Pentecost and Shavuot

On Saturday and Sunday (May 23-24), Jews celebrated Shavuot. Today Christians will join in the celebration of Pentecost. This shared feast is also known as the festival of First Fruits.

Shavuot marks the end of Passover season for the Jew. A sacrifice of grain is offered in gratitude for the spring harvest. According to the Talmud, the holiday is associated with the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.

Pentecost brings to a close the fifty days of Easter for the Christian and celebrates the birth of the Church. According to the Acts of the Apostles, God's gift to the infant Church was the Holy Spirit.

For the faithful, the Book of Ruth, the Song of Songs, and the Ten Commandments are to be read during this festival. Further celebrations are a sensual delight with challa in the shape of a ladder, cheese blintzes, and much greenery and blazing red decor. Blessings this Pentecost!  "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!"

Purim Begins This Evening

Purim begins this evening. May your observance bring the joy of knowing God who stands by His people in troubled times. This God raises up women and men for leadership in times like these.

The story of Purim is grounded in events recounted in the Book of Esther. The characters include the evil Haman, the wise Mordechai, and the bold and beautiful Esther. A plan to destroy the Jewish people of the Persian Empire is thwarted by the actions of Esther.

Today, the faithful will fast from sunrise until sunset. However tomorrow (March 8) will be a feast day. It is customary to send gifts food to friends all across the feast day.

Giving to the poor and needy is also required. In fact, custom calls for assisting at least two persons.

Children and youth truly enjoy the observance of Purim. Costumes and masks are the order of the day. If one did not know better, the celebrations look very much like that of Mardi Gras or Halloween.

Recent Discoveries in Jerusalem Give Meaning to Observance of Tish B'Av

Tisha B'Av has come and gone for another year! However, the somewhat "lightly observed" holy day received new attention and perhaps meaning this year as a result of several new archaeological finds in recent days.

First came the discovery of the ancient street leading from the Pool of Siloam up to the Upper City. Then there was the revealing of the drainage tunnel under the street for siphoning water and sewage away from the Holy Mount. Now, there are more discoveries shedding light on the destruction of the Temple and life in Jerusalem in 70 CE.

The Israel Antiquities Authority has announced the discovery of a Roman sword and a stone carving of the menorah in the drainage tunnel. These findings give credence to the judgment of scholars that residents of the city found refuge here in 70 as the Romans advanced on the Temple.

For photos of the sword and stone depiction and the detailed announcement, you can click on: http://www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?Modul_id=14

Tisha B'Av Begins This Evening

Tisha B'Av, perhaps the saddest observance in Judaism, begins at sundown today. Hebrew for the ninth day of the month of Av, the day is remembered for the loss of Jerusalem's Temple, not once but twice. The first destruction came at the hands of the Babylonians, while the second occurred in 70 C. E. as a result of Rome's retaliation against the Jewish people. Both attacks came on the same day.

Tonight, restaurants will close in Jerusalem as the twenty-five hour fast begins. In synagogues and homes, the books of Lamentations and Job will be read. The faithful will deny themselves baths, oil treatments, the wearing of leather shoes, even the satisfaction of a husband's desire for his wife.

The loss remembered on Tisha B'Av was catastrophic. And yet, the God of hope continued to be in the midst of God's people. God's faithful found ways to worship yet. The lesson of this holiday remains a vital one for us in a time of profound losses.

Holy Saturday

Following the burial of Jesus, the disciples of Jesus either scattered or gathered behind locked doors. We can only speculate as to their activities, but those would have been limited since it was the sabbath. The usual sabbath duties would have held little interest for them.

We can be more confident regarding their state of mind and mood. Questions gripped them. "How could they?" was at the forefront of their thoughts. The brutal execution of a good and just man bewilders us still today.

"Lord, could we?" This kind of honest soul-searching arose during the Lord's Supper. It could have continued that Saturday.

On this Holy Saturday, let us find meaningful activity in anticipation of glad Easter Day. One such practice for us might be like-minded soul-searching. "Lord, is it I?

Good Friday

"Crucified, dead, and buried" is the summary of the events of Good Friday found in most Christian creeds. Jesus of Nazareth experienced the most brutal and humiliating of executions that day long ago. He was buried in a borrowed tomb. As the stone was rolled in place to seal the tomb, the dominant thought of the few remaining disciples must have been "hate and fear win again." Love and hope were buried that day as well.

Yet we call this day Good (God's) Friday. Such an affirmation came through the lens and experience of subsequent events. God raised Jesus from the dead. The servant life of Jesus was vindicated. Love triumphed over hate and fear! Hope is stronger than death!

Maundy Thursday

"A man carrying a jar of water" is how Jesus identified the location of the final meal. But would that scene be so unusual as to assist the disciples in preparing for the Passover? In fact, it would be out of the ordinary. In the first century, men did not carry water.

Scholars in the land say this bit of detail from the gospels may identify for us the location of the Lord's Supper as well. Only male priests would carry water. Since temple priests can be ruled out as possibly cooperating with Jesus and the disciples that late in the last week, the man in question likely was an Essene priest.

Father Bargil Pixner identified what he called the Essene Gate to Jerusalem. The Essene Monastery would surely have been nearby on Mount Zion. The site today is in close proximity to the traditional Upper Room (Crusader).

Could it be that Jesus drew upon the hospitality of the Essenes for his final meal with the disciples? If so, the Essenes were the lone supporters of Jesus among the major players in Jerusalem as the ministry of Jesus drew to a close.

Christmas in Bethlehem

Last evening, I celebrated my first Christmas in Bethlehem with my wife, good friends, and the thousands who came. Manger Square was a feast for the senses: dazzling lights, sounds as at a rock concert, at times the uncomfortable jostling of the crowd, and the smells of coffee, falafel, and cigarettes. "Awesome" is the descriptive word of the young, and youth made up most of the crowd.

As we entered St. Catherine's Church, the contrast was welcomed. The crowds waited there in rather quiet anticipation. At 10:30 p. m. the liturgy celebrated the actions of St. Francis who more than anyone provided the world with its most common image of Christmas, the creche. Then the processional began for the Midnight Mass. I was reminded of what our Roman Catholic friends do best, liturgy and pageantry. Similarly, I felt as in Manger Square the awe of Christmas!

Before departing Bethlehem, we waited outside the church for the arrival of the Palestinian President, Abu Mazen. He was late for the Christmas Mass and his witness of solidarity with the local and worldwide Christian community. Finally, he arrived recognizing the crowd with vigorous waves.

Christmas in Bethlehem! The memory will linger and inform future Christmases in other places and times for me. "Christ the Savior is born!"

Christmas Message from Jerusalem's Religious Leaders

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among all people!" (Luke 2:14)
We, the Heads of the Churches of Jerusalem, share with you in praising God for the birth of the holy child on a cold night in Bethlehem so long ago. We praise God for the faithful examples of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of Joseph. We praise God for the shepherds who were first to share the Good News of the Savior's birth. We praise God for the witness of all the heavenly host in their joyous proclamation of God's desire for peace on earth that good will among all people will prevail against the darkness of sin.

Peace continues to elude the world our Lord was born to save. Too many people live under the threat of violence and political persecution. We, the Heads of Churches of Jerusalem, see the role of the Church to be one of encouraging all people to build bridges of understanding and not walls of separation. We condemn violence in any form. Violence has not and can never be accepted as the way to bring about a just and lasting peace between peoples.
We believe that hope for peace and reconciliation requires our active participation as people of faith.

For hope to remain alive in the hearts of the faithful, we must take an active role in bringing hope for peace into reality. To this end, we want to inform you that the Heads of Churches take a serious role in building bridges of peace and reconciliation through our participation in the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land.

This Council brings together Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders to discuss issues of shared concern for our people here and for mutual understanding around the world. We strongly believe that "on earth peace, good will among all people " starts with developing relationships built on mutual respect and understanding. We believe this Council's experience of cooperation and communication is an encouraging example to our people and to the world that in building bridges, God's peace is possible.

Believing, with Mary, that "with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:37) we proclaim with the heavenly host this Christmas, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among all people," praising God as we hope for the future of all of God's people.
May God bless the celebration of the Savior's birth this Christmas season. May God bless every effort for peace and may the one and living God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit bless, preserve and keep you, now and always. Amen.
+Patriarch Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate +Patriarch Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarchate +Patriarch Torkom II Manoogian, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarchate +Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land +Archbishop Anba Abraham, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem +Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate +Archbishop Joseph-Jules Zerey, Greek-Melkite-Catholic Patriarchate +Archbishop Abouna Matthias, Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate +Archbishop Paul Sayyah, Maronite Patriarchal Exarchate +Bishop Suheil Dawani, Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East +Bishop Munib Younan, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land +Bishop Pierre Malki, Syrian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate+Fr. Rafael Minassian, Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate

The Lord's Day in Jerusalem

I have posted my experiences with the Jewish Sabbath and the Muslim holy day of Friday. Today, I celebrated worship on the Lord's Day at St. George's Cathedral. The cathedral is near our hotel in East Jerusalem.

I attended the 11:00 a. m. service with some forty other worshippers. The ritual was comforting, and the organ music was uplifting.

The gospel reading for the day was John 2:1-11, the account of the wedding at Cana of Galilee. The sermon was edifying.

As I listened, the many trips to Cana came to mind. Although the site is considered traditional only by most scholars, this Cana is a good place to remember the story of Mary, Jesus, and a groom and bride.

But back to St. George's and Sunday worship! For 2,000 years now, Christians continue to gather and worship the Lord who is still the joy of life. I depart rejoicing in the opportunity to worship on this Lord's Day in Jerusalem.

Sabbath in Israel

The first hint of the approaching Sabbath is in the scurrying to complete Sabbath preparations. For once Sabbath descends on Friday, all such activity ceases.

Other signs of Sabbath observance are the lighting of Sabbath candles in the hotel, the red light identifying the Sabbath elevator (which automatically stops at every floor), Jewish families gathering for the evening meal, the synagogue service in the evening, and the complete silence that accompanies the rising dawn of Saturday.

Still other cues are the delay of room service until late Saturday, the absence of "hot" soup from the dinner buffet, and finally the festivity of the new evening.

Sabbath in Israel! I am reminded of the Sunday observances of my childhood and youth. Strange as it seems, I miss aspects of those observances: cessation of chores, rest, silence, and family time. I am challenged to work out my modern observance of sabbath when I return home.