The Garden of Gethsemane

One of many ancient olive trees in Gethsemane

St. John writes in chapter 18:1 that Jesus, went forth with his disciples across the Kidron valley where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Judas, his betrayer, had already gone to inform the  pharisees and scribes who would bring a band of soldiers to arrest Jesus.  This is the most poignant and sorrowful moment in Jesus' life before his crucifixion.  The Gospel of St. Matthew records, Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, 'Sit here, while I go over there and pray.'  And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death, remain here, and watch with me.' Mt.26: 36-38  Going further, the gospel records,  Jesus fell on his face and prayed, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.' Mt.26:39.  Jesus returned to find his disciples sleeping through his agony.  But the Father would not leave the Son alone, for as Luke records, And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. Luke says, And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. Luke 22:43-45.

The word, "Gethsemane" means oil press, and it was  obvious from the moment we entered the garden; for we saw the area covered with very ancient olive trees.  Our guide informed us that many are believed to be old enough to have witnessed Jesus' agony and heard his plaintiff prayer.  There is a legend that says that when Jesus was crucified, the trees of all the world shed their leaves, except for the Olives.  When the other trees asked why they did not shed their leaves, the olives replied, "you shed your leaves in sadness, but in the spring you will grow new ones.  We were pierced to the heart, and there is in us now, a sorrow that will never heal."  And so the legend says, the olive tree dies from the inside outward.

The Garden of Gethsemane was full of tourists, but it was so silent there among the olives that you could have heard a pin drop.  After we strolled around and each of us prayed our silent heartfelt prayers, we went inside the Church of the Agony where Father said Mass.  The original building is reputed to have been built in the 4th century.  It was enlarged 800 years later by the Crusaders and it was renamed St. Saviors.  The present Church of the Agony was completed in 1924 and is considered one of Jerusalem's most beautiful.  It is also known as The Church of All Nations.

A rose grows in the garden among the olive trees.

The Stone of Agony

The Church of St. Mary of Zion

The Cenacle

On the eve of the Passover, Jesus and his disciples went up to the upper room of a building on Mount Zion, later a chapel, where they were to celebrate the traditional Passover meal.  To the astonishment of his disciples, Jesus washed their feet, and he foretold that one among them would betray him on that night.  But something more momentous and sacred happened on that night.  Jesus transformed the bread and the wine into the first Eucharist or Holy Communion, his own body and blood.  He gave humankind the blood of the new covenant, his own blood which would be shed for all.  All four Gospels record this event, and it is the Source and Summit of the Christian life.

In the late afternoon, we climbed up a flight of 30 steps to the Room of the Last Supper in the Church of St. Mary of Zion as it is known today.  This site has undergone many changes since the time of Jesus.  In the first centuries after the death and Resurrection of Our Lord, it was a meeting place for the early Christians.  According to our guide, the actual structure that stands today was built by the Franciscans in the 14th century over earlier Byzantine and Crusader structures. Like so many of the places we see in Old Jerusalem, it is not as it was in Jesus' time.  But there is no mistaking the awe which we felt when we entered the room. As we had become accustomed, we read from Scripture the words of Jesus. This time they were the words he spoke on the night before he died when he gave us the precious gift of himself in the Eucharist. Standing there that evening, we went back in time and through his words, we witnessed as Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, fulfilled the Covenant which would mark the end of Salvation History. This is my blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many.  Mark14:24

The Church of the Visitation

And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth.  And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit; and she spoke out in a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.  Luke 1:39-42

When we arrived at the village of Ein Karem on the outskirts of Jerusalem, we began the climb up the hill to the Church of the Visitation.  It was a steep climb, and although we started out enthusiastically it did not take long for us to begin to slow down and feel winded. Mary was a young girl when she made the ascent.  Still the phrase, "with haste"makes a vivid picture in my mind.  I can see her as she makes the journey, eager to see her cousin and breathless when she arrives.  The angel Gabriel had told her the news.  Elizabeth was expecting a child in her old age.  Mary hurried to share in her cousin's happiness and perhaps  to be of some help while she was there, and as Elizabeth was already six months along, Mary would not have long to be there.

It was here in this place at Elizabeth's that Mary spoke the immortal words of the Magnificat, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.  For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.Luke 1:46-48.

The Church of the Visitation, like so many other monuments in the Holy Land, is a beautiful almost modern structure. On the walls of the courtyard that surround it are plaques engraved with Mary's immortal words in many languages.  There is a stone close to grotto where some say that the infant John was hidden behind when Herod sent troops to slaughter the newborn infants of Bethlehem.  We looked around and took pictures before entering the church for Mass.  It is now so long ago that I made that trip, but it remains fresh in my mind even now.  Looking up at the mural of Mary cradling the new-born Jesus in her arms, I took a picture and said a prayer for unborn children before Mass began.

After Mass we began our descent down the hill, renewed and refreshed.  In the center of the village, close to the church our guide directed us to a well that is called the Spring of Our Lady Mary.  She is said to have rested there before making her final climb to Elizabeth's house.  Now we stopped there to refresh ourselves also, marveling at the cool water, still flowing today.

Cana

We arrived there in late afternoon, walked uphill (almost everyplace we traveled was uphill) to the Franciscan church built in 1881. As in other places in the Holy Land, there is no consensus as to where Cana's exact location is, but for now, it seems historians have settled on a village in Galilee just outside of Nazareth, now called Kefar Kana.

For seven couples in our group, the visit to Cana was the experience of a lifetime, for at Cana, in the presence of the rest of us and Father Francisco, they renewed their wedding vows. Afterwards, we all gathered in the beautiful courtyard, which was discovered in excavations that also unearthed an ancient synagogue and mosaic pavement. We toasted the couples with wine that is reputed to be of the same quality as that which was made two thousand years ago. I thought about being there, sampling the wine of Jesus' first miracle.

Caesarea

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on the faithful. For he knows how we are formed, remembers that we are dust. Our days are like the grass; like flowers of the field we blossom. The wind sweeps over us and we are gone; our place knows us no more. Ps. 103: 13-16.

Caesarea was built by Herod in 40 B.C. He was merely a puppet king of Rome, but his ambitions were high. He wanted nothing less than to imitate Roman glory in Jerusalem. The program of building he embarked upon was unrivaled in the known world. Herod's aim to achieve lasting renown led him on an extensive building campaign with the construction of amphitheaters, temples, aqueducts, and palaces. His most ambitious project was the port city of Caesarea, named in honor of his Roman masters, and he imbued it with all the splendor of the day. Caesarea had a temple, a hippodrome, an amphitheater, a theater and baths. He built an aqueduct that carried water into the city from miles away. It was truly magnificent and Herod achieved his fame, but it was short-lived. Herod's magnificent port city began to sink almost as soon as it was built, for it had been built on an unstable fault along the shore of the Mediterranean.

Caesarea appears in the Book of Acts in the New Testament. In Acts chapter 8, we learn that a deacon named Philip ministered there and was visited by St. Paul. In Caesarea, St. Peter converted Cornelius the first Gentile to become a Christian. And St. Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea while waiting to be sent to Rome to be tried.

I had been on the Mediterranean in Spain and in Greece, but this place felt different. It was melancholy even in the bright sunshine. We sat in the Roman theater which still holds concerts and seats 5,000 spectators and we opened our Bibles and read about the conversion of Cornelius. It was a dazzling day, sunny and cloudless. The sea provided a beautiful backdrop. Everywhere we looked we saw ruins. In the clear waters of the Mediterranean we could see the remains of Herod's palace, a stark reminder of how fleeting and fragile life is. Our guide pointed out the barely discernible stables and the remains of the bath houses used by spectators and visitors to the hippodrome. The theater where we read was once the scene of the massacres of thousands of Jews who were forced to fight to the death as gladiators. As the Palmist says, they and Herod are all gone and what remains is in ruins. And so Herod is like the fool in Jesus' parable who built his house on sand, The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined. Mt. 7:27.

The Mount of the Beatitudes

The Mount of the Beatitudes is an idyllic place, perfect for Jesus' proclamation, Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them" Mt 5:17.

The mount is a tree-lined hill not far from Capernaum. It overlooks the sea of Galilee. Of the places I have been so far in the Holy Land, I decide that I like Galilee best. Here on the mount, I feel a peace and serenity that I have not experienced anywhere else. I presume that it is the beauty of the place that is the cause. Every direction I turn provides me with beautiful vistas, shades of green against blue sky and water, rolling plains, flowers, distant mountains, date-palms and cypress trees. Blessed tranquility! Regal nature!

As soon as we arrive, I am invigorated, ready to explore my surroundings. It is beautiful and yet not what I had expected, still it is not disappointing. Jesus walked here. I can't get over this. This is where He did his most intense teaching, where he challenged the multitudes to become truly like Him, Christians. Doers of the word.

In this place Jesus reinforced and reiterated our moral code. In this setting and speaking with divine authority, He urged, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mt 5:3. He spoke with intensity and urgency. He let his listeners know how God views the issues that concern humanity to this day: divorce, anger, adultery, marriage, oaths, retaliation, love for our enemies, alms giving. You have heard it said. . .But I say to you. . . Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Mt 5: 6-7. He spoke as the Messiah, and the people saw in him someone greater than Moses; they believed. They took His words to their hearts. In Galilee, against that setting, it was easy to do. His words challenged then; they challenge today. Today the challenge falls on deaf ears.

We walk through the arched ambulatory into the main chapel of the domed octagonal church built by the order of St. Francis, and there Father celebrates Mass. Above us sunlight filters through the stained glass windows on which the words of the Beatitudes are written.

Mass is always an emotional experience for me, and on this day I am moved to tears. On this day, I really understood Jesus' powerful words so urgent and so unheeded. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. . . So be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Mt 5: 43-45, 48.

The Church of the Pater Noster

He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, When you pray, say : Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. . . Lk 11:1-4.

The gospels do not identify the "certain place" where Jesus gave us the Pater Noster, but tradition places it in the Mount of Olives. History tells us that Constantine built a church on the spot, but it was later destroyed by the Persians. Then when the Crusaders came along, they erected another church, and they called it the Pater Noster. After they were expelled, the church fell into ruins until the 19th century when a Florentine princess purchased the site and built a Carmelite Convent there. This is the church we found when we arrived at the mount around mid-morning. There were already crowds there. Father led us directly to the courtyard where the Church of the Pater Noster is situated, urging us not to get side-tracked by stores and vendors. There were so many people there that it was hard to imagine the quiet mount of olives where Jesus prayed all those years ago.

As had become our custom, we read the Scripture and then we prayed the words that Jesus taught us in probably the very spot where his disciples heard the words. I tried to reconstruct the scene as it might have been on the day that Jesus taught the prayer, but there were too many distractions. And then I realized, the crowds, vendors and the clicking of the camera shutters were evidence that although we live in a chaotic world, if we speak to the Father from the heart, He will hear us and answer.