Walls, Gardens and Mountains – Thursday, January 14, 2010

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE:

Before reading today’s blog message, please remember, pray for and considering supporting the efforts at earthquake relief in Haiti. There are four seminarians in the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception - Michele Pierre-Louis, Lucon Richard, Killick Pierrilus, and Deacon Nixon Jean-Francios -

and our prayers are especially with them as they try to reach out to family and friends in Haiti.

Also please consider supporting the effort for Earthquake Relief by donating to Catholic Relief Services, Red Cross or other charitable organizations that are assisting in Haiti. By far the most valuable physical contribution we can make for them is monetary.

Thanks!

Here is a guest post from another seminarian on the pilgrimage with us:

Greetings from the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem! Our pilgrimage to the Holy Land is beginning to wind down yet each day continues to bring with it new opportunities, challenges and chances to reflect on the life of Jesus and its impact on each of our lives.

Most days in Jerusalem begin at 5:30 A.M. – yes A.M.! For those who are up for it, literally, we walk to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Jesus was crucified, died and was buried. This is a time for quiet prayer and reflection for all who take part in this part of the pilgrimage.

Today, after breakfast, we visited another archeological site that provided information about the roads that Jesus walked and the walls that surrounded the city of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time. The most popular place we visited was the Western Wall. Rest assured, if you gave one of us a prayer intention it w

as placed in the wall as we carried your intentions with us these past seven days.

The remainder of the day found us, in one way or another, on the Mount of Olives. We visited and prayed by the Garden of Gethsemane in the Church of All Nations as we were able to touch and be near the stone that is believed to be the stone Jesus prayed at after the Last Supper. We visited the Church of the Ascension, a small area believed to be one of the places where Jesus may have ascended from after the Resurrection. Following, we prayed at the Church of Pater Noster where Jesus was believed to have taught the disciples (and all of us!) how to prayer. We concluded our journey on the Mount of Olives with Mass at Dominus Flevit, the place “where Jesus wept” over Jerusalem. Fr. Peter, our Rector, called on each of us to be aware of the moments when Jesus is visiting us. His tears then were for the people of Jerusalem who missed the presence of God in their midst. We cannot allow the same to happen especially in the midst of our own brokenness and struggles.

The day concluded with a lecture and discussion led by Fr. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor. Fr. Jerome is a noted Scripture scholar, teacher and author. His years of study, knowledge and wisdom challenged some of the conventional ways we see Jesus. Getting in touch with the humanity of Jesus is the key to a deeper and Spirit prayer life and relationship with God, Fr. Jerome asserted. He left us with much to think about, for sure!

I think Fr. Jerome captured a large part of what our day and this pilgrimage has been about. We must come in contact with the human Jesus – based in history, archaeology and research – as it will ground everything else we do and become, most especially our relationship with God. Perhaps, according to him, we’re afraid to come in contact with that humanity because it will call us to live life the way he did – a self-sacrificing love for others. That is something for all of us to think about – seminarian or not. Let us not be afraid!