Fr Rene’ … a Mass at the Holy Sepulcher … Bethlehem

Fr Renè Cilia

Four days have gone by since the tragic news of Fr Renè’s death! How difficult it is to face death! The sting of death still hurts, although completely overcome by the Redeemer (1 Cor 15,55). I am also receiving some feedback from friends on how hard they are finding it to accept this truth. No wonder at all! It’s extremely difficult to let go! Imagine how difficult it should be for his mother, brothers and close family and friends (including parishioners)!

How difficult it is to detach ourselves from what we love dearly! I believe that this is what Purgatory is essentially: the great suffering involved in being cut off from what and from whom we love so that we can truly choose and love God above all and everyone. Then, everyone and everything will be given back to us in God. Then we will begin to love others with his love: a love which is entirely a joyful gift of ourselves without seeking to get something back. It is a process which could begin in this world, as the Saints teach us. This is what we call catharsis, purification: “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15,2).

Fr Rene' at his Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving last year

The message I am getting from Malta, and beyond, is that this tragic death has given rise to so much life. God is capable to turn darkness into light, the desert into fertile ground. “He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water” (Psa 107,35). Lord Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mar 9,24). We are called to surrender ourselves into his loving hands. He is capable of writing straight on our crooked lines!

On Tuesday, I celebrated Mass, at the same time that the funeral was being held at Qormi, at the Convent of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Concelebrating with me was Fr Naoki, a Japanese Franciscan Friar, who wanted also to sing as a tribute to Fr Renè. I have also shared some very precious moments with Fr Joseph Ciappara OFM, who is here in Jerusalem for studies and who was ordained as a priest with Fr Renè.

Mass at the Holy Sepulcher

Thursday morning I celebrated Mass at the Holy Sepulcher. I had it booked some three weeks ago. I never thought that this Mass would be so providential and timely. I was celebrating together with two other priests (Fr Joseph from Hong Kong and Fr Luis from Spain, working in S Korea). Sr Mary, the Superior of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, working here at San Salvatore was also present. We were all in the Holy Sepulcher by ourselves for 30 minutes. This is the place wherein Jesus overcame death and despair and sin and has given us a participation in eternal life, in his own life as God.

I offered Mass for my mother, for Fr Renè, for Annabelle and for some other family members and friends. I prayed that Jesus may strengthen my faith, my hope and my love. I prayed that he may grant Renè’s family and all of us that consolation which buds out of the resurrection. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction” (2 Cor 1,3-4).

The Inner Entrance to the Holy Sepulcher
where I celebrated Mass on Thursday

These days Sr Michaela Paris passed on to me a message she received from another religious sister. This message fits in so well with the celebration of the new life that we celebrated within the Holy Sepulcher. Here is the message: “Renè who is with Jesus will intercede for you, as he has already done so for me. I cannot explain the consolation, it is truly beyond human capacity. Let me be Mary of Magdalene for you who runs to you full of joy to share the Good News that he is ALIVE, SO alive. He lives in Jesus, and thus he is as close to you as Jesus is to you!” These words are so true, and thus, soothing.

Bethlehem

These past days I had the occasion to visit Bethlehem. I went there together with Fr Pacifico Sella OFM, who is a visiting lecturer in Medieval History here at the Franciscan Theological Institute. We visited the Basilica of the Nativity of the Lord, the Church of St Catherine, which is annexed to the Basilica and the Church of the Shepherds, located where the shepherds heard the good news of the birth of the Messiah, the Promised One. We visited also a small Church, a few meters away from the Basilica of the Nativity, called the Milk Grotto Chapel.

Baby Jesus carried on the night of Christmas

The Star of Bethlehem indicating where Jesus was born

It is a place where we are called to contemplate the truth of the Incarnation of the Word of God: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (Joh 1,14). “She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger” (Luke 2,7). This omnipotent God (“Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales; see, he takes up the isles like fine dust” [Isa 40,15]), chose out of his infinite love for humanity (“for us men and for our salvation” – we say in the Creed) to become so little, so dependent upon one of his creatures. Yes, he needed to be fed; he needed to have his clothes changed; he needed to be cleaned.

The Door of Humility -- the Entrance to the Bethlehem Basilica

Our Lady feeding the Baby Jesus
The Milk Grotto in Bethlehem

Once again, we are called to reflect on how God chooses many times to manifest himself to us in weakness and simplicity. Pope Benedict XVI, in his homily during the Midnight Mass at Christmas 2011, reflecting on Isa 9,5-6, said: “We are presented with a vision that extends far beyond the historical moment into the mysterious, into the future. A child, in all its weakness, is Mighty God. A child, in all its neediness and dependence, is Eternal Father. And his peace ‘has no end’.”

The Church in the Shepherds' Field

Jewish Quarter

On Monday afternoon I visited, as part of the course by Prof. Alliata, the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. This part of the city was completely restored after the six-day war of 1967. During this restoration they did also a lot of archaeological excavations which brought to light a number of interesting things, like, for example, two walls of which Josephus Flavius speak. These walls ran from the Citadel (Herod’s Tower), also known as the ‘Tower of David’, to the Antonia Fortress. All that was behind these walls, towards the South, towards the City of David, was within the city. All that was on the other side, towards the North, was outside of the City. The Golgotha and the Holy Sepulcher were in fact outside these walls. Originally, there was only this wall to defend the city from the North, as on the other sides there were valleys, thus needing no walls for defense.

Another interesting feature which came out as a result of the excavations made was the big Church built by the Emperor Justinian in honour of Mary, known as Santa Maria Nova. To make space for this Church the Emperor had to level some ground towards Mt Zion. The Church was some 100 meters long. Excavations have unearthed (although then they were covered again to make space for a parking lot!!) the façade and the apse of the Basilica.

Finally, in the Wohl Museum we saw also a number of important excavations which brought to light some houses which were close to the Temple Mount. There are a number of very interesting features, like mosaics, kitchen utensils, a number of baths both for hygienic purposes and for ritual purification purposes. These elements have induced archaeologists to think that those dwelling in these houses might have been priests serving at the Temple. One of the houses is very big and elaborate. Some are thinking that it might have belonged to the family of Caiaphas, the High Priest.

The Temple Mount

On Wednesday morning, I went to visit the Temple Mount, as the Jews call it, or the Noble Sanctuary, as the Muslims refer to it. This is the place, Mt Moriah, where the Jews believe that the foundation of the world lies. The Talmud states that it was here that God gathered the earth that was used to form Adam. Here Adam, Cain, Abel and Noah all performed ritual sacrifices. Here also Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac (Gen 22,1-19). Solomon built his first temple here and placed the Ark of the Covenant. After the destruction of this by the Babylonians and the return from exile, it is also here that the Second Temple was built in 515 BC. King Herod the Great upgraded the site by building a wall around the mount and filling it with rubble as to create an enormous plaza that we can see today.

Entrance to the Temple Mount is prohibited to Jews

After the destruction of the Temple in the year 70 AD, the Romans built a temple to Zeus, which was later to be converted into a Christian Church.

The Dome of the Rock

The Muslims consider this space as the third holiest place after Mecca and Medina. The Prophet Mohammed once announced that in a single night he had travelled to “the farthest mosque” and there led others in prayer. It was interpreted that this place was Jerusalem. In fact, “Al Aqsa”, the name of the Mosque on the Mount, means “farthest mosque”. Muslims believe also that it is from here that Mohammed ascended to heaven. This is the rock which is to be found under the Golden Dome. Unfortunately, only Muslims could enter both in the Al Aqsa Mosque and in the Dome of the Rock. However, the space is truly worth a visit. How many pilgrims, Jewish, Christian and Muslims have prayed here! How many people have pleaded to God in this place through at least three millennia of years!

Some men studying the Koran on the Temple Mount

The Gethsemane Trees

Finally, today we had the official opening of the Academic Year with an Academic Talk on the need for an integration of historico-critical method and theological exegesis by Prof. José Manuel Sánchez Caro. The results of three years of scientific studies of the eight olive trees in the Gethsemane were also presented to us. The results show that these trees are healthy and they are coming from one origin; they are “brothers”. They were dated to the Twelfth Century AD. Some dates were given: tree one: 1198; tree 4: 1092; tree 7: 1166. The experts say that this makes these trees some of the most ancient olive trees in the world! Whoever planted these trees wanted to make the memory of the Gethsemane Garden and all it witnessed on the night when Jesus was in agony and was betrayed. The need for the collaboration between faith and science was emphasized.

The Conference on the Gethsemane Trees