Abouna Abiud Reports

Greetings from Jerusalem. To catch you up, dear reader:

…The Holy Land first welcomed us with lush greenery and bucolic countryside—the Galilee of the Lord’s youth. Traveling south, we came to harder country. Then we entered one of the tensest cities in the world.

One could ask: Where on earth is there a place so beautiful and peaceful that it would be a suitable location for the Son of God to teach and to heal? The shores of the Sea of Galilee are certainly beautiful and peaceful enough.

But one also must ask: What city on earth is such a jumble of antagonisms, long-standing grudges, and self-righteousness that it could kill the Son of God? Jerusalem is such a city.

…Yesterday we left Nazareth. We headed south. We renewed our Baptismal promises on the bank of the Jordan River.

Stepping into the Jordan River

We came to the place where the ancient Israelites entered the Promised Land after their journey back from Egypt. This is where the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant into the Jordan, the water piled up like a mound, and the people walked across the river bed with dry feet.

They headed for Jericho, and so did we.

In hardscrabble Jericho

The Lord Jesus passed through Jericho a number of times, when He Himself was on pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

His most famous parable is about the road between Jericho and Jerusalem. We ascended to the Holy City on this pilgrim road (now paved)…

…This morning we visited the Upper Room, where: 1) The Lord Jesus instituted the Holy Mass, 2) He appeared after He rose from the dead, 3) the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles in tongues of flame.

Trying on the kafiyeh

Then we left Jerusalem and went out to the Judean hill country, to visit the church built where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived. This is where our Lady came to help her cousin—the Visitation.

From there, we entered Bethlehem. After eating delicious falafel sandwiches, we entered Manger Square, the sight of so much Christian piety over the centuries.

In the hill country of Judah

We recalled the words of Popes who have come on pilgrimage here:

Pope John Paul II was here in 2000:

In Bethlehem it is always Christmas. ‘Here Christ was born of the Virgin Mary’: these words, inscribed over the place where Jesus was born, are the reason for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. They are the reason for my coming to Bethlehem today. They are the source of the joy, the hope, the goodwill, which, for two millennia, have filled countless human hearts at the very sound of the name “Bethlehem.”

People everywhere turn to this unique corner of the earth with a hope that transcends all conflicts and difficulties.

Bethlehem – where the choir of Angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men” (Lk 2:14) – stands out, in every place and in every age, as the promise of God’s gift of peace. Bethlehem is a universal crossroads where all peoples can meet to build together a world worthy of our human dignity and destiny.

Pope Benedict was here in May:

“Do not be afraid; for behold I proclaim to you good news of great joy…today in the city of David a Savior is born for you” (Lk 2:10-11). The message of Christ’s coming, brought from heaven by the voice of angels, continues to echo in this town, just as it echoes in families, homes and communities throughout the world. It is “good news”, the angels say “for all the people”. It proclaims that the Messiah, the Son of God and the Son of David, has been born “for you”: for you and me, and for men and women in every time and place.

In God’s plan, Bethlehem, “least among the clans of Judah” (Mic 5:2), has become a place of undying glory: the place where, in the fullness of time, God chose to become man, to end the long reign of sin and death, and to bring new and abundant life to a world which had grown old, weary and oppressed by hopelessness.

Looking up at the Basilica, we could see that “the great church built over the Savior’s birthplace stands like a fortress battered by the strife of the ages,” as John Paul put it.

The main basilica, under the care of the Greek Orthodox, is in rough shape. Our visit to the grotto of the Nativity was very moving. Then we went to the cave of St. Jerome to celebrate Holy Mass.

From there we descended to the Shepherd’s Field, where the angels announced the birth of Christ to the humble men watching over their flocks by night.

Barluzzi church on Shepherds' Field

Caesarea-Philippi

Mt. Hermon

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.  And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

 

The Lord Jesus lived almost all of His pilgrim life near the Sea of Galilee, which is 75 miles north of Jerusalem.  From the shore of the sea, if you look further to the north, in the distance you can see the snow-capped peak of Mt. Hermon, which is in Syria.  The northern boundary of the Holy Land is about 20 miles north of Galilee, at the foot of the mountain.  Water from the melting snow flows out of caves there.  Further south, this stream becomes the Jordan River.

 

Alexander the Great conquered the Holy Land three centuries before the coming of Christ.  The Greeks were convinced that the foot of Mt. Hermon was a holy place.  They thought that their god Pan lived in one of the caves, so they made it a temple and worshiped there.  It would not be surprising if faithful Jews at the time of Christ referred to these caves as the “gates of hell,” because the pagans worshipped evil spirits in them.

 

When the Romans conquered the Greek Empire, they eventually partitioned the Holy Land into three territories.  They gave one to each of the three sons of King Herod the Great.  To his son Philip, the Romans granted the northern territory, including the caves at the foot of Mt. Hermon.  Philip wanted to ingratiate himself with the Romans, so he built a city in honor of the emperor at the site.  He named the city after the emperor and after himself, Ceasarea-Philippi.

 

Very few people practiced the Jewish religion in Philip’s kingdom; it was mainly pagan territory.  There were no Pharisees there.  So when the Lord Jesus led His chosen disciples up into Philip’s territory, he was taking them on a vacation, away from the tension and controversy in Galilee.

 

The Lord brought His disciples up to Caesarea-Philippi to help them prepare for what was to come.  This vacation in the north was the decisive turning point in all of their lives.  Up to this time, the Lord had been revealing His true identity little by little, with flashes of power and wisdom here and there.  He had become very well-known, but no one understood Who He truly is.  He was an object of curiosity to the crowds.  His enemies were determined to destroy Him.  His destiny was about to unfold.

 

So the Lord led His chosen ones up close to the ancient pagan temple at the foot of the great northern peak.  It may be that Christ led Peter, James, and John up the mountain here and was transfigured before them, showing them a glimpse of His divine glory.  The Transfiguration probably happened on Mt. Thabor, south of Galilee, but it may have happened on Mt. Hermon.  Regardless, Christ had led His chosen disciples to a place and to a moment where they could contemplate with clear minds the truth about Who their Master truly is.

 

The drama was heightened by the fact that they stood at the ‘gates of hell,’ in front of the creepy cave where the pagans worshiped their demon.  Here the Lord declared that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church He was founding.  All the evil, confusion, malice, worldliness, and pettiness which His disciples would inevitably face was not going to overcome them.  By going to His death and rising again, Christ was to bring about the victory of goodness, mercy, and truth.  He was going to go down to Jerusalem and suffer and die in order to open the gates of heaven.  The long, dark night of sin which the world had lived through up to that point—the night of paganism and confusion about God—that night was going to come to an end.

 

The city of Casarea-Philippi no longer stands.  The area is inhabited by only a few villagers now, and they say that the cave where the pagans worshiped is haunted.  Below the cave there is a beautiful park where the freshwater streams from the snow-capped mountaintop come gushing out and begin to form the Jordan River.  The ruins of the pagan shrines are still in the cliff above, broken statues and columns.  I can tell you from firsthand experience that the haunted cave is seriously creepy.

 

When I was there in February, the Archbishop who led our pilgrimage had us recite the Nicene Creed together there.  We declared the truth about Jesus of Nazareth together at the very place where St. Peter first proclaimed our faith:  “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

 

If we are armed with this faith of the Catholic Church, then the gates of hell cannot withstand us.  We will break them down.  We will rescue souls ensnared by the devil by our works of love and our witness to the truth.