It was a different Easter Sunday for those of us who traveled together to Israel and Italy this year. We stood in St. Peter's Square just before Palm Sunday. Just a week, later, well, take a look.
None of us will forget leaving the open square in the Old City (Jerusalem). We wandered back into the open space just outside the contested place of the crucifixion: the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It's an ancient basilica, a patchwork of spaces and symbols and domes and archways and mosaics, all attempting to portray for the pilgrim some sense of what happened here. There are steps to simulate the climb to Golgatha, and a supposed slot which served as a stand for the cross upon which Jesus died. It's an eerie mixture of fact and fiction, spirituality and mystery, with an oppressive air of dark suffering.
Just as we made our exit back onto the narrow alleyways of Old Jerusalem, our guide, Hal, from under his broad rimmed hat, kept in place by a knotted lanyard, shouted from the rail – “He is not here! He is risen!”
It’s a fitting memory for us believers on this Easter weekend.
We stood in St. Peter’s Square barely a week ago. This weekend, that same space was filled to capacity with tens of thousands of folks drawn there by some sort of spiritual longing. Are they looking in the right place?
I’ve posted some photos. It’s a beginning. There will be more. Stay tuned.
Just as we made our exit back onto the narrow alleyways of Old Jerusalem, our guide, Hal, from under his broad rimmed hat, kept in place by a knotted lanyard, shouted from the rail – “He is not here! He is risen!”
It’s a fitting memory for us believers on this Easter weekend.
We stood in St. Peter’s Square barely a week ago. This weekend, that same space was filled to capacity with tens of thousands of folks drawn there by some sort of spiritual longing. Are they looking in the right place?
I’ve posted some photos. It’s a beginning. There will be more. Stay tuned.
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