Some remnants of my pilgrimage in the Holy Land

[mark alba escobar]

Memories in the sieve – our pilgrimage in the Holy Land

As Abraham Heschel used to stress, “the point is not that we do not know, rather that God does know. What matters is not our feeling close to God but our certainty and conviction of his being close to us. That was the conviction that radiated some kind of assurance as we reflected on what it means to walk through the footsteps of Christ. As we coped with our rope-line schedule for each day, we were taken aback to remember with gratitude what we had asked from God about our pilgrimage in the Holy Land.

We were fifty-eight (58) participants from California including the couple – Romeo and Patti Esperanza, our tour directors from Seed Faith Foundation, who joined the group. Most of them were husbands and wives. A number of them were medical doctors and nurses with specific specializations. Others were employees in certain firms, self-employed and some were senior citizens. Brother Charlie Muscat and I acted as their spiritual directors. There were twenty-three (23) from San José, Cerritos (4), Vallejo (3), Saratoga (2), Milpitas (1), Rancho Palos Verdes (8), Hawthorne (2), Redwood City (1), Downey (2), Palos Verdes Estate (3), Long Beach (2), San Francisco (1), San Diego (2) and Glendale (2).

We arrived at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel-Aviv at 19:25 A.M. 7 August – Monday. We were met by our tour guide Tsippi Segal and the driver Adnon. They were both Jewish. They took us first to Jaffa, an ancient city, where we saw some archaeological excavations and overview of the beachfront of Tel Aviv. We celebrated mass at the church of Mary, Ark of the Covenant.

Then we went to the Renaissance Jerusalem Hotel where we were housed for our accommodations. It was a plush new hotel though with amenities that one can really enjoy and which makes one’s stay comfortable.

The following day we went to the old city of Jerusalem. It is a complete contrast of Tel Aviv. Perhaps, Jerusalem is the only place in the world where people of different faiths such as Jewish, Christians and Muslims, live together, not necessarily in total harmony but, at least, in mutual co-existence. One example though, is the site where, according to our tradition, Jesus had His last supper with His apostles. The room is situated on the second floor of a building where the ground floor is a Jewish shrine of King David and the third floor is used by Muslims.

Jerusalem’s history could be traced back 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. Its early inhabitants were the Cananites, Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites. They were the ancestors of the Palestinians now. During the time of David and Solomon, Jerusalem had become the capital of Israel for 73 years. However, in 1948 Israel evicted the Palestinians from West Jerusalem and declared West Jerusalem as its capital. Israel at that time got rid of the Palestinian Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem and deprived them of their rights of life, liberty and happiness.

While looking at the city of Jerusalem from a far, something came to my mind as if I were like in the time of Jesus two thousand years ago. The remnants of the past were very evident and with its familiar swing between our faith-experience and the Judeo-Christian tradition, I would say that our whole direction and meaning of our Christendom have been enriched and sustained thus far. Hence, our continuing reflections as a people of God have mobilized the body and soul of our Catholicism.

As we walked along, I came to think of the empty churches in Europe and elsewhere in the first world countries, the intellectual arrogance of some people and the pastoral failure that concerns the task of witnessing. Here the inundation of tourists who come from all walks of life has blurred through the looking glass of time. My opinion exhibited that our culture has turned our Catholicism into a collection of distraction, a so-called ‘catch-up’ time instead of reflection or prayer time. It has become a race for escape and crossover awareness in the culture of individualism, the ‘me-society’ that apparently creates a rising tide of discrimination between the rich and poor.

On the other hand, seeing some Jews wearing those caps on their heads, I was reminded of some tribes in Papua New Guinea that look similar in some way. They however, identify each other by their feet instead of their faces. I reckon it sounds a bit weird, but it’s a very interesting practice that is implicit in their culture.

Within the old city, we visited the Wailing Wall, the Temple Dome, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dormition Abbey, the Last Supper Room, the Cardo, the Jewish Quarter and St Anne Church. It’s in Ein Kerem where the church of St John the Baptist and the Church of Visitation are located.

In Bethlehem, we visited the Church of Nativity where we had mass. We saw there the statue of St Jerome. He was the one who translated the Holy Scriptures into Latin (Vulgate) and promoted the monastic life. He died here at Bethlehem in 420.

Tons of souvenirs kept piling up along the road and like the legends of King Arthur and the story of the quest for the Holy Grail often identified with the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, we engaged in searching for some mementos which were originally made in every place where we went to. In the frenzy of shopping, we would always ask for discounts and at times bring in some customers to buy those stuffs. My companion Brother Charlie however, had a gift of the gab to promote some souvenirs he bought from the shops. He just talked right off the cuff and the group listened to and followed him.

Then, we went to Yad Vashem where the holocaust memorial was built to commemorate the surreal massacre of the 6 million Jews by the Nazis during World War II. It gave me though a sense of empathy with a steady drip of silence from my heart. It was a paramount icon of our age that conjures up a book-length account of the experiences of the Jews pregnant with a dark, hidden meaning of sufferings.

All along the road to Keren kayemeth Leisrael with the sweltering heat of the sun, our group though planted the trees as our personal legacy to the Holy Land as well as our devotion to the environment. By planting a tree we paid $10.00. We were given a certificate of personal tree planting in Israel year 2000.

Known as the remnant of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall was really the hub of deep encounters, the Jewish rendezvous with prayer. The place though was littered with all sorts of religious rituals taking place. I struggled against the blights to stay in on the way to follow what the others were doing due to the onset of the scorching heat. I felt like a trussed chicken being put in the oven. It was extremely hot. Hence, I was quite hesitant to go and insert my piece of paper with petitions on the crevices of the wall. But later I felt something that seems likely to be an awareness of being a kosher (prepared and ritually fit to Jewish law) and a Semite by virtue of our faith. I went and followed my other companions. There I uttered a prayer and wished for peace and reconciliation in this land.

Following from this, the words of the great poet Gerard Manly Hopkins reminded me, “look long enough at a strange scene, and it begins to look back.” That made me think though as I looked at the crowd in continuous movements whilst the rest were praying as they move their heads in frontward and backward swinging motion. I asked myself about some facets of life amongst the Jews, this landscape of ruins and scuttling past hills of shattered concrete and brick that were buildings and temples before. It came across to me as a paradox that a place like this that conjures up such pious demonstrations of faith can also be a place so fraught with danger. The very acerbity of the people there amounts to something more than arguments and debate. Like fresh thunderbolts for some reasons, they jolt through places and fray at the end of their tethers.

Another sacred site was the Temple Dome. But it was cordoned off to tourists. We weren’t able to see the interior side. The Muslims believe that it’s the site where Mohammed ascended to heaven. For the Jews though, it’s where Abraham sacrificed his son Isaac to Yahweh.

We did the Stations of the Cross early in the morning at Via Dolorosa. Each one of us had the opportunity to carry the cross whilst we sang “Were You There?” We walked until we reached the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where we celebrated the mass. Indeed, it was a time of prayer for us in perpetuating a culture being observed by Catholics especially during Lent. As homo sapiens we became homo orans.

According to our tradition, the Holy Sepulchre is the place of Golgotha where Jesus was crucified, died and was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. It is also believed that it was started by Helene and Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome. It is where they found the cross used for crucifixion known as Calvary. However there’s another sight outside the walled city called the Garden Tomb which is archaeologically believed to be the exact spot of Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb and just across is what the researchers and redactors of the bible believe to be the actual crucifixion site called Golgotha or Place of the Skull.

It is interesting to note that looking at the adjacent mound, one would notice the striking feature of a skull figure. It’s the spectre of resemblance on the horizon. If one would be rational about it, he/she may think that the Garden Tomb being situated outside the Damascus Gate of the Walled City offers more scientific and archaeological evidence as the actual crucifixion and entombment sites of Jesus. It was in olden times at a crossroads where travelers from Jerusalem, Damascus, and Old Jericho would meet. However, it is not what the Catholic Church believes and accepts so very few pilgrims go and visit this place.

Then in Mt Olives where Bet Phage, Pater Noster, Dominus Plebit and the Garden of Gethsemane are located, we began to recall the Jewish observance of fasting, almsgiving and praying. Jesus however, spent forty days and forty nights here in solitude. This time I felt I was absorbed in the language of humanity. All the part of the warp and woof of daily life can be my source of prayer. I love to keep in mind here what St Paul says, “my grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness . . . for whenever I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:8-10).

We went to Galilee in Cesarea to see the amphitheatre where St Paul defended himself in the proclamation of faith in front of King Agrippa. We went to Mt Carmel and saw the Armageddon Valley which is the scene of a final battle between the forces of good and evil, prophesied in the Bible to occur at the end of the world (Rev 16: 16). Then we visited Mt Carmel Church. We paid a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. This time I remembered all the devotees who wear the scapulars of Our Lady of Mt Carmel. Simon Stock received the promises of our Blessed Mother about this devotion in this place.

Other out-of-town tours in neighbouring areas include Masada, Qumran, Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Cana, Jericho (which is the oldest city in the world), Sea of Galilee, Tabgha, Mt of Beatitudes, Mt Tabor, Jordan River, Samaría, Mt Edom and Sodom, Mt Petra and Eliat Stone. I saw that the Franciscan friars staff all the shrines in these places.

Masada is a mountain fortress where a group of freedom-fighting Jews committed mass suicide rather than surrender to Roman domination. It was originally built as a summer palace of King Herod but eventually became a military fortress during the Roman occupation of Israel.

Qumran is where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. A sect called the Essenes who were some sort of puritanical Jews lived here in isolation from the rest of the Jews and wrote a lot of anecdotes about Jewish life in those times and practices of their sect in scrolls made of parchment.

We went to the Dead Sea which is the saltiest body of water in the world. Some of us went to swimming. Others just soaked themselves in the water and put the mud in their bodies. According to Tsippi, our Jewish guide, one would literally float and would not submerge at all due to the salinity. The Jews have produced AHAVA skin care products from the saline waters of the Dead Sea. Most of our ladies bought these products for their families. Just like the Sea of Galilee where we ate fish for US$8.00, the Dead Sea is actually a lake and not a sea. It really escapes me why they call both bodies of water as seas. There must be an explanation of this.

The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake which serves as the reservoir of Israel. In biblical times, it’s believes as the site where Jesus walked on water and where the Apostles went fishing of the time. This highlights the geographical route which provides a Gentile setting to the following miracle of the Feeding of the Four Thousand (Mk 8: 1-9).

We went to Bethlehem which is now controlled by the Palestinians. There is a Church of Nativity which is shared by the Roman Catholics, and the Greek and Armenian Orthodox. The actual manger used by the baby Jesus isn’t there anymore as it was brought to Italy.

In Nazareth and Tiberias, we went to the Church of the Annunciation, Church of the Multiplication at Taghba (where I met a Filipino nun cleaning the altar), the Sea of Galilee, and the Roman amphitheatre in Beit Shean (a relatively well-preserved Roman city in ancient times).

We went to Jericho and stopped at an old tree which is believed to be where Zaccheus climbed just to get a view of Jesus since he was a short guy and couldn’t see Jesus in the crowd.

In Cana though, we were so pleased to see our companions, those husbands and wives in particular, who renewed their marriage vows. We became part of their historical moment built upon the covenant relationship. The widows and handmaids did receive also their blessings. It was a renewed depth of meaning in a life-long journey of their commitment being in this historic place where Jesus performed his first miracle (Jn 2: 1-12). As they took pictures, my happiness multiplied as I valued the highly cordial relations with some of them. Rabindranath Tagore puts it well: “Early in the day it was whispered that we should set sail in a boat, only thou and I, and never a soul in the world would know of this our pilgrimage to no country and to no end.”

Towards the end of our pilgrimage here in the Holy Land we became enlightened and animated by a religious vision that the time has come to possess each other’s traditions and share each other’s differences as well. We became familiar then with the cultural idiosyncrasies of the Jews and Muslims whose loyalty to their religion makes distinctions between them. We were able to understand better some biblical stories and see those places with a sense of history. It’s no longer a story of brave defiance, prejudice and hostility against each other but something that awakens within ourselves is a sensitivity that tells us not just about the past but rather something that throws much light on the way we live now as brothers and sisters. The experience tells us about ourselves, our commitment to faith, our failings, our spirituality that recognizes its openness to social issues and our intellectual gift of discernment. Gone are the days when we used to utter this aphorism that “history is always written by the winners”. No, there are no winners and losers anymore. We share each other’s heroes and scoundrels – their successes and failures, dreams and visions.