…and I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven…

This last week and a half has been quite busy, hence how quiet the blog has been.  However, if you would permit an indulgence to me, I would like to skip Turin, Lourdes, Avignon, and Orvieto to talk once again about Saint Peter.

February 22 is the feast of the Chair of Peter.  Technically, this celebrates Peter’s first see in Antioch, and subsequently his moving to be head of the Church in Rome.  Ever since the time of Constantine, this feast has been celebrated in Rome with solemnity.

Today, the solemnity continues.

The altar of the Chair of Peter, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican

Many of us recognize the alabaster Holy Spirit window in Saint Peter’s Basilica.  This window is part of a massive structure which houses a wooden chair (probably 6th century or earlier) which used to be used by the Popes.  Although not the cathedra of the Pope, it is symbolically the Chair of Peter.

Today, uniquely in the entire year, this chair is lit by a very large number of candles.  Every candle around the Pope’s high altar, in front of the confessio below that same altar, and (as above) all these candles around the altar of the chair and around the chair itself.  It is quite a sight!

The feast of the chair celebrates Peter’s unique role as the supreme pastor, as Christ at Caesarea-Philippi promised him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, commanded him at the Last Supper to “strengthen your brothers (i.e. the other apostles)”, and finally gave him supreme pastoral authority after the Resurrection at the Sea of Galilee.

This statue in the basilica is also quite familiar to many Catholics.  However, this day it looks quite different from normal.  Usually, Peter is simply sitting dressed as he would have looked in the first century, holding the keys symbolic to his office and his right hand blessing those who pass by.  Today, Peter’s office is remembered, and he has all the vestments typical of the Pope.

And so, today I went to Mass at the altar of the Chair, and we prayed especially for Pope Benedict, who is on retreat this week.  I also prayed for every member of the Church.

May we always be faithful to Christ, who willed that Peter should guide and strengthen us in our faith.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Monday, February 15

As I leave Jerusalem, I am actually a bit sad.  I’ve grown to love this strange city and this entire land, and I wish I could stay at least another week here in Jerusalem to get to know her holy sites more.

But, it is time to go.  I’ve had a good time here, and I know that God has given me many graces from this utterly unique experience – above all a love for Scripture and the history of the people whom he came to visit 2000 years ago.  I am certain that these memories will be with me forever, especially every time I pray the Liturgy of the Hours and the psalms and readings remind me of the many places I have been, and how God made himself known in them.

And one day, hopefully soon, I wish to return again to this place, to be once again with our mother, the land where Jesus himself walked and lived.  I will certainly allow this experience influence how I tell people about everything in Scripture and the history of salvation, and I would love to bring people here to see for themselves how God has visited his people.

But, it is time to go. 

 

This week I will be travelling to Turin, Avignon, and Lourdes.  Next week, I will be in Rome.  Finally, I will be making a retreat in Ars, the city of Saint John Vianney.  I’ll keep you all posted.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Friday, February 12, 2010

Today began like most other days here at the Notre Dame Center – Breakfast, Morning Prayer, Mass. However, unlike most other days, there were no classes. All of us were finished with Father Peter Damian’s examination (and none of us were skinned alive!), and some of us were even done with Father Baima’s paper. This left us today to relax and enjoy ourselves, affording us the possibility to do some last minute shopping, as well as one last round to the holy sites in Jerusalem.

During the day, I made rounds to some of my favorite places to pray. I returned to Dormition Abbey, where Mary “fell asleep” before being assumed into heaven. The church, and especially the crypt, can be one of the quietest places to pray in all of Jerusalem.

After spending some time here, I began a quick walk to the opposite corner of the old city in order to participate in the Franciscan-led stations of the Cross (Via Dolorosa). Quite frankly, I didn’t know what to expect. I arrived at the site of the first station, where Jesus was condemned to death, and found myself at the back of an immense sea of people, all who were there to follow Jesus to Calvary and the tomb.

There isn’t much like trying to do the stations of the cross during the day in Jerusalem. Even being part of such a large group, the shopkeepers still didn’t hesitate to try and get us into their shops to make a deal. I have wondered what the path was like for Jesus; was it business as usual in Jerusalem as the Messiah was being led to his death?

After a while, we arrived in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in which stations 10-14 occurred. I didn’t climb to Golgotha due to the crowd being so large, but I could still hear the friars leading the group. It is amazing how quiet people can be in front of so great a mystery.

Calvary

After the stations concluded at the tomb, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from this very spot, another procession began in the Church. This time, the Franciscans venerated the various altars within the Church and all the things they commemorate – from the finding of the true Cross by St. Helen, the pillar at which Christ was scourged, to Calvary, the stone he was laid upon to prepare him for burial, the burial in the tomb, the Resurrection (at which point the music became as Easter Sunday morning), and the appearance to Mary Magdalene. So many things, all of which happened here, and nowhere else.

 
The Sepulchre

For me, it was a long day. I had plenty of other work to do, but nothing compares to this experience, which is so precious in a person’s life. Other work can wait.

Christ is truly Risen, alleluia

Let us rejoice and be glad, alleluia!

When the Sabbath was over…

Sunday, 7 February 2010

Today we celebrated Sunday, the memorial of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, here in Jerusalem. After having a number of full days with classes and tours, we were all quite thankful for the opportunity to have the schedule clear for the day, so that we could observe our Christian Sabbath devoutly.

In our freedom, many of us went our various ways for Mass. Some went to the Holy Sepulchre for the Franciscan Mass at the tomb early in the morning on Sunday. Others went to the Church of the Dormition of Mary, which is near the Upper room. Still others went to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. Still more went to the Armenian Catholics, the Melkites (Greek Catholics), or the other local churches to be with the local Church.

I really appreciated being able to spend the day just going through Jerusalem and imagining what it must have been like on that Sunday morning 2000 years ago when the women went to the tomb and heard the message that Jesus had risen from the dead.

The Sabbath and the Resurrection. I am amazed at how much this city shuts down on Friday afternoon in preparation for the Sabbath. There truly is so little happening on Saturday! It’s actually quite easy to walk around, although most every business is closed. I imagine what the legal requirement of observing the Sabbath meant for the apostles, and the rush they had to have the body of the savior buried before the sun set. After the Sabbath, they received the most joyful news ever heard by any human being, and around them the world was just working as a normal day. No wonder the Christians of the first century celebrated the Sabbath on Sunday!

So, we celebrated our Sabbath today. Most of us spent it reading and studying for the finals of the upcoming week and gearing up for our final week before leaving Jerusalem.

Before the cock crows

As some of you know, the apostle Peter has always held a special place in my heart.  Today’s reflection will focus on that dark night, where his faith was shaken.

“I will give my life for you.”  In the upper room, Peter still didn’t understand what Jesus meant when he said that he was going to suffer, and soon Peter would see it with his own two eyes.  Jesus knew his faith was soon to be shaken, and said, “Tonight, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.”

Olive tree; rock where Jesus prayed

Then they went from there, across the Kidron valley to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed and sweat dropped from him like blood, where the apostles fell asleep, and where Jesus was arrested.  Peter didn’t keep watch with Christ, and now he was watching helplessly while Jesus was arrested.

Saint Peter in Gallicantu (lit. “Cockcrow”)

So, they go back across the valley to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, which was near the upper room.  And there, Peter’s faith failed.  “I do not know the man.”  It was undeniable – even his Galilean accent gave him away.  And yet, he denied him, and when the cock crowed, he knew what he had done.

One thing I could have never realized if I weren’t standing there is that Peter, at this moment, had a choice.  From this property, it isn’t too far up to Calvary.  From here also, I first looked down into Gehenna (Ger Hinnom:  valley on the west side of ancient Jerusalem; symbol for hell), and also saw the Potter’s field, where Judas was headed to hang himself.  Peter was halfway between dying with Christ, which he swore he would do, and dying away from him.

 
Monastery in Gehenna, with Potter’s field inside property

However, he did not loose hope.  He could not bring himself to follow Christ after denying him, but he couldn’t forget his words earlier that night, “I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith may not fail.  And when you have turned back to me, strengthen your brethren.”

So he went back to the upper room with the rest of the disciples.  No wonder he was one of the two who ran to the tomb on Easter morning.

Back to business

Greetings, everyone!

Sorry for my long delay.  After the walk through Jerusalem, some of us began to fall ill, and I eventually became one of them.

In any case, we still have one week left in Jerusalem before leaving the Holy Land.  I will try to get some photos up of the city and the Holy Sepulchre sometime this week.  Otherwise, I’ll be in class and studying and writing for the two finals we have this week.

Last week, we did get the chance to see an exhibit on the Shroud of Turin housed here at the Notre Dame Center, where we are staying.  The Shroud is a fascinating mystery to science and to faith.  Since I will be going to Turin, I will write something on the actual shroud then.

In the meantime, please keep me in prayer.

Walk through Jerusalem

Thursday, 28 January, 2010

Today, we entered into another level of pilgrimage – we embarked on foot to see the old city of Jerusalem.

After Mass and breakfast, we began our day at Damascus gate, the gate in the northern wall.  At the Damascus gate, we could see the excavation which reached about 40 feet below us to the ancient Roman first-century road.  From ancient times, the main road north-south through Jerusalem began at this spot, and it is from here that Saint Paul (still called Saul) set out on the journey that would radically change his life.   And, after 2000 years, we who are children of the Gentiles to whom he preached returned to this gate to remember the events which we have heard.

From here, we walked south, through the road which followed the valley separating Jerusalem’s two hills east and west.  We were walking through the Islamic quarter, and saw the street which was the central market during the Turkish period.  We saw remnants of Crusader arches and streets, as well as Roman arches and some of the pavement which was set by King Herod.  As we continued down the hill, we walked back through 2000 years of history.

Then, after going through some security, we began our ascent of the Temple Mount.  Although not able to enter the buildings, we were able to get a sense of what it must have been like during the first century, and how many people would have been up near the temple during Passover.

From here, we went down to the Western Wall plaza, where Jews pray toward until today.  We also took some time to pray at the wall.  Thursday was Bar-Mitzvah day, so we saw a number of 13 year old boys becoming Jewish men by reciting the Torah and promising to live it.  It was quite impressive to see how joyous all the people were during these massive celebrations!

From here, we continued to walk down the slope to see the City of David.  We saw the ruins of the ancient royal palace, which at David’s time was the highest point in Jerusalem, only to loose its place to the temple built by his son Solomon.

Finally, we went to the Gihon spring which fed the ancient city.  This spring was channeled into the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed a blind man.

At this point, we were at the lowest point in ancient Jerusalem, and we began our ascent back to the top of the western hill, past the ancient royal acropolis, into the western wall plaza, up what seemed like 300 stairs to the Jewish quarter, up towards the Christian quarter, where we had a late lunch.

Being Christian unity week in Jerusalem, tonight the Benedictines from Dormition Abbey hosted vespers in the Upper Room, where on another Thursday night Jesus had instituted the Eucharist and the priesthood, where he also gave them the sacraments of Reconciliation and Confirmation.  So, although the day had already been long, a number of us went across the hill, back to the other side of Jerusalem, to pray.

Finally, after a long day, we all returned to the Notre Dame center, very worn out from a full day of walking up and down the hills of Jerusalem.