Since this is Holy Week, today we’re visiting Jerusalem where Jesus Christ walked the path to His crucifixion 2,000+ years ago.  One blessing-ish perk of living for 5 years not-too-far from the Old City was following the Via Dolorosa on Good Friday.  (i usually went with the Anglicans who did the just-after-sunrise morning walk Before The Crowds!)

I always enjoyed walking around the Old City – several of my colleagues & friends lived there, mainly in the Coptic & Armenian Convents. (No, there were not nuns, but under the Ottomans the city was divided into ‘sections’ or neighborhoods, in some cases owned by Very Old Churches whose families have lived there for eons!)

At the Fifth Station Jesus gets help from Simon the Cyrenean

The Via Dolorosa ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre over the site where tradition places the tomb of Jesus.  (interesting to note that everyone always kisses the stone, but the Latin inscription reads: “He is not here. He is Risen.” – Abuna Chacour pointed that out once & i never forgot!)

As you walk around the streets of the Old City you will see that it is a very special place in the Jewish & Muslim faiths as well.

This week as we remember the Via Dolorosa (‘way of grief’) of Jesus Christ, please pray for the peace of Jerusalem – that the peoples of different faiths living there may find unity without bloodshed & dignity without demolishing hearts dreaming of a future of peaceful coexistence for their children (who are all God’s Beloved children!)

grace, peace & Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Virginia : )

“…as Jesus approached Jerusalem & saw the city, He wept over it…”  (Luke 19:41)