The second day of our p8lgrimage was centred on the Mount of Olives. We started admiring the beautiful panorama of the Old City from the top (above), then made our way down the steep path that marks the way that Jesus followed on Palm Sunday. At its bottom lies the Garden of Gethsemane, a place of tremendous spiritual power, while back at the top we visited the small Chapel of the Ascension and the church that marks the teaching by Jesus of the Our Father, where we find the prayer in so many different languages written out on ceramic tiles.
However, on the way down to Gethsemane we stopped for Mass at the famous chapel of Dominus Flevit - the Lord Wept (Luke 19). Whereas in Bethlehem we listened to the voice of Jesus as a helpless babe, now we listened again, and heard his man's tears. He weeps for his beloved Jerusalem - and maybe for us too. He weeps for our sins, the damage we do to others and to ourselves. He weeps for the wounds and scars in our lives - the damage done to us by others. But he does not stop at tears, he goes on to offer us forgiveness, healing and peace. And so here, where the Lord wept, we asked him to come to each of us and make us whole. The wall behind the altar here (right) is a window looking out, as Jesus did, over the city of Jerusalem. As we quietly reflected on where we are in our lives, a few of our tears were added to those of the Lord.
However, on the way down to Gethsemane we stopped for Mass at the famous chapel of Dominus Flevit - the Lord Wept (Luke 19). Whereas in Bethlehem we listened to the voice of Jesus as a helpless babe, now we listened again, and heard his man's tears. He weeps for his beloved Jerusalem - and maybe for us too. He weeps for our sins, the damage we do to others and to ourselves. He weeps for the wounds and scars in our lives - the damage done to us by others. But he does not stop at tears, he goes on to offer us forgiveness, healing and peace. And so here, where the Lord wept, we asked him to come to each of us and make us whole. The wall behind the altar here (right) is a window looking out, as Jesus did, over the city of Jerusalem. As we quietly reflected on where we are in our lives, a few of our tears were added to those of the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment