Today was an experience in itself; all that we had saw, felt, touched and learned came together in an afternoon of The Stations of the Cross right in the heart of Jerusalem. Our bus; who have been our tour group for the past 2 weeks did a great job in planning and getting involved in all the readings and reflections which made it more personal to all us who share this pilgrimage in an intimate way. As we began the stations of the cross and handed over our own group cross to carry, I felt very honored to have shared this experience with other young people and not be afraid to be venerate to Jesus out loud. It was an entirely different experience to any stations of the cross I've ever been involved in; walking through the city markets, dodging cars and just being amongst the local Israeli's in their every day life. The moment that really got me in the right frame of mind during our reflections was when one of our leaders, Anne Ellis said, 'It is not us carrying the cross, it is Jesus, who continues to carry our cross every single day of our lives'.
The pinnacle of our day was in Golgotha, the hills of the skull where Jesus was crucified. Standing within only metres of the crucifixion and reflecting on his death just reminded me that Jesus endured for our sins right till the end. And all we ask from Him is just as the song says, 'Jesus, remember me, when you come into your Kingdom'.
The rest of the afternoon gave us the opportunity to visit and enter the tomb of Jesus. It was not as I expected; it wasn't a rock tomb on a nice green hill as the images and movies have all portrayed with a large round tomb door, but rather a shrine built over the remains of the tomb surrounded by images of the Holy Mother and candles. As I was praying inside the tomb, all I could say to God was 'Do as you will in my life' and I was certain the love of Christ on that cross will yield only the best for me.
At the end of the evening, our group was invited to venerate on the very spot Jesus died on the cross. Unfortunately, as we were ready to see this place, the Orthodox Armenians were also just about to start their own prayer rituals and we were waiting for almost an hour. Due to the very long wait and fellow pilgrims beginning to feel sick from the long hot day, our opportunity was cut to a close. Yes, it was personally disheartening not to touch the crucifixion spot, but after a deep moment of asking the Holy Spirit to cleanse my mind with good thoughts, immediately I found myself blessed just to be able to go on this pilgrimage.
There are moments in our lives where we get disappointed because not all things happen to how we want them to. But through my experience tonight, I learnt the value of taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture; we are blessed. Sometimes we just fail to look at the good things we do have and focus more on what is going wrong. I thank God for enlightening me with the gift of patience and His presence in my life.
Location:Jerusalem, Israel
