Lent in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM — Any day of the week here, the 4:30 a.m. Muslim call to prayer may wake you up. As a Christian in this holy land, it calls me, too. And, sure enough: If you head out the door to the Old City, you will be joining Muslims, Jews and Christians going to their houses of worship.
I think I would find it hard to be an atheist in this city; so much here points to God. For a Catholic, being at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is mind-blowing.
Pilgrims wait in line to touch a stone upon which the blood of Jesus may have fallen. Whether or not the spot is exactly right, this is holy ground.
At my first Mass here, I joined some Spanish pilgrims. I received the Eucharist and I unexpectedly wept. One of the pilgrims offered me tissues. She embraced me, and after Mass, when I thanked her, she assures me in English: “God loves you so very much.” She may have thought I was in distress. But it was more like wonder.
I’m here on a fact-finding trip sponsored by the Philos Project,…