Jerusalem Day 1 & 2

All of our days in Jerusalem were busy - and we rarely got to our Hotel before 5 pm.  It was because of this that I did not arrange for internet access and did not update the Blog...
After leaving Bethlehem we went to the Mount of Olives and walked down the traditional Palm Sunday Procession - from the the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane. We made our way by many Jewish Cemeteries - which are on this hill side.  It is considered a blessing to be able to be buried here - since according to the Prophet Ezekiel - it is here that the Messiah will raise the dead to life in the resurrection. There are even some non Jewish people and some famous people including Oscar Schindler (Schindler's List). Along this road is the Church Dominus Flevit - "the Lord Wept" which is shaped like a tear drop!
In the Garden of Gethsemane we had a prayer service and invited the pilgrims to place their burdens at the rock in the the Church of All Nations - believed to be the rock where Jesus experienced the agony in the Garden before his arrest. I know that this was an emotional time for many - as they were anointed by Fr. Scott before regrouping outside the church to conclude our prayer - by the time we finished the prayer - the church doors had closed (talk about precise timing)!
We are staying in the Leonardo Plaza Hotel (which used to be the Sheraton Plaza Hotel) in Downtown Jerusalem - within a 10 minute walk of the old city's Jaffa Gate. Each of the Gates in the city of Jerusalem are named - and often the name has to do with the city/town that the road goes to - so the Jaffa gate is at the beginning of the road that used to go to Jaffa (the port city we saw on our 2nd day in Israel). 
Fr. Scott and I left the group on their own for dinner in the hotel Monday evening, so that we could visit with our guide on previous trips - Bonnie Sheffa.  Bonnie is a delightful woman who has had some back problems and underwent surgery in November. She was supposed to be ready to lead our group but she is still in some pain and cannot stand for long periods. Fr. Scott and I offered to pay for dinner but Bonnie and her husband Ruben would have nothing of this! We enjoyed an wonderful dinner in a restaurant near the hotel and caught up on each other's lives.  
We start Tuesday in the Upper Room - probably not the real upper room (what with destruction and rebuilding over the centuries) - but one that has ancient carvings of a Lamb and Pelican in the cornices and joints of the ceiling vaults. We celebrated Mass in the nearby church - and included the washing of feet in the celebration. It is so interesting that all of the pilgrims have their feet washed, yet when we offer to wash everyone's feet on Holy Thursday in the parish - only 60-70 % come forward. Everyone had their feet washed at the last supper!  Peter was chastised for not wanting to allow the Lord to do this!
We then went to the Church of the Dormition of Mary. We believe that Mary did not Die- but was Assumed - Body and Soul - into heaven.  This has been the long tradition of the Church. Even to this day - when so many places want to claim some special status in the Holy Land - there is not now, nor has there ever been, a place that claimed to be the burial site of Mary!  In the lower chapel of this church - we prayed together reflecting on the women of Scripture who have had a significant impact over the centuries: Eve, Miriam, Jael, Judith, Ruth and Ester. Then we walked to St. Peter's in GALLICANTU (Gallo = Rooster, Cantu = Crowing) - the Rooster Crowed after Peter had denied knowing Jesus 3 times. It is quite an emotional thing to see this site - with the ancient cistern - which would have been used to hold Jesus overnight for the trial on the day we now call Good Friday. We also see steps woutside the church - which archeologists say are 2,000 years old! These are steps Jesus would have walked on!
After Lunch we went to Ein Karem - the Birth place of John the Baptist.  It is a steep climb up to the Church of the Visitation - but nothing compared to the journey Mary would have made from Nazareth to this tiny village near Jerusalem to visit her cousin Elizabeth - who was the mother of John the Baptist.  We prayed Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) remembering that our God is a god of Surprises: turning things upside down and using the most ordinary of people in His grace filled plan of salvation. 
On the way back to the Bus we stopped for a Gelatto - my Dad treated for everyone who made the climb - 31 of the 34 of us.  This resulted in everyone loving him and wondering why I was not more like him!!! What had gone wrong they asked! After visiting the Church built to comemorate the Birth of John the Baptist - as the precursor to the Lord - we returned to our hotel and once again enjoyed some refreshments before dinner.