Israel Prayer Journal #13

חברה (Friends),

As usual, much has happened in the last week or two.  Let me paint the events with broad strokes. 

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to attend a Catholic mass.  This was my first time doing such a thing.  I have studied Catholic theology for a while, so I know some of the differences between their faith and my own, but I have never visited a mass before, so I thought that this would be a great time to do so.  One of my friends is a Catholic who has been attending mass here, so I thought it would be nice if he joined me so that he could tell me what’s going on and help me not to look too much like an out-of-place idiot.  The two priests who would be performing the mass are also my friends, so I thought it would be a nice opportunity to see what they do outside of class and to learn from their inside perspective.

 

The mass took place in the chapel of the Notre Dame Church at the northwest end of the Old City.  It is an important historical place because it marked the border during the 1948 war between Jordanian-controlled and Israeli-controlled territory, with the Jordanians controlling the Old City.  Thus, it was a strategic place.  The facility itself is spectacularly beautiful, and the chapel was quite lovely.  The chapel is made of stone with tall ceilings for great acoustics.  There were two niches carved in the front walls, one with a large wooden statue of Jesus on the cross and another with a carving of Mary holding her Child.  Interestingly, the Mary statue was the center one behind the altar.

The evening was fascinating and rewarding for me.  Many of the people there were quite friendly.  My friend that I was visiting with actually got called up to read one of the Scripture readings, so that was nice for him.  For most of the service I was totally lost, not knowing the proper responses (both in English and Latin) to the priest’s statements, not knowing the prayers to recite, and so forth.  The various “rituals” that the people and the priests went through were interesting, though I didn’t care too much for the bowing before some of the “special” items. 

It was also fascinating for me, a theology student, to observe firsthand how their theology manifested itself in their service and their liturgy with their prayers to Mary and their extreme devotion to the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper).  I was actually quite astonished to see how central a role the Eucharist played in the entire liturgy.  It took place at the altar in the front of the church.  The priest brought out the bread from a golden box placed on a special pedestal to the side of the altar.  The priests and the people had bowed and did the cross sign several times in front of this box earlier, and now I knew why.  After all the people (except me) had partaken of the Eucharist elements, the priest VERY methodically cleaned out the cup that contained the bread and wine.  He first poured in some water, swirled it around, then drank it to get all the crumbs out.  Then he wiped out the inside of the glass with a towel.  Finally, he folded up the towel that was underneath the cup in such a way as to preserve any bread crumbs that might have fallen out of the cup.  This is all because Catholic theology believes that the bread and wine actually become the physical body and blood of Christ during the mass.  So, it was interesting to see how their theology works itself out into their church practice. 

After the mass my two priest friends showed me and my friend around the facility a little bit.  They showed us the house that they live in at the facility.  They showed us the plans for the Magdala Center that the Catholic Church is building in Galilee just below Mount Arbel near Nof Ginosaur.  They showed us an ancient, important carved stone from the synagogue they excavated there.  They also took us onto the roof of the building and showed us the incredible night view of the Old City from there.  I hope to return to that view soon in the daytime to capture some photographs from that unique perspective.  Then our friends treated us to a really excellent buffet dinner there with the guests at the guesthouse at Notre Dame.

The mass was interesting, but I doubt I’ll return.  It wasn’t as uncomfortable for me as I imagined it would be, but it wasn’t entirely comfortable.  Many people from my religious tradition wonder whether Catholics are saved or not since their theology is so different from our own.  I can’t say for sure one way or the other.  I’m sure there’s probably a spectrum within their church just as there is within our church.  However, I am optimistic about the two priests I know.  There is definitely something different about them, and I like to think that it’s the Holy Spirit.  God knows.  I still pray for them.  They are really amazing people, and I always thoroughly enjoy my time with them when we talk.

I know that I intrigued many of you with my comments about the UN speeches last Friday where the Palestinians are requesting the UN to recognize an independent Palestinian state.  Due to length, I’ll wait to comment more on that until the next update.  I’ll just mention that the speeches went well from what I saw, that the response here in Israel to both speeches by both sides was good and peaceful, and that the UN Security Council has agreed to have their committee review the application for statehood.  This will likely take several weeks longer.  The Palestinians, from what I read in the news, have 6 of the 9 required votes for statehood, although the US will still likely veto, if necessary.  I still hope they don’t use that veto, but we’ll see…

Last night started the season of autumn Jewish holidays.  Last night was Rosh Hashanah —the Jewish new year.  The Jewish calendar is different from our Roman one, so it begins anew today.  So, today is Tishrei 1, 5772.  Supposedly, this calendar dates from Creation.  Somewhat ironically, however, Israeli archaeologists have stated that the city of Jericho has been occupied since perhaps 9,000 BCE.  Clearly that exceeds the 5,772 years from Creation, so I’m not sure how they reconcile these facts…  The holiday of Rosh Hashanah (“Head of the year”) lasts from this past Wednesday night until Saturday night.  Nearly everything Jewish is shut down during these three days.  This is quite inconvenient for traveling (busses are shut down), buying groceries (stores are shut down), or eating (restaurants are shut down).  Thankfully all the Arab markets, busses, and restaurants are still open, so I doubt that I’ll starve.  Rosh Hashanah is commemorated by blowing the shofar and dipping apples in honey.  To get a very small taste of this holiday, you can watch this clever music video done by some Jews in Israel:

  

I went to a synagogue service last night for Rosh Hashanah at the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem.  This was my first time at this beautiful facility.  It is very large and ornate.  Since people dressed in a variety of ways and since the service was in a mixture of English and Hebrew, I think that this is not an ultra-orthodox synagogue.  There were many people there.  I actually didn’t stay for the entire service for a few reasons, but it was interesting to watch the people pray.  There were parts of the service where it felt like everyone was doing their own thing, and other parts where everyone did the same thing.  It was a little confusing, especially since I don’t speak Hebrew well enough to understand everything that was going on.

Also last night I visited the protest tent of the Shalit family.  Gilad Shalit is an Israeli soldier that was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists five years ago, and he has been in captivity until today.  His family has set up a tent outside the Prime Minister’s home, and they have vowed to not return to their own home until their son is released.  It is a very difficult and moving situation.  I sat in the tent for a few minutes praying that Gilad would be returned.  I also saw Gilad’s father, Noam.  It is such a sad part of modern Israeli history.  Everyone wants him to return, but so far negotiations haven’t worked.  Today is his 1,922nd day in captivity.  Please pray for his soon return to his family!

This past Saturday I met a family who was visiting the church I was at.  Ironically, they are originally from about 1.5 hours away from my hometown, though now they live in the southwest USA.  They are incredibly nice, and they invited me to their home for Saturday afternoon and evening.  We had a really nice time, and I got to meet an Israeli family that they had also invited over.  The father works for the Israel Antiquities Authority as a pottery expert.  You can imagine how I was interested in listening to his conversations…  J  Anyway, the son of the American family is a photographer.  Since Saturday, I have gone photographing with him twice so far this week.  He has a car here, so it has been very convenient for us to just drive to where we want to photograph.  We took some lovely photos in the Wadi Qelt area near Jericho, then we drove to the Dead Sea area near Qumran to get some night photos.  It was a great time.  I got back home at 4am, though!  It was funny driving in the desert at that hour of the night.  Virtually no one was out, and the security at the checkpoints barely even looked at us before waving us through.  It was interesting, though, because we saw some very strange lights in the sky out in the middle of the desert.  My friend, who lives near White Sands Air Force Base in New Mexico, suggested that the strange lights looked a lot like the tests conducted out where he lives--experimental aircraft and such.  Interesting, at least...  We also ran into one of Jimmy DeYoung's tour groups at Wadi Qelt.  I really appreciate how God led me to meet this wonderful family.  They’ll be around for about another month, then return home to the US.  They have an apartment here in Jerusalem where they visit once or twice a year.

Today I visited a few national parks in the Shephelah area with the family from church.  Tomorrow I will be hanging out with a friend near the Old City.  On Sunday, a friend of mine’s sister is coming to Jerusalem, and I will show her around some of the major tourist sites.  (She was going to come today, but since there are no busses, she can’t.)  That should be fun, and I think a friend of mine or two will join us as well.  It will be nice to play a tour guide again.  J  I’ve only done that once so far on this trip.

One last thing, I took my big Hebrew exam this past Monday.  I think I did well, and I found out last night that I did officially pass from Hebrew level Aleph (1) to level Bet (2) with excellent grades.  So, that is exciting!  In the past two months I completed as much Hebrew as they typically take one academic year to cover.  J  I thank God again for the privilege of being here.  Thank you again for your prayers and support that have made it possible.

Other recent photos...

Shalom from Jerusalem!