Holy Land pilgrimage - Day Two

Some Irish pilgrims with Our Father in Gaelic at Pater Noster Church

As I write this article, there's a wild thunderstorm rumbling away here in Bethlehem. There have been several massive thunderclaps and the rain is bucketing down. But its its been a wonderful day and we are all safely indoors in this beautiful hotel.

It all looked looked so pleasant out there this early this morning. After breakfast and prayers we went by coach to a large family-run shop selling locally-made olive wood carvings, jewellery, art and ceramics. The perfect place to stock up on presents.

From here we drove into Jerusalem. Our guide gave us a brief history of this city which is over 5,000 years old and seen countless rulers rise and fall. He pointed out the distinction between East and West Jerusalem - the more prosperous west side inhabited by the Jewish population while the shabbier east side is home to the Arabs. He said: "There are different buses, different schools, different hospitals for Arabs and Jews. Sadly everything is divided."

Our first destination was the Mount of Olives, where we visited the little Chapel of the Ascension. Many pilgrims knelt to venerate a mark on a stone, said to be a footprint left by Jesus as he ascended to heaven. There were several groups from Ethiopia wearing colourful robes. From here we visited the Pater Noster Church built on the place where Jesus is said to have taught the Our Father prayer to the disciples. The Lords Prayer appears on more than 140 different languages around the church. Our guide recited the Our Father for us in Aramaic - the language Jesus spoke.

Our next destination was the Dominus Flevit Church - the place where Jesus stood when he wept over Jerusalem, overlooking the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Garden of Gethsemane - visible through a tear-shaped window behind the altar. During construction of the sanctuary archaeologists uncovered artefacts dating back to the Canaanite period as well as tombs from the Second Temple and Byzantine era.

Fr Charles Soyombo was our celebrant. Liz Simpson, Giovanni Marseglia and Ben Ybarra again led the music beautifully. In his homily, Deacon Patrick van der Vorst gave a very moving reflection on Jesus' suffering during that last night before his arrest in the Garden of Gesthemane (see link below).

After Mass our guide showed us the panoramic view of Jerusalem seen from the church garden. We noticed dark clouds roiling in on the horizon. As we began walking down Mount Zion, passing the Garden of Gesthemane - torrential rain began to pour down. By the time we reached the Church of All Nations, we were all pretty drenched - so we decided to head back to Bethlehem where our guide took us to an excellent restaurant for a late lunch.

This afternoon a group of us visited Banksy's Walled-Off Hotel - which boasts the 'worst view in the world' - of the concrete barrier which separates Israel from the Palestinian territories. Full of surprises - it's a comfortable hotel, art gallery, museum and witty protest all in one. There's lovely photo of Pope Francis praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

We have an early start tomorrow - catching up on things we missed today as well as following our original programme - so I'll save Banksy's hotel for another day.

To read Deacon Patrick's homily see: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/46945

We will be putting more pictures on ICN's Facebook page soon.