Most of our day surrounded the Temple Mount. Well, for the Jews it is called the Temple Mount; for the Muslims, it is the sanctuary of the Dome of the Rock. That was just one distinction we learned about in this religiously and politically tense location.
It became obvious today that Christians in the Holy Land are caught up in the middle of a very confusing and hurtful conflict. This was exemplified in our visit to the Cenacle, the place of the Last Supper and Pentecost. The current building is from the Crusader period. After the crusaders lost the Holy Land, it became a Muslim Mosque. Now the building is owned by the State of Israel and they refuse to give the building back to the Church. So, in the upstairs there is the remnants of the Mosque and in the main floor there is now an active Jewish Synagogue. All this in the place where Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of Unity.
During our period of prayer at the Western Wall (the last remnant of the Jewish temple), I prayed that all peoples might bend the knee at the name of Jesus and every toungue confess, to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus Christ is Lord!
God bless!
Posted via Blogaway
I am just catching up on several days of photos and posts from the Holy Land. The richness of your experience is clear in both. What a blessing to walk this holy ground. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete