So yesterday, I was reunited with a place of resurrection by completely surrendering to God, through my prayers at the Western Wall. It was a powerful opening within me that burst open my awareness of my love of God.
Today, we travelled to Bethlehem, which is only 7 miles from Jerusalem. For some reason, the physical distance between these important points in the Biblical narrative are much less than I had imagined. We had the amazing opportunity to arrive at the Church of the Nativity, which is built upon the spot where Jesus was born, where heaven and earth were joined, to open us for us our salvation, at the time to receive the invitation to celebrate the Eucharist with the Franciscan monks in the grotto of the Star of Bethlehem (the location of the manger).
We received the bread of life in Bethlehem, the city whose name means, “House of Bread”. The mass was held in Latin, but somehow the rhythm of the Eucharist was familiar to all and our experience transcended words we did not comprehend.
The second part that God showed me today in my pilgrimage to the place of resurrection is our connection to the suffering of the world. Prior to the Eucharist, we met in a nearby grotto, which when excavated, revealed the bones of many babies, the Holy Innocents, the babies as our prayer named as “those who bore the price of our salvation”. I was painfully aware that our salvation certainly came at the expense of Jesus’ life, but also others have deeply suffered as a result of the love God released into the world upon Jesus’ birth, the love which others feared and felt threatened by (and still do). When we surrender to God, we bear the suffering in our world. That’s just part of it we must be willing to embrace.
I’ve learned this past year, often through my reading of Richard Rohr, that we cannot separate the “mountain top experience” of Eucharist in the grotto where Jesus was born with the suffering which resulted from this glorious act. They are the part of the same; two sides to a coin. We must embrace both of them to be fully Christians.
We then went to the Church of the Angels, which was astonishing! It was at the shepherd’s field, where the shepherds heard the message from the angels and ran into Bethlehem (not nearly as far away as I had previously imagined). The chapel was simple and true and we sang “The Shepherds watched their flocks by night” and it was a holy time. But what struck me most was the altar. I lifted the altar cloth to reveal these amazing statues of angels holding up the altar. And isn’t it true — that it is our humility, our prayer, our watchfulness, and our turning our faces toward God which hold up the altar of God, where Jesus’ love can be broken open. Don’t you think that it is our response of love that opens and supports the release of love borne to all people through the Eucharist?
We also went by “The Wall”, the dividing wall that separates Israel from the occupied territory of Palestine. It’s ugly and oppressive. I have learned this is a very complex situation (Israeli and Palestinian relations) that I can’t yet understand, but want to know more and yearn to see the “Prince of Peace” who was born in this tiny town of Bethlehem to reign in this conflicted area.
Surrender, Suffering, Salvation. These words and movements of our hearts seem to flow together for me in a brand new way. Thanks be to God!
Tomorrow we head out into the Judean desert to celebrate the Eucharist as the sun rises, then off into Petra. This is the ultimate trip of a lifetime. I feel so blessed to be here, as I hold you all in my prayers. I can’t wait to share this all with you upon my return. Many blessings and much love to you all, Barbara+
I’ll post a gallery on facebook of more photos.