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EYEWITNESS FROM JERUSALEM |
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A WEEKLY JOURNAL WRITTEN BY SISTER MARY |
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EYEWITNESS FROM JERUSALEM |
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A WEEKLY JOURNAL WRITTEN BY SISTER MARY |
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Jerusalem
Journal # 13
April 8, 2001 |
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Luke's
gospel, written in the later half of the 1st. century, opens this week that we
call "holy" as Christians gather to receive palm branches and re-enact
the procession into Jerusalem. Luke's account of the event has Jesus
approaching Bethphage and Bethany on the Mt.of Olives. Luke goes on to
tell us that as Jesus was approaching the slope of the Mt. of Olives, the entire
crowd began to rejoice and praise God, crying out, "Blessed is the king who
comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the
highest." Yet Jesus weeps when he catches site of Jerusalem -- he is
not rejoicing. And
so on this Palm Sunday, Christians of this land gathered in Bethphage, about a
mile outside Jerusalem, and began the Palm Sunday procession over the Mt.of
Olives. Along the way they were joined by other Christians and descended
the slope of the Mt. of Olives down into the Kedron valley and then up into
Jerusalem. As
early as the 4th. century there is a description of the events of Palm Sunday. An
account was written by a woman named Egeria, who came as a pilgrim from
southwestern France, and joined in the various services held all throughout Holy
Week here in Palestine. She describes that at the eleventh hour on Palm
Sunday, the Bishop of Jerusalem met the Christians on the Mt. of Olives, and
proclaimed the passage of Luke's gospel about Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. We
do not know how far he read that account; it may well have included what Jesus
said when he came within sight of the Jerusalem and wept over it, saying, "If
only you had known the path to peace this day; but you have completely lost it
from view." (Lk. 19:42) How
poignant these words of Jesus are after almost 2000 years since his
procession into Jerusalem. For Jerusalem still does not know the path to
peace. The tears of Jesus are mixed this week with the tears of many
others. Recently Palestinians were maimed for life, or lost their
lives along this Palm Sunday processional way. There is no peace here.
This is the reality of life today in Jerusalem and throughout this land.
"If only you had know the path to peace this day; but you have completely
lost it from view." As we
continue our journey through this Holy Week, let us pray for justice in this
land. For justice is the path to peace, a path that has been completely
lost from view.
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