Advent & Christmas in the Holy Land

I lift up my eyes to the hills;
  from where is my help to come?

My help comes from the Lord;
  the maker of heaven and earth.
  (Psalm 121:1, 2)

Yesterday was Advent and Christmas for those of us here on pilgrimage.  We spent the morning at Ein Kerem and the Church of the Visitation.  It is a modern church that stands on the ruins of earlier structures, and is the site in which Mary's visit to her relative Elizabeth is commemorated (Luke 1:39-45).

There are actually two chapels here.  One, downstairs is dedicated to Elizabeth and houses a well in which tradition states that Elizabeth and John the Baptist drank.  On the ceiling there is perhaps one of the most striking images - Elizabeth hiding her son John from Herod's "massacre of the innocents."

The upstairs chapel is perhaps a more peaceful scene, and is dedicated to Mary.  The fresco pantings of this chapel focus on Church doctrines related to Mariology.

The afternoon was spent in Bethlehem.  Entering Bethlehem means crossing the security wall between Israel and the West Bank. In both my visits there, the wall has colored my experience of all that followed.  We were treated to Palestinian hospitality and a wonderful lunch as we were served plate after plate of traditional Palestinian salads.

After lunch we arrived at the Church of the Nativity that is undergoing some major and much needed renovations.  There we descended into the grotto (cave) that is the traditional spot commemorating the birth of Jesus.  Adjacent to the Church of the Nativity is the Roman Catholic Church of St. Catherine under which one can see the caves where St. Jerome translated the Septuagint into Latin.

After visiting a local gift shop, our final stop in Bethlehem was a modern shrine...one of a home that is surrounded on three sides by the separation wall.  There we met Claire Anastas, a Palestinian Christian who lives in that home and runs a guesthouse and gift shop.  She spoke passionately about her faith and her choice to stay in Bethlehem (even when what was once a majority Christian city is rapidly seeing Christians leave).

As I reflected on the day, I was struck by the similarities between the women remembered at the beginning of the day and our time with Claire.  Mary, who was likely running away to be with a relative because she was in the dangerous position of being an unwed, pregnant girl; Elizabeth hiding her newborn son, John the Baptist from a murderous Herod; and Claire, who finds herself almost completely surrounded by hostility and hatred, and nevertheless offers prayers of love and peace.  These women offer a view into faith in God when that is all you have to hold on to.  "I lift my eyes to the hills/from where is my help to come?  My help comes from the Lord/the maker of heaven and earth."


Today we go to the Jordan, remember that this was the place where Jesus was baptized by his cousin John, and renew our baptismal vows.