who have suffered, even killed, are treated with respect & honor” (McKenna).

On their way to the burial place, the women asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” (16:3). Perhaps they were like Filipinos who could add under their breath, “Ba(t)hala na (Let God take care of it).”
Indeed God already took care of it. In their attempt to perform an act of mercy toward the body of Christ trampled by sin, they would discover the Resurrection already at work.
Today, we can discover in acts of mercy, in feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, sheltering the homeless, employing the jobless, generating decent jobs, empowering the powerless, the Resurrection already at work.

Inside the tomb, the women find a young man dressed in a white robe who says to them, “He has risen...Go tell his disciples & Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” (16:5-7)
The young man in a white (baptismal) robe represents every baptized person who is empowered to proclaim the Easter message so much so that the (spectacular) appearance of the Risen Christ is unnecessary.
Indeed there is no appearance of the Risen Lord with the original ending of Mark’s gospel (16:8): “Trembling & bewildered, the women went out & fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”
Why did the earliest gospel end this way?
“Mark leaves the Gospel incomplete because the good news of Jesus is incomplete. It must be taken up & proclaimed by people in every generation.” (Binz)
Why were the women afraid? Were they fearful of rebuke or retribution from the Lord, who in his suffering they left alone surrounded by enemies who taunted & demonized him?

The disciples were told to go (back) to Galilee, where Jesus’ ministry started, to rise above their shameful cowardice & to begin anew.
Were the disciples afraid to start anew after shameful failure? Were they afraid to go back to ministry in a poor region like Galilee, to take up the cross again, to follow a Suffering Messiah?

The Easter message has reached our generation. Thankfully, the women overcame their fearfulness, and the men listened to the women & proceeded together to where everything began.

“On the road back to Galilee [144 kms through rough terrain] they became a believing community,” an Easter community (McKenna).
What could have been discovered, discussed & understood on the rough road?
“God’s promise was never that life would be fair. God’s promise was that we won’t have to confront the pain & the unfairness alone.
“The 23rd Psalm doesn’t say...‘I will fear no evil because people get what they deserve & I’m a good person.’” (Harold Kushner)

This Easter, may the following be gifts we discover & cherish:
1. Acts of mercy by the baptized reveal Christ’s resurrection here & now.
2. We can discover the Resurrection whenever we dare start anew after (great) sin or failure.
3. Easter people proclaim in word & deed the good news that nobody will have to confront pain & unfairness alone.
Have the “women’s story” reached me to begin anew?

Love's Tongue & Christ's Cry

“You, my God, lonesome man,
Love’s bitten tongue
Heaven’s incredible wound”
(Vassar Miller, 1924-1998).

One can say that, on the cross, Christ bit his tongue, as he restrained himself from cursing both his enemies who were insulting him & his faithless disciples who abandoned him. (Do I not also bite my tongue especially when I try to restrain myself from unnecessarily hurting somebody with my words?)
Most of all, Jesus restrained himself from cursing his Father, whose sheer silence & seeming absence at Calvary was Christ’s last & most difficult temptation.
Christ’s last cry on the cross was inscrutable (Mark 15:37) like that of somebody with a severely bitten tongue. Yet this last cry & breath tore the curtain of the temple from top to bottom (15:38) & confirmed the destruction of an institution that no longer could bear fruits of justice & mercy (11:12-21). It was also a cry “for those who hunger & thirst for God’s Reign of justice & peace” (Megan McKenna).

The tempted Christ, the naked Adam on the cross, kept faith in the loving Father’s plan of service in suffering & thus transformed the cruel cross into the new tree of knowledge, power, justice & life.
Every Christian’s cross, whether small or big, is the burning bush of Christ’s faithful presence in each moment.
This is beautifully expressed in the following lines from Vassar Miller’s poem, “A Duller Moses”:

“On time’s bramble bush impaling me
Each moment is a thorn aflame with God
Burning within, without me night & day.”

“I tremble dreaming between sleep & sleep
That He, both radiance & incendiary,
In my heart lies as on the cross He lay
(Which bed is fouler?), making my bone-heap –
Oh, monstrous miracle! – God’s sanctuary.”

With the breath & cry of “Love’s bitten tongue,” Christ on the cross creates a living temple in the believer’s heart, where echo the cries of brothers & sisters suffering with their crosses & hungering for divine justice & peace.