June 30th, 2013

7/1/2013

Entrance to Abu Ghosh Church

No more classes! No more lectures! Should I be happy or sad? Overall I feel sad as tomorrow I am leaving the Land of my Lord. Our last activity was the visit to the Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh which is considered as the Biblical Emmaus where Jesus walked with the two disciples after his Resurrection. Of course it is impossible to prove it today but it was an uplifting visit. The church was built by Crusaders and survived to this day though it bears damages done by the Muslims who erased the face of the saints on the walls of the church. However the beauty of the church isn’t just in its old age but in the spirit that is cultivated by contemplative monks and nuns who live, pray and work here. We had a beautiful, long Mass but the singing of the monks and nuns made the time fly. There was no rush but all parts of the Mass were celebrated with great reverence and dignity. I loved the way they sing psalms and hymns: one verse is sung by nuns then the next one is sung by the monks. It makes the whole celebration so unique. As we were driving back to Jerusalem it was explained to us that the town is the place where Jews and Palestinians live in friendly manner. We prayed that it can spread to the other parts of the Land as well.