Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Fr. IRENEUSZ SKUBIŚ
At the end of September and beginning of October 2005 the editorial board of 'Niedziela', in two groups, was lucky to make a pilgrimage to the Land of our Saviour. This was a unique pilgrimage, a great event in the life of each of us. The Holy Land, the Fifth Gospel. We felt the presence of Jesus at every moment of our wandering in the Holy Land. We followed his footsteps. We were in Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born. We were at the places where he had performed miracles - changed, healed, taught in parables, strengthened the faith of his disciples, where he had been captured, judged, sentenced to death; we went on his Way of the Cross, where he had gone to Golgotha; we prayed at the place of his agony, at the stone of anointment; we celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, where his body had been laid and where he had risen from the dead; we were in the upper room, where his disciples had met after his resurrection and where the Holy Spirit had come upon them...
Everything we read on the pages of the Gospels came true in this land. We celebrated Masses at particular places, reading the books that were suitable for these places. We experienced the Eucharist as if anew since we were aware that Jesus and his Mother had been there, and the Apostles had listened to their Master. Through the eyes of our souls we could see more and more as well as deeper and deeper the enormousness of God's revelation.
I personally was moved by the fact that God revealed himself at this place, in this land, stony, hard and parched by the sun. Jerusalem and its surrounding is one big stone! It was not easy for Jesus to live in those conditions. Today this place is somewhat 'civilised', roads are good, one can drive almost everywhere but in those days one had to walk, climb the numerous impressive heights. We lived at a hotel, located on the Mount of Olives. We could see a wonderful panorama of Jerusalem every day, the city Jesus wept over (the Church called 'Dominus Flevit')...
Jerusalem is a place, which strongly gathers three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. We should realise that the followers of these three religions appreciate these holy places very much. One could not see any 'frictions' between them, people belonging to so different faiths; all true believers were nice, kind and helpful. Our attention was captured by the great and radical religiousness of the Muslims. It was the period of the Ramadan and they were to observe fast from sunrise till sunset. We saw a young Arab driver, Muslim, who did not drink any water during the day, who gave up smoking, and earlier we had seen him smoke a lot. We admired his determination in confessing his faith. We could see the same as far as the Jews were concerned. Although it is said that 80% of the Jews in Israel are non-believers those who believe focus their attention on the instructions of their faith, which is so abundant in ritual requirements. We saw many Jews in their best clothes, who were going with their children to the Western Wall. How they were immersed in prayer! How much they cared to praise God! And because the Jewish Feast of Tents (Sukkoth) fell on that time, numerous tents, decorated with palm leaves, which all family gathered, inviting God to their homes, were set up at many houses, terraces and other places. We also experienced, making suitable observations, the Muslim Friday, the Jewish Saturday and Christian Sunday. In this light we noticed that Christianity, the religion of Jesus Christ, was the only religion that spoke about forgiveness. Lord Jesus taught about God, that he is merciful and that we must forgive. Christianity emphasises the commandment of love of neighbour. I think that this can be the reason why it is so difficult to bring about reconciliation between Muslims and Jews because both religions do not stress the meaning of forgiveness and love of one's brother. We, coming from a country that is predominantly Catholic, are surprised by the fact that many places, connected with the life of Jesus, belong to the Muslims and Orthodox Christians who have slightly different liturgical and cultural customs. This is the case of the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem or the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. There are numerous candles, Eastern ornaments. The awareness that these are places, firmly connected with Christ, whom we differently 'located' in our imagination, astonishes us and moves us in a special way. We were also moved by other places, for example the meeting point of Jesus and Peter at the Sea of Tiberias, when Jesus asked, 'Simon, do you love me?' (cf. John 21:15). And the Sea itself: 42-48 meters deep, area of 165 square km, on which we sailed in a small boat like St Peter who cried 'Lord. Save us. We are perishing!' (cf. Matthew 8:25). We should also mention our prayers on Via Dolorosa in old Jerusalem, in the street noise, sellers' calls, and curious looks of gawking passers-by. It could have been the same when Lord Jesus went to the place of his crucifixion. And then Mass in the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre...
One cannot compare this pilgrimage with any other experience of pilgriming and this place cannot be compared to any place in the world, which has been so sanctified with prayer. And what is interesting is that this pilgrimage has not ended for us, it is still in us although it is in a different way: we are still taking part in it...
We cordially thank the Board of the Pilgrimage Ministry of the Pallotine Fathers, its director Fr Roman Tkacz, SAC, for the wonderful organisation of our trip to the Land of Jesus. Many thanks to our guides Fr Dr Maciej Borowski, SDS and Fr Dr. Andrzej Glasek for their efforts and openness to all our needs. The best advertisement is a responsible, professional attitude towards all your activities. May Lord Jesus, who is visited in his land as often as possible, give his blessing.
"Niedziela" 46/2005