Day 5 Israel

I have a little bit of time here before our Shabbat dinner tonight so I will try to catch up.

Day 5 in Israel happened to be Sunday and I had requested before the trip started to be able to attend Mass today.

Much to my surprise, 13 people decided to accompany me to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for 6:30AM Mass. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is an extremely old church built on the site of Christ's crucifixion, tomb, and resurrection. Today the church is shared by 3 major denominations and 3 minor denominations: Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, and Coptics.

Mass was celebrated in Latin (a first for me) with around 50 lay people, 6 nuns and 7 Franciscans. What an amazing Mass. It was by far the most moving, spiritual moment in my life to worship right in front of Jesus' tomb; the very site of the Resurrection. The organ in that Church boomed and echoed around like thunderous singing as the Franciscans chanted the praises to God. The Church was shaking from the overwhelming power of the organ. It was absolutely amazing. It wasn't necessary to understand the Latin to praise God.

Following Mass we returned to the hotel and prepared for the day like everyone else. This was a big day. We began at the Mount of Olives overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. As we descended from the Mount we pasted the Garden where Jesus wept and stopped at the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus asked God to spare him if it was His will. On the site stands the Basilica of Agony. It is a gorgeous church adorned with beautiful mosaic on the outside.

After a short bus ride we began going through security to enter the Temple Mount (the area with the big gold dome). This is a very controversial and tense place. It is where the binding of Abraham took place, which was when he offered Isaac to the Lord. This makes it the holiest site in Judaism, the 3rd holiest site in Islam (though they believe is was Ishmail not Isaac), and a holy site for Christians as well. While Israel has been in control of the area since 1967 they have not taken it from the Muslims. Prayer by Jews or Christians is strictly prohibited as are Bibles or prayer books of any kind. In the past when Christians have attempted to read the Bible at the Temple Mount the Muslims have rioted and throw stones down on people praying at the Western Wall. Honestly, this is not a joke. On the ramp up to the Mount itself there were many IDF soldiers and police officers with riot shields, M16s, night sticks, bullet proof vests, and tear gas ready to move at any moment. This site is also significant for its role in the break down of peace talks in 2000.

Our time on the Mount was brief (you are only allowed a certain amount of time because the Muslims there will get offended if you stay to long. Again, no joke. This has happened before. These rules come out of experience.) but we immediately began the Via Dolorosa. This was a bit of a surprise from our tour guide considering I am the only Catholic on the trip and the Via Dolorosa is very much a Catholic thing. No one but me knew about it. It is supposed to be the path that Jesus took to his crucifixion at Golgotha (a very large stations of the Cross). While much of this path runs through the Muslim quarter, the Catholic Church long ago bought up the land and built churches, monasteries, convents, schools, clinics, and religious centers along the route.

Almost time for dinner; to be continued....

Note: Encounter a roving, singing band of gypsies today in Tel Aviv.