Download - Contemporary Way of the Cross

1

Contemporary Wayof the Cross

LITURGY

Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center

P.O.B. 49084 Jerusalem 91491 Tel: 972.2.532.7136 Fax: 972.2.532.7137

E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.sabeel.org

3

STATION ONE -1948

LOCATION: LIFTALifta is an ethnically cleansed and destroyed village 5 km westof Jerusalem. In 1945, the population of Lifta consisted of2,530 Christians and 20 Muslims. As early as December 1947,the Stern Gang, led by Jewish terrorists, cornered six people in acoffee house and gunned them down. Palestinian residents,terror stricken, were then systematically trucked to Jerusalemand left to fend for themselves. The village was destroyed in1948. The settlements of Mey Niftoach, Giv’at Sha’ul, andGiv’at Sah’ul Bet were subsequently built on village lands. Israelannounced in 1987 that Lifta would be turned into an open-air natural history and study center that would “stress the Jewishroots of the site.”

STATION I: JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATHJesus, innocent, without sin, is unjustly accused of a crimepunishable by death. To retain the friendship and good will ofmortal men, his accusers cry out, “Crucify him!” and condemnthe man who has performed miracles and preached love ofenemies, to the most ignominious death on the cross.

******

4

OPENING MEDITATIONJust as Jesus is condemned to die by the authorities to protecttheir own power, status and ideals so the Palestinians sufferas the result of the fear and ideology of the founders of theState of Israel.

Just as Jesus is condemned to die so the actions of 1948passed a death sentence on historic Palestine and 418 villagesthat were completely destroyed across the country. On thisPalm Sunday we remember that pain of losing community,family networks and a sense of place. We open our eyes tothe initial devastation caused by the founding of Israel thathas never received acknowledgement and we hold thesepeople and their memories in our thoughts.

SILENCE

POEM Fadwa TuqanThe heart said:

What have the troubles done to you, homes,And where are your inhabitants-Have you received news of them?Here where they used to be, and dream,And draw their plans for the morrow-Where’s the dream and the future now?And where have they gone?The rubble stayed silent.Nothing spoke but the absence.

5

SCRIPTURE Micah 2:2-3, Micah 3:9-11They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and take themaway.They oppress householder and house, people and theirinheritance.

Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob and chiefs of thehouse of Israel.Who abhor justice and pervert all equity, who build Zionwith blood and Jerusalem with wrong!

PRAYEROn this sweet-sour occasion of Palm Sunday where thehonoured King rides toward the suffering of the cross andjoyful hosannas point to the hope of the resurrection.We praise you, Holy God that you bring new life out ofgrief and loss.

In Your mercy,Comfort all who have lost their homesThrough persecution, war, exile,Or deliberate destruction.Give them security, a place to live,And neighbors they trustTo be, with them,A new sign of peace to the world.

Amen

6

TAIZE SONGBless the Lord, my soul, and bless God’s holy name.Ba ri kul ra ba , Wa sa bi hos ma hu.

Bless the Lord, my soul, who leads me into life.Ba ri kul ra ba Yah di ni lil ha ya.

You will have a few moments here to think of the lives thatwere lived in this village. Please take some time for personalreflection. On your way back to the bus, please pick up a smallremembrance - a stone or leaf - that you can carry with youthrough the rest of the Palm Sunday activities to remember thesuffering of this community.

******

7

STATION TWO - 1967

LOCATION: TANTUR ECUMENICAL INSTITUTE FOR THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

The Institute is situated on the main road between Jerusalemand Bethlehem and has offered sanctuary to scores of Palestinianstrying to find a way to bypass Israeli checkpoints.After Pope Paul VI’s historical visit to Jerusalem, the Vaticanpurchased Tantur (Arabic for “hilltop”) in 1964. It then leasedit to the University of Notre Dame (USA) for fifty years. TheUniversity built the Tantur Institute in 1971 in order to offerprograms for Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and RomanCatholic participants. The programs are primarily designed tosearch for Christian unity and inter-church harmony.

STATION II: JESUS CARRIES HIS CROSSJesus accepts his death sentence in silence. He does not proclaimhis innocence. He embraces the cross and carries it voluntarily.And on the cross He carries the weight of our sins.

******

8

OPENING MEDITATIONAs we stand together looking over the West Bank, we thinkof the second blow to the Palestinian community. To losetheir homeland to others was a devastating loss. Their lifeunder occupation is yet another cross to bear. It is a crossthat has lasted thirty-seven years - no country to call theirown, no passport, no place in the world of nations. Welook across this landscape carved with barbed wire,checkpoints, settlements and walls and pray forunderstanding and determination to confront this illegaloccupation and name its evils.

A NEW REALITY OVERNIGHT Samia Khoury(TO BE READ IN SILENCE)

The voice of my father sounded very serious as he spoke tome on that morning of June 6, 1967. “Bring the childrenand come and stay with us; it will probably be safer for allof you in Birzeit than where you are near the military camp.”We had been living in our new home in Beit Hanina, asuburb of Jerusalem, since 1964, with a Jordanian militarycamp right behind our house. He was right, it was safer, butneither he nor the Israeli planes who were raiding the arearealized that the camp had been evacuated before the warhad even begun. One of the bombs fell directly on thestrawberry bed in our garden, breaking our living roomwindow. This gave access to the Israeli occupying forces toenter our house and steal the silver cutlery that was left onthe table from my sister-in-law’s wedding reception held

9

the previous evening.

The first thing that came to my mind after I put thetelephone down: “Will this be another 1948 dispossession?What if I cannot come back like all the Palestinian refugeeswho were forced out of Palestine in 1948?” I had to thinkvery quickly about what I needed to take. Immediately Icame to the conclusion that the things I could not afford tolose were the family photo albums and the collection ofslides my husband had taken of the children; all othermaterial things could be replaced, but a childhood couldnot be relived. The experience of 1948 could not be easilyforgotten when so many cherished memories and souvenirsof whole families were lost along with dear lives and thedispossession of land and identity. There was no time tolose before the children and I were on our way to Birzeitleaving my husband behind with the children’s canary, thedog, cat and a little lamb to keep him company. My husbandrefused to come along as he had been appointed a few daysearlier as one of the civil guard group for the area. When Ithink that he could have been killed in a post unprotectedby the military, I feel so angry. I continue to wonder howthe Jordanian army was expecting the young men to carryout their job. It turned out that there was nothing to do, asthe Israeli army captured the city within the first 24 hoursof the war facing minimal resistance.

Almost overnight the whole population was facing a newreality. We were under military occupation. We had not been

10

prepared for the war, neither were we prepared foroccupation. It was one of the most humiliating and traumaticexperiences for all of us huddled in my parents home withmy brother’s and sister’s families. My parents were living onthe old campus of Birzeit University, which had beenfounded as a school by my late aunt Nabiha Nasir, anddeveloped into a junior college by my father, Musa Nasir.We had to put up a white cloth as a sign of surrender to theIsraeli forces as they took over the town of Birzeit. Theyoccupied the men’s dormitory and my mother was devastatedas she took some of the staff to help her clear the place andhand it over.

In the beginning nobody envisioned how serious thissituation would become. We all were sure that theinternational community would not allow the seizure of landby force, that no occupation would be viable this century.How naive we were, as we refused to think otherwise inspite of our frustrating experience with United Nationsresolutions regarding Palestine since 1948. The reality beganto sink in, as Israel kept boasting of “the benevolentoccupation”. The Palestinians who had stayed in the Galileeafter 1948, and were Israeli citizens by then, assured us thatwe were still in the “honeymoon period” as they had gonethrough all that before us. How right they were. There isnothing like benevolent occupation, occupation isoccupation. It is a process of dehumanization anddeprivation of freedom and all other basic rights. We became

11

an identity card number with a bundle of documents andpermits for moving, traveling, and family reunification.

The so-called “honeymoon” for the Palestinians was trulyover as the violations of human rights started to touch everytown, every family and every organization. The euphoria ofvictory for Israel was over as well, as the Palestinianpopulation refused to make it easy for Israel to continueoccupying the area. It is very ironic that occupation is justas demoralizing for the occupier as it is for the occupied,even more so because the occupied already know that theworst is there and there is nothing more to lose.

In an occupation the authorities are experts at justifyingany action. Even the language of the occupation is twistedto suit the purposes of the authorities. The invaders and theaggressors are referred to as “Defense Forces”, while theresistance movements are labeled “terrorists”, and violationsof human rights are “security measures”. Under occupation,logic and values get turned upside down. The people becomealmost schizophrenic trying to live by and teach the valuesthat are basic to any society.

I remember one morning we got up to the noise of workersclosing the front entrance of our house. Upon inquiring,we were told it was for security reasons; a gimmick whichIsrael has been using since the creation of the state. Underthe pretext of “security”, Israel has been able to get awaywith all its illegal acts and violations against the Palestinian

12

people. In our case that morning, it was the security neededto protect the Israeli Military Central Command which hadbeen built on top of the mountain right behind our house.We had a heated argument with the military, but we wereeventually able to come to a compromise. We would be ableto use the entrance of our house, but there would be noaccess beyond our house leading to the rest of theneighborhood. Barbed wire was put up at the end of thealley and our house became a dead end.

Ironically the workers who were doing this ugly job werePalestinians. One of them asked for a drink of water. I wasso furious at the closure of the alley, that I snapped at himand told him to go and get a drink of water from his masterswho were paying him to do this job. After I walked into thehouse I could not believe that this was me refusing a drinkof water to anybody! As I was still shaking with anger aboutthe whole incident, an aunt of mine came to visit me. “Is ittrue you refused a drink of water to the worker?” she asked.“What happened to you? What happened to all the valuesthat you were brought up with as a human being and as aChristian? What about our Palestinian hospitality?” “Allgone”, I said, “they are making us like that; I am so angry atthem for making me behave like this.” Then we both lookedat each other and started laughing, as I went to fetch a glassof water. I knew there and then that I should not let theoccupation get to me if I wanted to maintain my sanity andhumanity without hatred and bitterness. A good laugh was

13

the best therapy for dealing with the situation, but theproblems during the long years of occupation have not beenthat simple.

My mother used to tell us that when we lived in Nablus inthe early forties, the women used a curse, “May your chestbe locked” (Yeqfil sidrek). It was only after the occupationthat she was able to comprehend the real meaning of thatcurse. Not only were our chests locked, but so were ourdreams, our hopes, our plans and our whole future. Bothmy parents died after the occupation without realizing anyof their dreams to live in a secular Palestine again. Yet inspite of all that happened, my father never relinquished hisprinciples in pursuit of a just solution. My mother neverceased to be grateful to God for His blessings. On her deathbed, we would hear her thanking God, but there wouldalways be a mutter at the end “if only ... if only ...” Weunderstood that the only thing she was yearning for was tosee my expelled brother, her only son. It was so sad that shewas not around to rejoice with us in his homecoming at thetime of the Oslo agreement.

The Palestinians and the Israelis are destined to live togetherin this land, the cradle of the three monotheistic faiths. Sincethe hope for the re-establishment of one secular democraticstate was shattered when Israel chose to establish a state forJews, there does not appear to be any other alternative thana two-state solution, both equally independent with fullsovereignty. By splitting up the Palestinian territories into

14

enclaves separated by zones and bypass roads under Israelicontrol, Israel is putting obstacles in the way of peace andthe establishment of a Palestinian state, which are provokingPalestinian anger. Israel has to realize that its security is linkedto the rights of the Palestinians.

I can still hear my father telling me that I would be veryfortunate if my grandchildren were to see a solution to theissue of Palestine. I have five grandchildren now, agedbetween two and nine, and it seems we still trying hard tomake the best out of a bad situation. We are trying to thinkand work positively against all odds, so that our struggle forjustice will bear fruit and give hope to our children andgrandchildren. For justice and only justice is the key andprerequisite for security and peace for all the people of theregion.



SCRIPTURE READING Psalm 31:9-15Be gracious to me, O Lord for I am in distress;My eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing;my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste

15

away.I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors,an object of dread to my acquaintancesthose who see me in the street flee from me.I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;I have become like the broken vessel.For I hear the whispering of many - terror all around!As they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.”

PRAYER FOR PEACEFor all thosewho came before us,for all those who gavefrom their hearts,who gave from their livesthat there might be a better world,a safer world, a kinder world,we pray for peace, in their name.That all their dreams,that all their struggleswould not end like this-in this great sadness-we pray for peace, in their name.

And for the children,that the children may live,that they may have children of their own

16

and that it will go on-this great blossoming that is meantto go on and on-we pray for peace, in their name.That they would have a world worth being born into,a future worth dreaming about,that they might become,in their own timeall that our race might come to be-that they might have that chance-we pray for peace, in their name.

And for the simple peoples of this earth,who have no voice in this,and for the animals who have no voicein this and for the plants, the trees,the flowers who have no voice in this-for all those who share this earth with us,whose home this is, as much as our own-we pray for peace in their name.In this time,when we hold it all in our hands,for all those who came before us,for all those who would follow,and for all those who share life with uson this tiny, fragile, miraculous globe,we pray that we-

17

we who do have voice,we who could speak out,we who could make a difference,we pray that we may prove worthyof this great, great trustthat we hold now in our care.Amen.

We will give you some time at this point to walk through thegarden of Tantur and think about what it would feel to spendyour life under occupation. If you would like, please find andcarry an olive branch with you through the day to rememberthe attachment that Palestinians feel for a land where they livebut where they are not free.

******

18

STATION THREEREFUGEES

LOCATION: AIDA CAMPAida camp was established in 1950 on an area of 66 dunumsbetween the towns of Bethlehem and Beit Jala. UNRWA’sinstallations in the camp also provide services for the refugeesin nearby Beit Jibrin camp. Health services are provided by theUNRWA health centre in the sub-area office in nearbyBethlehem. As with other camps in the West Bank, Aida campfaces severe overcrowding. There is no vacant space in the campto build a badly needed community centre.

STATION III: JESUS FALLS FOR THE FIRST TIMEJesus, weak from hunger, imprisonment and torture, falls underthe weight of the cross. The people whose bodies and souls Henourished are now keeping silent, or joining in the jeering ofthe fallen Man.

******

19

INTRODUCTORY SENTENCEJesus stumbles under the weight of his cross. The weight ofthe cross borne by the Palestinians falls heaviest on therefugees.

WORDS OF INTRODUCTION Naim AteekFrom the perspective of a Palestinian, the beautiful Psalm42 [which we will be reading shortly] can be used as the realcry of a refugee. The Psalmist apparently has been forcedout of his homeland. Living as a refugee in Jordan orLebanon, he remembers happier times, his friends andneighbors, the worshipping congregations-especially thegreat feasts, when people celebrated together withexcitement, with songs and praises to God. He reminiscesabout his own participation in these joyous festivities.

As he recalls the past, the Psalmist is aware of his painfulpresent expelled from his country, deprived of his own home,living with grief and despair, frustration and anguish...theturbulent waters and the stormy seas represent the troublesand disasters that he has experienced. His memories ofPalestine are beautiful and exhilarating, but they make thepresent harder to bear. His only hope is in God. TrustingGod is the only way to a better future; hope in God is theonly medicine and cure for a depressed spirit. So he willnot succumb to despair. God will vindicate his rights. Godwill come to his help and bring him salvation.

20

SCRIPTURE Psalm 42As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs foryou, O God.My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.When shall I come and behold the face of God?My tears have been my food day and night, while peoplesay to me continually,“Where is your God?”

These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how Iwent with the throng,And led them in procession to the house of God,With glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitudekeeping festival.Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are youdisquieted within me?Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and myGod.

My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember youFrom the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts; all yourwaves and your billows have gone over me.By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,And at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of mylife.I say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me?Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemyoppresses me?”

21

As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries tauntme,While they say to me continually, “Where is your God?”Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are youdisquieted within me?Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and myGod.

WHEN WOULD I BECOME A BIRD? Mona Zaaroura (12 years),

Shatila Camp

When I was young, I used to imagine that I was a small birdflying from one place to the other and landing wherever Iliked.I used to stand in front of the mirror and sing like a birdwould do.I used to cut wings from paper, draw on my face to looklike a bird, and stand on the bed attempting to fly to theground.My grandfather, who used to feel he was a tree planted inthe land, always told me:“Become a planted tree because the land is everything forthe human being. The person who doesn’t have land is nota human being .If I were a tree, I would have stayed in Palestine.” I used totell him that I want to stay a bird and land on his shoulders.But he would yell at me saying:“ Go away, you will break my branches. You are not a bird.”My grandfather passed away but I still felt like a bird.

22

As I grew up, I started to realize that I could not be a birdbecause I am a Palestinian refugee.This meant I could not fly whenever I felt like because Ihad no land and eventually, I had no identity. I began torealize how important it was for a person to have a land inwhich he is implanted. But my land is there and I want toreturn to my land there, in Palestine. I want to return sothat I would have an identity like my grandfather had beforeleaving Palestine.

I want to return to be free to choose whether I want to be abird-as I have always loved to be- or a tree as my grandfatherhad always wanted me to be.

PRAYERCompassionate God, our refuge and defense, we rememberbefore you those made refugee for so long in the camps ofthe West Bank and Gaza, of Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, andthose dispersed throughout the world. Strengthen the willof the international community to work for their repatriationand compensation , for the sake of the One who was madea refugee, and now lives and reigns forever. Amen.



23

STATION FOURSIEGE & CURFEW

LOCATION: THE CHURCH OF NATIVITYThis church is built above a cave, which is believed to be themanger where Jesus was born. The cave includes two smallrooms: one with a star to mark the place of Jesus_ birth, andone to mark the place of the manger and the repose of the holyfamily. After the time of Jesus, Queen Helena constructed thefirst Church of Nativity. The church was dedicated in May of399. Later the church was destroyed in the Samaritan revoltagainst the Byzantines in 522, but was built again in 527.The Crusaders also renovated the church and used it as acoronation place in the year of 1100. Today, the church isdivided in three parts: one section under the Greek Orthodox,one section under the Armenians and one section under theFranciscans. Christians from around the world come to pray atthis church, especially at Christmas. The Muslim populationalso considers it a holy site.

24

STATION IV: JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHERAs Jesus stumbles along the way to Calvary among a throng ofonlookers, He meets His Mother. They cannot touch or embrace.Mary stands sorrowful, silent and impotent, watching herbeloved son walk toward His death. He can do no more thanlook upon His mother and follow his mission.

INTRODUCTORY SENTENCEJesus’ suffering, humiliation and crucifixion bring sorrowand humiliation to his mother Mary as she accompanieshim in his last painful days. Curfew and siege are a part ofthe suffering of Palestinian life under occupation and theyaffect most painfully the families - particularly the children- who stay in confined quarters for days on end.

SCRIPTURE John 19: 25-26Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother,and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and MaryMagdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciplestanding beside her, he said to his mother “Woman here isyour son.”

******

25

READING Leonardo BoffEveryone is shouting, making accusations,hurling insults, and harassing the condemned man.Only MarySilent and powerless to help,offers comfort and support with her presence and her tears.“Come, all you who pass by the way,look and see whether there is any suffering like my suffering”(Lam.1:12)It is not enough that Jesus should suffer in body and soul.Even our most sacred and intimate affection,the affection we feel for our mother,is crushed under his cross.He sees his mother humiliated and condemned too,because every mother suffers doubly.She suffers her own painand the pain of her child.

DIARY FROM A DAY UNDER SIEGE(TO BE READ IN SILENCE)

April 20, 2002: This is day 23 of the Israeli invasion andcurfew on the twin cities of Ramallah and Al Bireh. 120thousand people have been confined to their homes for threeweeks now.

The curfew is lifted for three hours every four days to allowus to buy basic foodstuffs, medicine and other vitalcommodities. Can you imagine what happens when thishuge number of people try to do their shopping all at once

26

within three hours? Although about half of the Ramallahcars have been completely smashed like cardboard boxes bythe Israeli tanks, the ones that still run can cause impossibletraffic jams with many of the roads blocked or damaged bythe Israeli war machine. Lines of people, or more preciselycrowds, form outside every shop or market place. Manycan only afford the cheapest products and in very smallquantities. When people meet each other, they take a minuteor two to exchange news about friends and family.Thousands have been arrested, many killed or madehomeless. Nothing but suffering, and people trying to pickup the pieces of their broken lives.

At St. Andrew’s we find ourselves luckier than others formore than one reason. There is an inner courtyard wherethe five children of three families living in the compoundcan play, though they keep their voices and laughter downso that the soldiers outside in the street wouldn’t hear them.Another reason why we are lucky is that we have access tothe church. Three Sundays have gone by while under curfewand St. Andrew’s is the only church that has been able tohold a real Sunday morning service. The congregants, whoenter the church through the back door, number about fouror five adults and four or five youngsters including Kindy, a14 year-old boy whose leg is healing from the gunshot woundhe sustained. The reflections for the first Sunday undercurfew centered on The Good Shepherd. The secondSunday it was about the real meaning of Freedom, and the

27

third about Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness.

We are all getting tired of our long confinement to which isadded the constant sound of explosions as the Israeli armycontinues to explode its way into houses, shops, businesses,institutions, cultural centers, theaters, clubs and the differentministries as well as the municipality.They continue to destroy everything in their way includingvaluable documents, archives, research work, medical anddental clinics ... etc ... etc. In short, they are destroying thePalestinian people - their identity, their culture and theirmemory.

To pass the time in a positive way, the pastor has organizeda campaign of voluntary activity for the six teenagers andfour children of the compound. They all set out energeticallyto do some spring-cleaning inside the church, the officesand adjacent youth club, compensating for the lack ofexercise under curfew. The youngsters also used theirmuscles to unload a truck full of food supplies donated bythe church and people of Shefa-Amr, a town in Galilee. Theythen divided them into portions that were distributed whenthe curfew was lifted for a three-hour break later in the week.The families gratefully received the food parcels, but manywho crowded outside the gates wee not as lucky. Therewasn’t enough for everybody. We can no longer repeat thewords: “give us this day our daily bread” lightly. The prayernow takes on a more profound meaning and urgency.

28

Some parts of Ramallah are still without electricity, runningwater or telephones. One family called the pastor to ask fordrinking water that he will only be able to deliver in thecurfew break. Garbage is piling up in the streets of Ramallah,which is turning into an environmental hazard - especiallywith the temperatures rising. The damage is extensive andit will take a long time for Ramallah to get out of its state ofshock and destruction and return to normal, if ever. Thereal tragedy is that of the families who have lost loved onesor whose sons were arrested and taken to an unknowndestination. Ra’fat, a member of the youth group, is one ofthem, please pray for him. In other parts of the West Bank,especially in Jenin and Nablus, the situation is much worse.A real human tragedy is unfolding over there. The worldcannot remain silent.

SHARING OF PERSONAL PRAYERS WITH SONGBETWEEN EACH PRAYER RAISED

O Lord hear my prayer, O Lord hear my prayer When I call, answer meIs maa sa la ti, Is maa sa la ti Ad au fas, ta gib ni

O Lord hear my prayer, O Lord hear my prayer Come and listen to me.

Is maa sa la ti, Is maa sa la ti Ad au fas, ta gib ni

29

POEM : FROM STATE OF SIEGE Mahmoud DarwishHere, at the slopes, before sunset and the gun-mouth oftime,Near orchards deprived of their shadowsWe do what prisoners doWhat the unemployed do:We nourish hope.

Under siege, life becomes the timeBetween remembering its beginningAnd forgetting its end.Here, at the heights of smoke, on the steps of home,There is no time for time.We do what those ascending to God do:We forget pain. [...]Soldiers measure the distance between being and nothingnessWith the telescope of a tank...We measure the distance between our bodies and the shellsWith a sixth sense. [...]

Siege is waitingWaiting on a leaning ladder in the middle of a storm.[...]Under siege, time becomes placeFossilised in its eternityUnder siege, place becomes timeLagging behind its yesterday and its tomorrow [...]

30

CLOSING REFLECTION Naim AteekIn authentic worship, people articulate before God theirgrief, doubts, frustration in candor as they do their praiseand thanksgiving. They are the prayers of people that ariseout of the depths of the misery of life under occupation.Prayers that Palestinians lift up not only in the churchesand mosques but on the impossible roads of the West Bankand Gaza, as they queue at checkpoints, or as they watch ahome being demolished and a family become homeless, oras they, young or old, men or women, undergo humiliationby Israeli soldiers in so many situations of oppression. Insuch moments, God seems to be far away, absent, orunconcerned, and the political burden of tyranny is heavyand intolerable. Some curse and swear, others send out deepsighs of distress and anger, while others lift a silent plea toGod to lift the massive load of injustice.In David Pleins, The Psalms: Songs of Tragedy, Hope, andJustice he writes: “Words of anger at God are terriblyuncomfortable, but the psalmists recognized that worshipwill remain a shallow affair if the worshiper’s rage is leftoutside the sanctuary. This willingness to give expression tothe agony of the sufferer is, in biblical terms, an act ofworship. To speak from one’s pain and oppression - to nolonger hide one’s rage over injustice - is the essential firststep in approaching the God who, in our suffering seems tobe so aloof. Our liturgies cannot afford to remain numb tohuman suffering, especially if our hope is to construct aspirituality rooted in justice.”

31

The challenge for worship, whether ancient or modern, isto find a way to move on to praise and thanksgiving withoutnegating the grief of abandonment. To offer praise whengrieving is really needed only compounds the emptiness theworshiper feels and leads to a painful separation betweenworship and life. The worship that offers strength is aworship that is willing to follow the worshiper down to Sheoland the Pit, to the lowest levels of abandonment”(Pleins, p.21). Palestinian Christians receive great solace in theexperience of Jesus’ disciples on the boat on the Sea ofGalilee. The raging sea with the high waves and heavy windthreatened their life as Jesus lay in the stern asleep. Theywoke him up saying, “Teacher, do you not care that we areperishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said tothe sea, “Peace! Be still!” The wind ceased and there wascalm. Then Jesus addressed them saying, “Why are youafraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:35-41).

Today, our experience is like that of the disciples. We are inthe midst of a raging sea tossed about by the Israeli militarythat is slowly drowning us. The threats and dangers areimmense. In our fear and agony, we boldly address Godsaying, “Do you not care that we are perishing?” The answeris clear, “Peace! Be still!” “Do not be afraid, I am with you”.This is the assurance that we cling to. We know that God iswith us in the midst of our struggle against injustice. Let uscontinue our work together for a just peace.

******

32

Please take a few moments in the Church to remember thoseinnocent families who have experienced the collectivepunishment of the violence of curfew, house arrest, and siege.Reflect on the role of this church and He for whom this churchwas built, why He came and the role His church has.

33

STATION FIVEISOLATED VILLAGES

LOCATION: NU’MANNu’man has some two hundred residents, who live in twenty-five houses. The village is located on the southeastern border ofthe Jerusalem Municipality, a few hundred meters north of BeitSahur, which lies adjacent to Bethlehem. For several months,the two hundred residents of the village have been living underIsrael’s threat to expel them from their homes. Palestiniansettlement in Nu’man began during the 1930s. In the 1967census, the residents of Nu’man were mistakenly recorded asresidents of the West Bank and were given West Bank identitycards rather than the Israeli identity cards given to mostPalestinians who lived in areas annexed by Israel. Over theyears, village residents filed several requests with the Ministryof the Interior to arrange their status as residents of Jerusalemand to obtain Israeli identity cards. The Ministry has consistentlydenied these requests.

34

STATION V: SIMON CARRIES THE CROSS.The guards see that Jesus is at the point of collapse. They see astrong man, coming from work in the fields, and they drafthim into helping Jesus carry the cross. At least for a while.Simon is reluctant. Carrying a cross is not an honorableendeavor. Yet, he carries it, and his name is remembered for alltimes.

WORDS OF INTRODUCTIONThe cross is a lonely burden to bear. It cannot be shared - itis suffering alone. Simon, though, carries the weight for afew steps along the way. As we bear witness to the sufferingof this community and share these stories when we returnhome, our presence removes the isolation of the misery andmakes it ours as well.

STORY: THE ISOLATION Radi ‘abd ‘Ali ‘Atiya, age 30, residentof Nu’man August 6, 2003My twelve-year-old brother Marwan has diabetes. He needsto go daily to the clinic in Beit Sahur to get insulin. Theroad via Hilwah Grave is blocked, so we arrange for theambulance from the government hospital in Beit Jala to waitfor us by the dirt roadblock at the end of the Hilwah Graveroad. We have to go with my brother to the roadblock. Theambulance waits for us about thirty meters from theroadblock and then takes him to the clinic.

******

35

Marwan’s condition worsened about a month ago, and wehad to take him to al-Moqassad Hospital, in Jerusalem. Mymother and I went with him. We left Nu’man for Jerusalemand passed the dirt piles at the edge of the village. We walkedtwo kilometers to Tsur Baher, where we got on a bus thattook us to Jabel Mukaber. Then we took a taxi to the Musraraneighborhood. Soldiers were stationed at a checkpoint there.They stopped the taxi. The soldiers checked our ID cardsand my brother’s medical documents. They delayed us fortwenty minutes or so and then let us pass. Marwan was invery poor condition. He was unable to walk. We supportedhim the whole way, and had to carry him at times. Whenwe reached the hospital, he was taken straight to intensivecare. He was hospitalized for several days. Following hisdischarge, we traveled to Abu Dis, and then to Hilwah Gravevia the Container roadblock, and then by foot to the village.

SCRIPTURE Luke 23:25-26...Pilate handed Jesus over as they wished. As they led himaway, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was comingfrom the country, and they laid the cross on him, and madehim carry it behind Jesus.

THOUGHTS FOR MEDIATION Naim AteekToday, many of the people of Jerusalem have beencondemned to death by the existing powers “who abhorjustice and pervert all equity, who build Zion with bloodand Jerusalem with wrong! (Micah 3:9-10); “who ... covetfields, and seize them; houses, and take them away; they

36

oppress householder and house, people and theirinheritance” (Micah 2:2). Under the guise of security, manyof Jerusalem’s Palestinian inhabitants are being condemnedand forced to carry their cross and walk the long way oftheir via dolorosa to their death. When one looks morepenetratingly at the Palestinians, it is possible to see thecrosses many people are carrying - the cross of the loss oftheir right to live in the city of their birth; the cross ofbecoming homeless due to the demolition of their homes;the painful cross which people carry when their land isconfiscated and their property taken; not to mention thecrosses of humiliation and degradation which many peoplehave to carry daily. There is a slow, creeping, pressure of theWall leading to the suffocation of villages trapped inside.Many Palestinians have been continuously living throughthe events of Good Friday. Their way of the cross has beenlong and harsh. Their journey of suffering seems endlessand full of despair.

As Palestinians carry their cross, many people watch andoffer them what they have. Those in power offer greateraccusations and condemnations including mockery andridicule. Yes there are the chief priests, the Herods, the Pilates,and the soldiers. But there are also the Simons of Cyrenewho help ease the carrying of the load, the men and womenwho offer their tears of solidarity. There are also those whoget converted on the road. They witness the grave injusticeand take a stand for what is right. Such shall we pray tobecome.

37

SCRIPTURE Psalm 22: 1-2, 7-11My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of mygroaningO my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;And by night, but find no rest.All who see me mock at me;They make mouths at me, they shake their heads;“Commit your cause to the LORD; let him deliver-Let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”

Yet it was you who took me from the womb;You kept me safe on my mother’s breastOn you I was cast from my birth,And since my mother bore me you have been my God.Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is noone to help.

SILENT PRAYER

READING TulsidasThis and this aloneIs true religion-To serve thy kindred:

This is sin above all other sin,To harm thy kindred:

In such a faith is happiness,

38

In lack of it is misery and pain:Blessed is the one who swerveth not asideFrom this straight path:Blessed is the one whose life is livedThus ceaselessly in serving God:By bearing others’ burdens,And so alone,Is life, true life to be attained:Nothing is hard for those who, casting self aside.Think only this -How may I serve my fellow people.

TAIZE SONG

Bless the Lord, my soul, and bless God’s holy name.Ba ri kul ra ba , Wa sa bi hos ma hu.


39

STATION SIXBUREAUCRATIC OPPRESSION

LOCATION: THE MINISTRY OF INTERIORLocated on Nablus Road in East Jerusalem, the Ministry ofInterior serves a Jerusalem Palestinian population of around250,000. Palestinians may not use any other office to obtainwhatever official documents they may need. Whether they needa birth certificate, a marriage license, a death certificate, theID card which every person over 16 is obliged to carry at alltimes, or a travel document which, unlike a passport, is validonly for one year, Palestinians must wait interminable hours inline before they can make their way inside the small office.They arrive before six a.m. just to have the chance to get anappointment and stand waiting in the crushing line in all typesof weather. The office is woefully inadequate for such a largepopulation, and does not always keep regular office hours. TheIsraeli Supreme Court has ruled that the office must improveservices immediately but to date there have been no signs ofimprovement.

40

STATION VI: VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS.Jesus is alone again under the weight of the cross. His face dripswith sweat and blood, almost blinding him. No man comes toHis help. But a woman, Veronica, takes pity on Him, anddefying the guards, she wipes Jesus’ face with her veil. Theimage of the suffering Savior is the only image left for us.

SCRIPTURE Isaiah 42:1-3Here is my servant, whom I upholdMy chosen, in whom my soul delights;I have put my spirit upon him;He will bring forth justice to the nations.He will not cry or lift up his voice,Or make it heard in the street;A bruised reed he will not break,And a dimly burning wick he will not quench;He will faithfully bring forth justice.

TESTIMONY Jean Zaru(TO BE READ IN SILENCE)I was born and lived all my life in Ramallah, Palestine - oneof the beautiful summer resorts in the range of the Jerusalemmountains. It is only fifteen kilometers north of Jerusalem.From the roof of my home, I can look south and seeJerusalem glittering like a ball of crystal and agonize that I

******

41

am not allowed to go there. Jerusalem has always been forus the center, the heart that pumped life into all of Palestine.We traveled to Jerusalem to go to Bethlehem, Hebron,Jericho, and all of Palestine. Without Jerusalem, Palestinewould be disjointed.

All my children and seven grandchildren were born inJerusalem. We have been treated in its hospitals. We wouldgo there for worship, cultural activities, visits to our familymembers, for work and for getting visas to travel. Jerusalemis in the heart of every Palestinian. You see it in pictures,carvings, paintings and posters in our homes, schools, publicbuildings, taxis and buses. You hear the beautiful songs aboutit. Jerusalem is called the flower of cities - the holy - thepure. As you walk in its Old City, you can smell the aromaof so many spices and incense. You see all kinds of candlesand handicrafts. You are surrounded by a Christian heritageof artistic and architectural achievement that provides atestimony to the power of faith embodied in the history ofChristian art. You hear the bells of churches joined by themuezzins’ calls to prayer from minarets within the city.

For me, Jerusalem offers freedom of mind, diversity anduniversality. No one has an exclusive claim to God, but Godis within the reach of every creature. Here I learned that thedignity of the individual is more important than all theprotocols and rituals, and that our actions should bemotivated by love rather than by the law. Prophets, mystics,and priests may point the ways to faith and we may choose

42

to follow whom we will. Many of the words of the prophets,although written thousands of years ago, seem to expressthe Palestinians’ anguish and pain, now and today.

“I will punish this city because it is full of oppression. As awell keeps its water fresh, so Jerusalem keeps its evil fresh. Ihear violence and destruction in the city. Sickness andwounds are all I see. Everyone great and small tries to makemoney dishonestly; even prophets and priests cheat people.They act as if my people’s wounds are only scratches. All iswell, they say, when all is not well. Were they ashamedbecause they did these disgusting things? No, they were notashamed; and they do not even know how to blush.”(Jeremiah 6:6-7, 13-15)

Then we hear the cry of Isaiah 5:8, “Woe to you who addhouse to house and join field to field till no space is left inthe land.” And Isaiah 10: 1-2, “You make unjust laws thatoppress my people. That is how you prevent the poor fromhaving their rights and from getting justice. That is howyou take the property that belongs to widows and orphans.”

Palestinians are crying for justice and for the removal of theclosure of Jerusalem to the people of the West Bank andGaza. They are calling for a halt to all confiscation of landand water resources, an end to the violations ofinternationally recognized human rights— the rights to selfdetermination and statehood, the right of return toPalestinian refugees, the right of movement and access to

43

places of worship in Jerusalem and Israel, the right ofadequate housing. Israel is doing all it can to dispossess thePalestinians. It considers Christians and Muslims who livein occupied Palestine as resident aliens. We are notrecognized as native nor as indigenous people having theright to live where we were born.

Palestine is the homeland of Jesus. Most of the highlights ofJesus’ life took place in Jerusalem, from preaching in theTemple to the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, alongvia Dolorosa to the crucifixion and finally the resurrection.For Palestinian Christians, the experience of Golgotha isnot a distant past or a sad memory; it is part of everydayindignity and oppression. Our Via Dolorosa is not a mereritualistic procession through the narrow streets of the oldcity of Jerusalem but the fate of being subjugated andhumiliated in our own land. Yet from the Via Dolorosacomes the Resurrection and Easter. It gives a message ofhope and unity, a message of life, and of confronting andovercoming death. This image has special meaning for peopleliving under occupation.



44

READING Creed written by young people from Peru

I believe in the equality of all,rich and poor.I believe in liberty.I believe in humanity through which we can create unity.I believe in the love within each of us,and in the home, happy and healthy.I believe in the forgiveness of our sins.I believe that with divine helpwe will have the strength to establish equality in society.I believe in unity, the only way to achieve peace,and I believe that together we can obtain justice.

MEDITATION Pope John Paul IIPrayer for peace is not an afterthought to the work of peace.It is of the very essence of building the peace of order, justice,and freedom. To pray for peace is to open the human heartto the inroads of God’s power to renew all things. With thelife-giving force of his grace, God can create openings forpeace where only obstacles and closures are apparent; hecan strengthen and enlarge the solidarity of the human familyin spite of our endless history of division and conflict. Topray for peace is to pray for justice, for a right-ordering ofrelations within and among nations and peoples. It is topray for freedom, especially for the religious freedom that isa basic human and civil right of every individual. To prayfor peace is to seek God’s forgiveness, and to implore thecourage to forgive those who have trespassed against us.

45

CLOSING PRAYER St. Francis of AssisiLord, make me an instrument of your peaceWhere there is hatred sown, let me sow your loveWhere there is injury, pardonWhere there is doubt, faithWhere there is sadness, joyGrant that I may not so much seekTo be consoled as to consoleTo be understood as to understand,To be loved as to love.For it is in giving that we receive,It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,It is in dying that we are born againTo everlasting life.

Amen

46

STATION SEVENHOME DEMOLITIONS

LOCATION: THE JABARI’S HOMEThree generations of the Jabari family lived in a small EastJerusalem home until August 18, 2003 when the home wasdemolished along with many others in the neighborhood. Shortlythereafter, Khader Jabari began quietly rebuilding his home inthe Beit Hanina district of Jerusalem; before he completed theshell, the Israeli authorities demolished again. Peace activistsare working with the neighborhood to push the Municipalityof Jerusalem to accept a fair housing plan.

STATION VII: JESUS FALLS FOR THE SECOND TIMEÆHumiliated, mocked and weakened in body, Jesus stumbles andfalls a second time. There is no Simon to rescue Him now. Hemust gather all his forces, rise to his feet, take up His cross andmove toward His inescapable death

******

47

INTRODUCTORY SENTENCEWeak from the wounds of his torture, Jesus falls for a secondtime. Likewise home demolitions continue to wound thealready weakened body and spirit of the Palestinian people.

SCRIPTURE Isaiah 53: 8-9

By a perversion of justice he was taken away.Who could have imagined his future?For he was cut off from the land of the living,Stricken for the transgressions of my people.They made his grave with the wickedand his tomb with the richalthough he had done no violenceand there was no deceit in his mouth.

WORDS OF INTRODUCTION

The Word-made-flesh found his home among us. Nowthat home is crushed, his bones broken like the stones ofthis demolished house. It represents but one of manyPalestinian homes bulldozed simply because they interferewith settlement expansion. For so-called Israeli “security,”a family’s secure foundation for the future is scattered overits own land. A body is more than flesh and bones, a homemore than the stones which form its walls. These walls echoand absorb the throbbing life within: the old-new life of afamily gathered about a table; a life flowing into newgenerations. To crush the home is to invite despair.

48

READING Leonardo BoffJesus finds himself naked, impotent, and totally empty beforehis Father,Who now reveals himself in all his mysteriousness.There is nothing for Jesus to lay hold of.By human standards he has failed completely.

Even his own inner certainty has wilted away.But even though the ground has given way beneath his feet,Jesus continues to trust in his Father.He cries out to him, surrendering himself to the MysteryThat ever remains nameless.That Mystery is Jesus’ only hope and security,His only support...

Jesus was expelled from the solid ground of earth...Human refusal could decree Jesus’ crucifixion,But it could not define the meaningThat the crucified Jesus would give to his crucifixion.He would define it as love, self-sacrificing loveDesigned to win pardon for those who crucified himAnd for all human beings. He would define it as solidarityWith all those crucified in history as victims of humanhardness of heart,Rigidified social structures, and human rejection of thereality of God’s Kingdom.

49

TESTIMONY - Hussein Ziadeh MoussaHussein Ziadeh Moussa and his family built their house in1989, on Anata land that belonged to his parents. TheMoussa family tried to get a building permit, but was denied.They received a demolition order on March 20, 1998 andspent $10,000 on a lawyer in efforts to save his house.However, in May 1998, 30 cars of soldiers came to Anataand gave them one hour to get out of the house. Husseinseemed to not be surprised by this event, “If they destroyone house, they will destroy them all” he sighed. The soldiersshot two residents of Anata that day. Their cousin RaidaMoussa explains that Hussein’s children saw everything, and“Now 4 year old Mahmoud is afraid to come to this area byhimself.”

“They destroyed our chicken coop. You can still see the bonesand feathers under the rubble.” Hussein made his living byraising chickens, and the chicken coop was attached to thehouse. He takes us outside to look at the rubble, and thechildren show us the chicken bones and feathers buriedunderneath. It is hard to believe what has happened - thesoldiers destroyed the house right on top of the chickens,and the family didn’t have time to take their belongings orfurniture out of the home. Now, Hussien farms tomatoes.The family lives with his brother-in-law and there are 19people under one roof. In May 1999, he attempted to builda small 2 room structure for his family, but was ordered tostop. He will try for a permit again, but it seems doubtfulthat he will receive one.

50



O Lord hear my prayer, O Lord hear my prayer Come and listen to me.Is maa sa la ti, Is maa sa la ti Ad au fas, ta gib ni

I AM FROM THERE Mahmoud DarwishI come from there and I remember,I was born like everyone is born, I have a motherand a house with many windows,I have brothers, friends, and a prison.I have a wave that sea-gulls snatched away.I have a view of my own and an extra blade of grass.I have a moon past the peak of words.I have the godsent food of birds and an olive tree beyondthe ken of time.I have traversed the land before swords turned bodies intobanquets.I come from there. I return the sky to its mother when forits mother thesky cries, and I weep for a returning cloud to know me.I have learned the words of blood-stained courts in order tobreak the rules.I have learned and dismantled all the words to construct asingle one:Home.

51

CLOSING READING Leonard Boff...the risen Jesusdoes not confine his activity to the ChurchHe penetrated the entire cosmos, pervades the whole world,And makes his presence felt in every human being.The resurrection is a process that began with JesusAnd that will go on until it embraces all creation.Wherever an authentically human life is growing in theworld,Wherever justice is triumphing over the instincts ofdomination,Wherever grace is winning out over the power of sin,Wherever human beings are creating more fraternalmediations in the social life together,Wherever love is getting the better of selfish interests,Wherever hope is resisting the lure of cynicism or despair,There the process of resurrection I being turned into a reality.It will continue to operate everywhere until the totaltransfiguration of the world is achievedIn the definite parousia of the Lord.

PRAYERO God, strengthen those whose spirits are crushed with theirhouses, whose hopes are dying like the neglected seeds buriedin confiscated land. Empower us to resist the power of deathand witness to life. O God, help us respond in whateverway we can, trusting in the love that empowers the weak,confounds the strong, and raises the dead to new life. Inthe name of the Resurrected One, Amen.

52

STATION EIGHTSETTLEMENTS

LOCATION: SETTLEMENTS AROUND JERUSALEMSince 1967, each Israeli government has invested significantresources in establishing and expanding the settlements in theOccupied Territories, both in terms of the area of land theyoccupy and in terms of population. As a result of this policy,approximately 450,000 Israeli citizens now live on thesettlements on the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

STATION VIII: JESUS MEETS THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM.Women of Jerusalem stand along the way to Calvary. They seeJesus bleeding and crushed by the weight of the cross, and maybethinking of His mother or of their own children, they weep forHim in sympathy and sorrow. But Jesus knows He is innocent.His soul is clear and pure, whereas the women’s souls may beburdened by sin. “Weep for yourselves and your children” Heurges them, calling them to repentance and salvation.

******

53

WORDS OF INTRODUCTIONSettlements are one of the major obstacles to peace in thisland. They take away the hope for the future. But asChristians, we know our hope is deeper than “facts on theground.” As Jesus urged the women of Jerusalem to searchfor repentance and salvation, we focus on our prayers towardsthem - the women of this land, and look to them forinspiration and hope.

SCRIPTURE Luke 23:27-28A great number of people followed him, and among themwere women who were beating their breasts and wailing forhim. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters ofJerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves andfor your children.

WORDS ON WOMEN Najwa FarahToday there are many women, amongst the Palestinians,both Christian and Muslim, working for justice and peace.There are also Israeli women who want justice done for thePalestinians and seek peace. It is not only the professionalbut also the ordinary women in refugee camps. I remembermeeting the Austrian Medical team who came to the refugeecamps in Beirut, Lebanon, after the departure of Palestinianfighters in 1982. They expressed to me their admiration forthe Herculean resilience of the Palestinian women in therefugee camps and how they were struck by it. After themassacres of Sabra and Shatila, and the departure ofPalestinian fighters, the camps were devastated. It was the

54

women as mothers, grandmothers, aunts and olderdaughters, as well as sons, who took upon themselves thetask of making life livable after all their men were killed orforced to leave. The women had to care for the maimed, thesick, the lonely, the babies; they had to earn their living - allof this in an atmosphere of fear, vulnerability and shock.

Mary the mother of Jesus is the one I like to think about.One verse seems to sum it all up, “And Mary kept all thesethings in her heart.” The mother of Jesus, like every mother,had many, many recollections to ponder and think about,things she marveled at, others that gave her joy, but muchthat saddened her heart. The women of Palestine in thecamps or their forced exile have much that is kept in theirhearts. Their collective memory is the incentive behind theirresilience in spite of their stolen lives and that of theirchildren. It is true that “Those who suffer are those whodare.”

REFLECTION Leonardo BoffChristians do not believe that the creation of a completelyjust, reconciled worldis within the possibilities of history and human willing alone.The various forms of oppression are not just external:they are deeply rooted in the human heart.All of us have personal experience of the factthat we cannot succeed in liberating ourselvesWe need someone to free our captive libertyso that it will then be able to carry out its work:i.e., love and proper relationships with persons.

55

Experience also teaches us that the actual achievement ofjustice is meager and fragile,though human life would be ignoble and impossibleif we did not keep trying to achieve it.On the other hand justice alone is not enough to maintainpeace.There must also be a gratuitousness and a self givingthat transcend the imperatives of duty.We need love and a capacity for forgivenessthat go beyond the limits of justice.

POEM Hanan Ashrawi

Women make things grow:Sometimes like the crocus,surprised by rain, emerging fullygrown from the belly of the earth;Others like the palm tree withits promise postponed,rising in a slowdeliberatespiral to the sky...

Women make things smoothto the touch,like the kneading ofleavened bread at the dawn of hunger;And coarse like the brushof a homespun coat oncareworn shoulders and bare

56

arms barely touching onthe night of deportation.

Women make things coldsharp and hardlike a legal argument thrustbefore the threatof search and detention;Or warmand gentle likejustice in a poem,like the suggestion ofthe image of freedomas a warm bath,and a long soak,in an undemolished home.

Women make things -And as we, in separateworlds, braidour daughters’ hairin the morning, you and†I, eachhumming to herself,suddenlystopsand hears thetune of the other

57

TIME OF SILENCE

PRAYERGod of all ages, Lord of all time,you are the Alpha and the Omega,the origin and goal of everything that lives,yet you are ever close to thosewho call on you in faith.

Teach us to share justly the good thingswhich come from your loving hand;to bring peace and reconciliationwhere strife and disorder reign;to speak out as advocatesfor those who have no voice;and to rejoice in a bond of prayer and praisewith our sisters and brothers throughout the world.

When Christ comes again in glorymay he find us alive and active in faith,and so call us to that Kingdom,where, with you and the Holy Spirit,he is God, to be praised, worshipped and glorified,both now and for ages to come. Amen

58



59

STATION NINECHECKPOINTS

LOCATION: QALANDIA CHECKPOINTQalandia checkpoint is one of the largest Israeli militarycheckpoints in the occupied West Bank. This checkpoint is notlocated on a border, but between the Palestinian town Ramallah,Qalandia refugee camp, and the Palestinian town of ar-Ram.It separates Ramallah residents from southern Palestinian townsand the northern Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Israelisoldiers check identity cards. Clogged traffic languishes, andpedestrians have to walk 300 rubbish-strewn yards to get across.

STATION IX: JESUS FALLS FOR THE THIRD TIMEExhausted, within sight of the place of His execution, Jesus fallsa third time. The fall opens wounds and sores on this body, asthe betrayal of His friends and followers opens wounds in Hisspirit.

******

60

WORDS OF INTRODUCTIONTrapped in the vice of the closures and checkpoints, unableto move freely, the Palestinian nation is collapsing underthe strain. The arbitrary nature of checkpoints wears onthe soul as people are never certain, each time they cross, ifthey will be granted the chance to see family, a doctor ortheir office. The checkpoints are a visible scar of the ViaDolorosa of Palestinian life - dividing families andcommunities around the West Bank and Gaza.

SCRIPTURE Psalm 142With my voice I cry to the LORD;with my voice I make supplication to the LORDI pour out my complaint before him;I tell my trouble before him.When my spirit is faint,You know my way.

In the path where I walkThey have hidden a trap for me.Look on my right hand and see-There is no one who takes notice of me;No refuge remains to me;No one cares for me

I cry to you O LORDI say “You are my refuge,my portion in the land of the living.”Give heed to my cry,for I am brought very low.

61

Save me from my persecutors,for they are too strong for me.Bring me out of prison,so that I may give thanks to your name.The righteous will surround me,for you will deal bountifully with me.

SILENCE

THOUGHT FOR MEDIATION Leonardo BoffGod chose to concentrate his presence,to privilege certain situations.If we do not encounter him there,where he chose to be,then we simply do not encounter him at allnor do we commune with the real God of Jesus Christ.First of all,God chose to be encountered in Jesus Christ.In the world Jesus was a frail, powerless human being,So much so that other human beings were scandalized byhim.Yet in Jesus we find ourselves confronted with the eternalSon of God,With the divine nature itself, in this case living in the limitedand seemingly insignificant confines of humanity.Second, we encounter God in the lives and facesof the humiliated and the downtrodden.God chooses to be recognized and served in them.It is in the face of the afflicted and the oppressed

62

that God chooses to make clearwhat he himself signifies.First of all, the downtrodden raise a protest:this situation contradicts the will of God,and it is unacceptable to any human beingwho has preserved the least trace of humaneness.The situation must be repaired, or overcome.

In addition, the despised and oppressedare the bearers of a great hope,which manifests itself as a demand of justice.They expect from heaven and earth,from human beings and from God,that they will be able to recover their trampled dignity.

God considered this hope and this demand of justice soineradicablethat he identified himself with the oppressed.In their faces we find the face of God.If we want to serve the true God , rather than some idol-whether the idol be pleasure, wealth,self assertion, religion,or even our own version of ethical purity -then we must do as Veronica did.We must break out of the circle of self-absorptionAnd pay heed to the bloodied face of our fellow humanbeings.For they are the great sacrament of God,The signs and instruments of authentic divine reality.

63

If we do not share life with the oppressed,we do not share life with God.

PRAYERMerciful Lord, we bring to you all those who are weary andheavy laden, in your great love take their burdens from themAnd give them rest.

For those whose daily lives are encumbered with securitychecks and road blocks. Take their burden from themAnd give them rest.

For those who are worn out by waiting in line in the heatand the dust.Take their burden from themAnd give them rest.

For those who cannot get to work, or to school anduniversity,Take their burden from themAnd give them rest.

Where the sick are refused permission to pass and unable toreach treatment.Take your burden from themAnd give them rest.

For all who struggle under the weight of persecution andfear,Take their burden from them and give them restFor your yoke is easy and your burden is light. Amen

64

TAIZE SONG

Bless the Lord, my soul, and bless God’s holy name.Ba ri kul ra ba , Wa sa bi hos ma hu.


65

STATION TENSTRESS & HUMILIATION

STATION X: JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS.Jesus has arrived at Golgotha. Defenseless and powerless, He isnow subjected to the ultimate humiliation inflicted on prisoners.He is stripped of His garments and left naked and vulnerable,exposed to the eyes of everyone. With his clothes, He has beenstripped of the last shred of dignity a human being can have.

******

66

INTRODUCTORY SENTENCEJust as Jesus is mocked and humiliated by the roman soldiers,today ordinary Palestinians are humiliated by systems andofficials that revel in keeping them in their place andexercising power over them.SCRIPTURE Mathew 27:27-31Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into thegovernor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohortaround him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe onhim, and after twisting some thorns into a crown they putit on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and kneltbefore him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of theJews!” They spat on him, and took the reed and struck himon the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of therobe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led himaway to crucify him.

SILENCE AND REFLECTION

THOUGHTS ON FORGIVENESS Pope John Paul II

Forgiveness is in no way opposed to justice, as if to forgivemeant to overlook the need to right the wrong done. It israther the fullness of justice, leading to that tranquility oforder which is much more than a fragile and temporarycessation of hostilities, involving as it does the deepest healingof the wounds which fester in human hearts. Justice andforgiveness are both essential to such healing.

67

PRAYERLord Jesus, you endured humiliations and indignities beyondcompare, yet without complaint. You know what it is to betaunted and mocked by those in positions of power. Liftup those who are ground down by daily humiliation andgive them your grace. Humble those who use their powerto belittle others and open their eyes to see the God-givendignity of all people. Strengthen those who speak your truthand call for justice. Let their righteousness shine like thedawn and the integrity of their cause as the noonday sun.

Amen

CLOSING READING Iona CommunityThere’s a voice in the street -not singing but sobbing -calling for helpfor a child who is ill:pleading with the powerful,caring about the detail of human dignity,hoping against reason -calling out for healing.Calling out for healing.

There’s a voice in the street -not sweetly reasonablebut shouting -strident and resistant,a voice not to be ignored,calling out for justice, calling for change,

68

across a divide between two nations -calling out for healing.Calling out for healing.There’s a voice in the street -that will not be silenced -arguing with conviction:a woman standing her groundwhen a man does not listenwhen he puts her down;defying prejudice with courage,defending the little ones with love,restoring relationship with laughter -calling out for healing.Calling out for healing.

There are voices in the street -not then and therebut here and now -challenging the powers that be,putting the case for the powerless,in dialogue for reconciliation,picking up the pieces, sharing the crumbs,daring to speakwith courage, with laughter, with faith.God hears those voicesand God is in those voices -and there is healing.And there is healing.

69



70

STATION ELEVENDESTRUCTION

STATION XI: JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS.The cross lies on the ground. Jesus is made to lie upon it andopen his arms wide. His hands are pierced, nailing Him to thecross. Even in His terrible pain, Jesus begs God forgiveness forHis tormentors. “Father, forgive them, for they know not whatthey do.”And as the ultimate loving gesture, He promises the repentantzealot to have him in paradise on that same day. He entrustsHis sorrowful Mother to his apostle, John, reminding him thatnow she is his mother.

******

71

OPENING SCRIPTURE Luke 23:33-34aWhen they came to the place that is called The Skull, theycrucified Jesus there with the criminals one on his right andone on his left. Then Jesus said “Father, forgive them; forthey do not know what they are doing.”

INTRODUCTORY SENTENCEJesus is nailed to the cross, the most physically gruelingmethod of execution ever devised by man. His body, weakand bleeding from the preceding torture is broken andcrushed by this final act of brutality.

The Palestinians also know physical and violent devastation.Already weakened and bruised, the destruction ofinfrastructure, water sources and agriculture pierces the veryfabric of the community.

POEM Jesus of the Scars, by Edward ShillitoIf we have never sought, we seek Thee now:Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow,We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;In all the universe we have no place.Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace.If, when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;We know to-day what wounds are, have no fear,

72

Show us Thy Scars, we know the countersign.The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak;They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,And not a god has wounds, but thou alone.

MEDITATION U.S. Conference of Catholic BishopsGod gives us his assurance today that “In the desert I willmake a way, in the wasteland, rivers.” Standing before thedestruction of war and increasingly dire warnings ofterrorism at home, we can be tempted to become paralyzedby our imaginings of all the horrors. The darkness of despaircan make the future look like a vast wasteland and a parcheddesert. Yet even in the face of violence and conflict, Godwill not abandon us. Again and again he looks upon us inour misery and brings us the good news of salvation. Wemust never lose hope.



O Lord hear my prayer, O Lord hear my prayer Come and listen to me.

Is maa sa la ti, Is maa sa la ti Ad au fas, ta gib ni

73

CLOSING PRAYER Anna BriggsWe lay our broken worldIn sorrow at your feet,Haunted by hunger war and fear,Oppressed by power and hate.

We bring our broken towns,our neighbors hurt and bruised;You show us how old pain and woundsFor new life can be used.

We bring our broken selves,Confused, closed and tired;Then through your gift of healing graceNew purpose is inspired.

Come fill us, fire of GodOur life and strength renew;Find in us trust, and hope, and loveAnd lift us up to you.Amen

74

STATION TWELVETHE WALL

LOCATION: THE WALL OF SEPARATIONThe separation barrier consists of either an eight meter highconcrete wall or, in rural areas, an electronic fence and traversesthe west side of the West Bank. The Wall does not follow theGreen Line, the internationally recognized, though unofficial,border between the West Bank and Israel. In most places itruns several kilometers inside Occupied Territory, separatingPalestinians from crucial aquifers and fertile land

STATION XII: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS.His hands and feet pierced by nails, Jesus is lifted up on thecross. On the verge of despair, His humanity cries out, “MyGod, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But He isimmediately reconciled with His divine mission, and Hewhispers, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Nowit is finished.”

******

75

OPENING READING From Mending Wall by Robert Frost...He only says, “Good fences make good neighbours.”Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonderIf I could put a notion in his head:“Why do they make good neighbours? Isn’t itWhere there are cows? But here there are no cows.†Before I built a wall I’d ask to knowWhat I was walling in or walling out,And to whom I was like to give offence.Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,That wants it down

SCRIPTURE Matthew 27: 45-46, 50-51From noon on, darkness came over the whole land untilthree in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus criedwith a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lma sabachthani?” that is, “MyGod, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Then Jesuscried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At thatmoment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, fromtop to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split.

INTRODUCTORY SENTENCEJesus dies on the cross, surrendered to the overwhelmingpower of his captors, seemingly abandoned by God.Likewise the building of the Wall overpowers the Palestiniansin the West Bank, feeling abandoned and forgotten by theinternational community. How long can they continue tofight for breath within its suffocating grip?

76

TESTIMONY - Imm AminFebruary 4, 2004, PENGON

When the military came, my two sons, the sons of mybrother-in-law, and Abu Nabil, who later died, went downto the land where they were working. It was only us —there is nothing left of my land only this minimal piecebetween us and the Wall. The first day, the military keptcoming and going to our house. I told them this is my land.In the evening, the Occupation Forces came and tried totake my son and his cousin; but we managed to pull themfrom the hands of the soldiers. The second day, I tried withmy two sons to go to the land, on that day they tried tohandcuff my son and stop us from reaching the land, butmy son managed to escape. Yet the soldiers hit many of theboys.

I tried to argue with the soldiers and told them, This is myland what you are doing is illegal. There are 40 people livingin this house and on this land. The Occupation Forces thencame and began bulldozing, here they work every day. I hadland in the middle of this hill it was destroyed by thebulldozer. We sat on the land for three days, morning toevening, until the soldiers surrounded the wholeneighborhood and we were no longer able to reach the land.

77

READING LeunigThere are only two feelings. Love and fear.There are only two languages. Love and fear.There are only two activities. Love and fear.There are only two motives, two procedures,two frameworks, two results. Love and fear.Love and fear.

MOVING TOWARDS EASTER Gerald DarringLent and Easter provide us with the opportunity to go forthweeping so that we can come back rejoicing, so that we canturn to the Lord and live. The challenge is personalconversion.

The challenge is also social conversion, the transformationof the world. We are not to retreat from the world into acloset of private spirituality; rather, we ask God in this Lentenseason to help us to embrace the world you have given us,that we may transform the darkness of its pain into the lifeand joy of Easter. It is easy for the Christian to take a self-righteous attitude toward the world; it is much more difficultto take Jesus’ attitude: Neither do I condemn you: go anddo not sin again. All of us have contributed to the darknessof the world; none of us can cast the first stone.

Easter is on its way. God is preparing a new world order forus: Remember not the events of the past, the things of longago consider not; see, I am doing something new! Havingdone our part to bring the darkness, will we now participatein doing something new?

78



PRAYERLord, we confess that we are more easily led by fear than bylove. We build walls both from concrete and in our hearts:walls to keep ourselves safe, to keep us in and the other out.Just as this physical wall separates neighbors, divides familiesand holds people captive, so our walls of pride, anger andfear separate us from those you have commanded us to love,holding them captive in our stereotypes and assumptions.

Lord Christ, whose death on the cross tore down the barrierbetween God and his people, in whom there are nodistinctions of nationality, gender or status, break down thesewalls of hatred, both the physical and the emotional, in thepower of your spirit and the furtherance of your kingdom.

Amen

79

STATION THIRTEENTHE LOSS OF JERUSALEM

LOCATION: THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEMIn the center of Jerusalem stands the Old City. This is oldJerusalem, surrounded by high walls and seven gates. It isdivided into four distinct areas: Jewish, Christian, Muslim,and Armenian. Inside those walls are the most importantreligious sites in the city. For Muslims, the most important siteis the Haram-ash Sharif - with the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. For Jews, the most important site is the Kotel, orthe Western Wall of the Second Temple. For Christians, themost important sites are the Via Dolorosa and the Church ofthe Holy Sepulchre.

STATION XIII: JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THECROSS AND GIVEN TO HIS MOTHER.Mary is at the foot of the cross, watching her son suffer for threeagonizing hours, bleeding from his hands, his feet and his side.She watches Him die. Then He is taken down from the crossand deposited in her loving and waiting arms.

******

80

OPENING MEDITATIONWe stand together at the end of the Via Dolorosa with thepain of the crucifixion weighing us down. In this holiest ofcities, we see with new eyes that God’s kingdom is stilldistant. And yet, it is only through the cross that Eastercomes. And so we summon our strength to remember Marywho stood by her son, watched him die and then held himin her arms. We commit ourselves again — not walk awayfrom the suffering, but to shoulder the burden that we havebeen given as Christians — to stand with the those whohave no voice. We call on our faith for strength and comfort,even in this darkest hour. We remember that Jesus’ sufferingis the beginning of the promise of Easter.

SCRIPTURE John 17:17-19Father, sanctify them in truth; your word is truth. As youhave sent me into the world, so I have sent them into theworld. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that theyalso may be sanctified in truth.

THE MEANING OF GOOD FRIDAYHow do we find eternal life? Through death. How do wefind peace? Through justice. How do we find joy? Throughmercy. The cross of Christ must be at the center of our livesand must govern our every thought, word, and deed. For itis only in the cross that we find salvation, only by the crossthat we will be healed.

81

READINGIs this place holybecause you walked here,died here,were raised right hereto bring us life -or because, in this time, in this worldof trouble and longing and hopeyou are alive?Is this a holy placebecause several true churcheshave come to fight and worship here,each hanging separate lamps to burnfor your divided glory?Or is this land, like all lands, holy,where people pray, and work,raise babies and seek justice,and expect a future?

TESTIMONY Jonathan KuttabThe Arabic word for Good Friday is jum’a al hazini whichmeans “Sad Friday”. Sad Friday denotes the situation ofChrist and Christianity on that Friday two thousand yearsago: Christ had been humiliated, condemned, and crucifiedas a criminal. His disciples were all disheartened, scatteredto the four winds, and broken in spirit. They had abandonedtheir Lord and Master, who had apparently betrayed theirhopes of a glorious kingdom which was heralded by histriumphant entry in Jerusalem. It represented the depth of

82

despair for the apparent victory of the forces of evil,oppression and hypocrisy. The Romans, the foreignoccupiers, had collaborated with the local political andreligious leadership to crush the fresh voice of the prophetfrom Nazareth. All hope seemed to have been abandoned.

Palestinians are living today in the “Sad Friday” period oftheir history. Never before did their situation seem asdesperate as it is now. Indeed, the very promise of a newdirection toward peace with the Road Map has contributedto the deepening sense of despair as that promise has beenbetrayed with new and more repressive measures of collectivepunishment. People correctly point out that their currentsituation is worse than it has ever been. Even the mostoptimistic Palestinian is now feeling a deep sense ofdepression and despair, as what looked like the beginningsof statehood, freedom, and self-determination, has beingturned into an abysmal combination of Bantustans and asilent international community.

Yet precisely in this dark hour of despair, the message ofEaster needs to be proclaimed again: Christ will not remainin the tomb nor will evil and oppression have the last word.Christ rose again on the third day with a glorious triumphover the forces of evil and darkness, and over death itselfproclaiming to the whole world a new era and the victoryof good over evil.

The message of Easter, for Palestinians, as well as for thepoor and oppressed everywhere, is that God is sovereign in

83

the affairs of this world. No matter how dark things appearto be on “Sad Friday”, Easter is coming and with it thepromise, hope and certainty of resurrection, a newbeginning, and the victory of life over death.

THOUGHT FOR MEDITATION Leonardo BoffEverything grows quiet in the face of death.Fighting and conflict cease.A corpse, even when it is mangled and rejected,imposes holy respect and reverent silence.We are confronted with a mystery.It is not within the power of human beingsto decide about the ultimate meaning of life.That is up to the One who holds the key to all secretsand the answers to all questions,who know where every course will lead.

When we confront the inert corpsesof those who have fallen in the fight for a just cause,we feel driven toward Someone greaterwho will not allow the triumph of absurdity.There must be some ultimate meaningfulness,some definite, certain sense,for those who died on behalf of others;for those who chose the most difficult path for themselvesbecause they loved the poorand sought justice for them;for those who preferred a violent deathto a life without dignity.

84

Every death leaves behind an open question.We wait and look for the glimmer of some lightthat will dispel all the shadows surrounding the mystery oflife.Death should not be the last word on life,nor despair the final state of human beings.

History does not cherish the memory of those who killed.Rather than holding despots up as an example,it exalts the courage of those who endured death,who shouldered the sufferings of the lowly,and who undertook liberating revolutions.

Taken down lifeless from the cross,Jesus paves the way for othersto pick up his banner and carry it forward.They are the people who have come to understandwhat God’s project is∫the establishment of a worldwhere all will finally be brothers and sisters,and children of the same Father,in justice, liberty ad love.

A PRAYER FOR JERUSALEMOur heavenly Creator God, who allowed us to live in thiscity where your beloved son was crucified and raised fromthe dead, make us worthy of its heavenly message. We praythat the holy places will turn us to the things that deepenour faith and renew in us the hope of everlasting life.

85

We beseech you Lord, who knows what the people of thisholy city have suffered, and are suffering: up-rootedness,lostness, the pain of being torn apart in separation, the painof unsettlement, the pain of death. We beseech you Lord,to give this holy city Peace.

We beseech you Lord, to give the people of this city calm intheir souls, and courage in their hearts. Strengthen, O God,the hearts of those who work to bring Justice. Bless theirefforts and make them succeed over the powers of evil, andsupport them with your holy spirit.

Inspire our leaders, O Lord, to achieve a just solution to allthe problems of this city so that Jerusalem—the city ofpeace—will have everlasting peace for all it’s people.

Help us God, as we pass though such difficult trials, that wemay grow to know your truth, that we may witness to youour savior, by our lives. May the way of the cross be the onewe choose for ourselves, that each will carry their own crossto follow you, Shepherd of our souls, Teacher, crucified andraised from the dead.

Amen.

86



We will now stand together for half an hour to share our witnessto the thousands of Palestinian Christians who cannot come toJerusalem and walk the Via Dolorosa because of the Occupation.As we stand, remember these Christians who are aching to touchthese stones and light candles in their churches. Rememberparticularly the sick and elderly who think that this may betheir last Easter and feel the loss most intensely.

******

87

STATION FOURTEEN WHAT WILL THE FOURTEENTH

STATION BE ?

LOCATION: EIN KAREMEin Karem is a beautiful village located about 4.8 miles (8km) southwest of Jerusalem. Ein Karem, in Arabic, means “thespring of vineyard” and Ein Karem is green and lush due to thewater found there. In the 1940s, there were about 2600 peopleliving in the village of Ein Karem. One fourth of the familieswere Christian. They grew grapes and oranges. In 1948 thepeople of Ein Karem were forced out of their village by theIsraeli Army. They first went to Beit Jala near Bethlehem andthen to Jordan. Those who live in Ein Karem today are mostlyIsraeli families with one Christian family remaining. In theBible, Ein Karem was the home of Elizabeth and Zachariahand the birthplace of their son John the Baptist. Mary, themother of Jesus, visited Ein Karem on her way to Bethlehemand met Elizabeth and the two women spoke together of theirhope and their joy in the children they were expecting.

******

88

STATION XIV: JESUS IS LAID IN THE SEPULCHER.Joseph of Arimathea knows that Jesus does not have His ownburial ground. He takes Jesus’ body, anoints it and wraps it ina linen cloth before laying Him in his own new tomb. Jesus theSavior is buried like a pauper in someone else’s grave. TheResurrection seems far away.

Our time in Ein Karem will begin with individualreflection in the garden. Please read the following liturgyat your own rate and in half an hour we will gather togetherfor a time of sharing and meditation. The readings hereare for your reflection.

THEY HAVE THREATENED US WITH RESURRECTION Juila Esquivel

There is something here within uswhich doesn’t let us sleep, which doesn’t let us rest,which doesn’t stop the pounding deep inside.It is the silent, warm weeping of women without theirhusbandsit is the sad gaze of the children fixed there beyond memory....

What keeps us from sleepingis that they have threatened us with resurrection!

******

89

Because at each nightfallthough exhausted from the endless inventoryof killings for years,we continue to love life,and do not accept their death!In this marathon of hopethere are always others to relieve usin bearing the courage necessary...

Accompany us then on this vigiland you will know what it is to dream!You will then know how marvelous it isto live threatened with resurrection!To live while dyingand to already know oneself resurrected

REFLECTIONS Samia CostandiMy Easter reflections have much to do with loss. The loss of asense of belonging, the fragmentation, the shattering pain ofmy fellow travelers, our Palestinian people everywhere. Thereis no better metaphor than the crucifixion of Christ to capturewhat is happening. The greatest loss is the loss of compassionin the land where Christ taught about compassion, where Christdied because of compassion. Christ resigned to compassion andnot to oppression. Christ went into the temple and admonishedstrongly the perpetrators of evil. Christ did not die out ofweakness, but out of strength. He chose to die in order to savehumanity from engaging in needless wars, needless deaths. Hecould have kept walking into the desert and escaped the soldiers

90

who were coming to get him. His compassion for humanitymade him stay. He made a conscious choice to take on the sinsof the world and allow us to have freedom, that through hisdeath we need not suffer anymore. Christ died because He didnot want suffering to be incurred on anyone.

And the greatest hope He gave us is through His resurrection,which is all about hope. Without hope, there is chaos, there isno meaning, and there is no vision. Without hope, we wouldsurrender to the vicious dictates of oppression and simply stopfighting. Without hope in resurrection, our struggle would beabout revenge, vindication, and simply wiping out the “Other.”Our fight is instead about regaining the human, civil,democratic, legal rights in an authentically human fashion.Following the example of Christ, we are not afraid to die forthose rights, because we know that He promised us, allPalestinians of whatever faith, resurrection. There is nodiscrimination in the eyes of God, either of suffering, or ofsalvation.

SCRIPTURE Luke 3:4-6The voice of one crying in the wilderness:Prepare the way of the Lord,Make his paths straight.Every valley shall be filled,And every mountain and hill shall be brought low,And the crooked shall be made straight,And the rough ways shall be made smooth;And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

91

THOUGHTS FOR MEDITATIONThe Upside Down Kingdom by Donald KraybillJohn the Baptist shouted these words of Isaiah to announcethe advent of Jesus. The dramatic pictures portray arevolutionary new kingdom. The Baptist describes foursurprises of the coming kingdom: full valleys, flat mountains,straight curves, and level bumps. He expects radical shake-ups to accompany the kingdom. Old ways will alter beyondrecognition. John warns us that the new order, the Upside-Down Kingdom, will revolutionize the prevailing sociallandscape. But in the painful ferment, all flesh will see thesalvation of God.

Mary’s Magnificat, her song of exaltation sung at the homeof Zechariah and Elizabeth, clarifies her hope for the newkingdom. With John the Baptist, she expects the Messiah’sarrival to initiate an upside-down kingdom filled withsurprises for all.

For he who is mighty has done great things for me, andHoly is his name.And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation togeneration.He has shown strength with his armHe has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts,He has put down the mighty from their thrones,And exalted those of low degree;He has filled the hungry with good things,And the rich he has sent empty away. -Luke 1:49-53

92

Five types of people are startled and surprised. In Mary’svision, those at the top of the social pyramid-the proud, therich, and the mighty-topple. They are stripped of theirprestigious seats, dethroned, scattered, and sent away empty.Meanwhile the poor and hungry, those at the bottom of thesocial hill, take a surprising ride to the top. Mary singswords of hope and judgment. Hope for those of low estate,as she describes herself (Luke 1:48); judgment for those atthe top who trample the helpless.

CLOSING PRAYERLet your kingdom come, Lord,In the hearts and lives of women and men everywhere:That all injustice may be set right,The homeless find a welcome,The unemployed work with dignity,The poor receive a greater share of your world’s resources,And the rejected given a place within the community ofyour people.Let your kingdom come, Lord,For the injured and for those who suffer because of war,For all who live with hunger,For your divided family who search for a lasting peace.Let your kingdom come, Lord,For all your children everywhere.

******

93

On the Road to Emmaus(Luke 24:13-35)

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a villagecalled Emmaus, about seven miles1› from Jerusalem. 14 Theywere talking with each other about everything that hadhappened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things witheach other, Jesus himself came up and walked along withthem; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 Heasked them, “What are you discussing together as you walkalong?” 18 They stood still, their faces downcast. One ofthem, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor toJerusalem and do not know the things that have happenedthere in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked. 20 “AboutJesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerfulin word and deed before God and all the people. The chiefpriests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced todeath, and they crucified him; 21but we had hoped that hewas the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what ismore, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 Inaddition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the

94

tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body.They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels,who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companionswent to the tomb and found it just as the women had said,but him they did not see.” 25 He said to them, “How foolishyou are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophetshave spoken! 26 Did not the Christ2› have to suffer thesethings and then enter his glory?” 27And beginning withMoses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what wassaid in all the Scriptures concerning himself.28 As they approached the village to which they were going,Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29 But they urgedhim strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the dayis almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gavethanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then theireyes were opened and they recognized him, and hedisappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other,“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talkedwith us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. Therethey found the Eleven and those with them, assembledtogether 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen andhas appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what hadhappened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by themwhen he broke the bread.