Commentary for Thursday 1-24-13

Thursday 1/24

Mass in the tomb of Jesus at Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Upper room (site of the last supper and first Christian Church), cave of Gethsemane, Church of All Nations (Basilica of Agony), walk the Kidron Valley and St. Peter Galicantu (Caiaphas' house).

Mass in the tomb. Remembering Holy Thursday today, thinking of Jesus during the last supper, taking His disciples to the garden of Gethsemane where He wept in agony on a rock in the garden, walking in his footsteps as he was taken away by the soldiers to Caiaphas house and lowered into a cell to await trail. We meditate on these things at each site and start our day INSIDE the tomb, seeing and touching the slab of stone that the body of Christ was laid.

The Upper Room also known as the Cenacle or Coenaculum. We walked in and another group was there from Brazil. They were in the middle of a teaching and we respected their space with silence and were treated with the most beautiful hymn before they left. We have seen people for not only Brazil, but Sweden, Korea and Japan. We had a wonderful teaching about the upper room and time to reflect. Not only was the first eucharist instituted here but also the priesthood, reconciliation and the 1st novena. After Jesus death and resurrection Mary resided next door. The space itself was larger than I expected. It is not the original room as the building had been partially destroyed by the Romans. This building was one of the few buildings that remained with some of it's structure intact.

Cave of Gethsemane. This place is situated right next to the tomb of Mary. This is a place where Jesus and his disciples would have met on a regular basis with close access to the garden of Gethsemane. Perhaps used when it was too hot or raining. The site is maintained by the Franciscan Brothers. Gethsemane (gat-shamma is olive press in Aramic) receives it's name from from the eight ancient olive trees that make up the garden area that date back older than 2000 years. These trees served as silent witness to the prayers of Jesus. The Franciscan's were gracious enough to allow Mike to teach in the cave. The main thing that resonated with me from his teaching was "prayer brings strength to do the will of God".

The Basilica of Agony (The Church of All Nations) is situated right next to the Garden of Gethsemane and is built directly over the rock that Jesus prostrated himself on and prayed in agony just before being arrested by the High Preist Ciaphas' soldiers. This rock is exposed and located in front of the altar.

The Kidron Valley. Between the Mount of Olives where Gethsemane is located and the Temple Mount lies the Kidron Valley. This is a path that Jesus and his disciples would have a walked on a regular basis. Jesus certainly walked this path to Ciaphas' house to be held in detention before trial. We walked this path and said the rosary. This was a wonderful time of prayer and reflection giving me a perspective geographically of all these events. It is amazing to think about how much happened in such a small geographical area. For some reason I thought these places were further apart than they really are. We entered the walls of Jerusalem and had lunch at a Lebanese place in the Jewish quarter.

St. Peter Gallicantu (cockcrow). After lunch we went to this church. It is built over the site of Caiphas' house. This is where Jesus was taken for detention and questioning by the chief priests and scribes. During this time, Peter sat in the courtyard and warmed himself by the charcoal fire. When questioned whether or not he was with Jesus, Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed, hence the name of the church. What is most striking about this church is the excavated cell or cistern with a hole as the only entry or exit where Jesus was lowered by ropes into to spend his remaining hours before dawn. It was so moving to be able to enter this cell, touch the walls and think about what was to take place to free us all!

I will never experience Holy Thursday the same way again. When I hear the scriptures I will be able to say to myself, I have seen it, touched it and smelled it...I was there!