28Nov2010 Day 6

28 November 2010 Day 6

We followed behind another Singaporean group to church. The church was located just opposite our hotel. It was like a castle…simple gorgeous, built in the neo-Gothic style. It was an Anglican church called the Cathedral Church of St. George the Martyr. It is home to 2 congregations: an Arabic-speaking and an English-speaking congregation. The priest, The Rev Canon Robert Edmunds, was quite a giant of a chap, in terms of his towering height. He handled almost the entire service single-handedly, save for a short scripture read by someone else. He was pleased to see us all and said that we Singaporeans brought a 5000 percentage increase to his congregation! His message that morning was “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6)”. We participated in Holy Communion. It entailed kneeling at the altar (a raised slab with no rails or any other structure. Ma went with some apprehension as she was wondering how on earth she’d be able to kneel (due to her painful knees) and how she’d be able to rise (as there were no supports to grasp at). Miracle of miracles, I saw her kneel and later rise up with no sign of difficulty. They used wine and a kind of biscuit. There were no songs sung during the entire service, probably due to the pastor’s kindness towards us, seeing that we would probably not know how to sing their songs. The whole service was very liturgical. Each seat had a rectangular hand sewn cushion that worshippers used for kneeling. Each cushion was unique.

After the service, we gathered around the front for photos and to sing a hymn on our own (to make up for the lack of it during the service).  One of the assistant clergy there joined us and said our hymn was nice. We headed back to the hotel, where I handed the concierge some postcards for posting. There was another Methodist group staying in the hotel: 25 Barker Methodist members led by Rev Noel Goh. They came for the purpose of baptizing their children at the Jordan River.

We boarded the bus for the day’s itinerary. Rev Niam explained the significance of the candles we saw at the church. One candle was pink, and she said it represented joy. The centre candle, she said, was the Jesus candle, and would be lighted at Christmas. The other candles would be lighted, one a week, till Christmas.

We arrived at The Israel Museum. There we saw:

1. A miniature Old Jerusalem City

This was Jerusalem during Jesus’ time, i.e. during the time of the 2^nd temple. The Jews had a sign over their temple door stating that non-Jews were not allowed in. They would be killed if they came through into the temple. This was to prevent evil-minded non-Jews from coming in to defile the temple. Nee explained that the Jews normally used the 7 lampstand (also called a menorah). They only use the 9 lampstand at Hanukkah (the feast of Hannukah celebrates the victory of the Jews over the ruling Greeks). The miniature temple recreates Jerusalem in 66 AD. Two cm of the model represents one metre of the ancient city.

           

2. Dead Sea Museum

      In 1947, the Dead Sea scrolls were found in the Qumran caves by the   Bedouins. 10 000 over scrolls were found in 11 caves. The only books not found were Esther and Nehemiah.

We went to Ein Karem, to visit the place of the birth place of John the Baptist. The street sign spelt the place rather differently, as En Kerem. The Franciscan Church of the Visitation’s visiting hours are 8am-11.45am and 2.30pm-5.45pm, except for Sundays (9am-11.45am) and in winter (2.30pm-4.45pm). The Franciscan Church of St John the Baptist is also there.

The plaque on the wall of St John The Baptist Church read:

‘Let me prepare the way for Thee,

Remove each stone that might hinder Thee,

To make Thy coming sure and soon.’

Rev Niam said that God will often use the unexpected people. He doesn’t choose based on age or social standing. The main thing they should have is a heart towards God. Luke 1:7 - But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. Luke 1:34 - "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" Rev Niam also mentioned that the priests were chosen by lot, and once chosen, would have to purify themselves seriously as they may die during service if they were not holy. She said that on the other hand, these days, we are rather lax in our attitude towards serving God. She shared from Luke 1:22 (When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.) that sometimes God uses ‘calamities’ to turn us back to Him. Rev Niam concluded by saying that one’s lifespan is not important. What is important is whether we have finished God’s work for us on earth.

The famed concrete wall that divided Israeli and Palestinian territory had watchtowers, CCTVs and barbed wires. The wall is largely bare on the Israeli side. However, on the Palestinian side , we saw an explosion of colours, themes, and motifs. Some of it is angry, and some, hopeful. One large section had the words “Give me freedom” splashed out on it. We were told that we were not allowed to take pictures of the wall before we crossed over to the Palestinian side.

We headed to Bethlehem for a Chinese lunch at Tachi Chinese Restaurant. It is located on

Caritas Street (tel: 0598 174702/0546 410915)

We travelled to the Church of the Nativity. The entrance was rather small and low, and most people had to bend low to enter, almost like an act of obeisance. It was also perhaps to deter people from attacking the worshippers. We had previously heard of long queues lasting as long as an hour, made up of pilgrims wanting to enter the Grotto to see a 14-pointed silver star that marked the place of Jesus’ birth. God answered our prayers and there was only a short wait.

The wall plaque there read:

 “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. St. John 7:14

When dark is the world today,

This child brings the world the light.”

At the entrance to another section to the church was a sign that said:

‘We are hoping that:

If you enter here as a tourist, you would exit as a pilgrim.

If you enter here as a pilgrim, you would exit as a holier one.’

We went to the Shepherd’s Field next. At the entrance to the grounds is a tall arch with the words ‘Gloria in excelsis deo’, and a plaque which read “The Shepherd’s Field of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land”. Sang Silent Night there. The church there had fabulous acoustics. If only all churches were built in the same fashion, we’d have no trouble with microphones and the like. We visited a cooperative there run by Arab Christians. The people there gave us each a small wooden cross with the words Jerusalem inked on it.

At the vesper, the group gave a pastor’s stole to each of the pastors and a golden menorah too.