“For this one night, Jesus is in the tomb.” These words, spoken to me by a priest on Holy Thursday, haunted my soul as the doors of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem were locked and I found myself spending the night in the tomb of Christ, which functions as the altar of repose for the basilica. Twelve hours later, exhausted but exhilarated, I left the tomb struggling to process my incredible experience of the reality of Christ and of the Holy Land, the very land where He walked and taught, where He lived and died. This was the center of it all, the center of all time and space. That tomb, forever a monument to the Resurrection, had shown me Christ as I had never seen Him before. I rejoiced and thanked God for the grace to be there in that moment, and I resolved to let it change my life.
It is by any measure of blessings one of the greatest to have the opportunity to visit the Holy Land. I am a seminarian studying for the Archdiocese of Atlanta at the Pontifical North American College in Rome; I have a view of St. Peter’s from my home. (Really, my cup is overflowing with blessings.) Our first summer at the NAC is spent outside of the United States; I spent mine on a 10-week pilgrimage, working at the Pontifical Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem. The Holy Land changed my entire perspective on faith: There, the theory becomes real; belief is given a face and a context; you engage the Scriptures as never before.
It has a certain exotic quality for Americans: The flight is long and uncomfortable, the Jewish and Muslim cultures are completely foreign, and there is always the specter of terrorism and safety overhanging any thought of travel. A trip in the Holy Land is frankly disorienting. In Jerusalem, within 30 minutes you can walk from Calvary to the Upper Room to the Temple to Gethsemane, your head spinning all the while. Bethlehem is 20 minutes away; Galilee is two hours away. Mount Moriah, where salvation history begins with the Sacrifice of Abraham, is the mountain upon which the Temple is constructed — in the center of the city. The City of David and Mount Zion, Gehenna and Emmaus are all right there.
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The magnificent reality of it all is simply overwhelming. We are so blessed to have a faith that is based in history: the Bible is filled with real events that happened at real places. God chose certain times and places to reveal Himself in history, and the fact that He chose the Holy Land means something. Of course, our faith is not dependent on particular places, but our faith does depend on the historical fact of Jesus Christ: His life, death, and resurrection. Jesus is not just a bedtime story; He is a real person. The Incarnation is necessarily specific: Jesus walked in real places doing real things with real disciples.
Our Holy Father is beginning a pilgrimage to the Holy Land today. It is significant that he is starting his trip in Jordan at Mount Nebo, where God showed Moses the Promised Land. Moses was not able to enter; God merely showed it to him, proving that his gifts are more than spiritual ideas; instead, they are concrete realities we can see, taste, and touch. The blessings God gave to the children of Abraham so many millennia ago remain blessings for us today. The Holy Land is calling the Christian children of Abraham to her heart, and our Holy Father is answering the call.
You cannot imagine the experience: seeing the Mount of Olives; touching trees that are 3,000 years old in the Garden of Gethsemane; standing where Jesus was transfigured; seeing how insultingly small a mustard seed really is; reading Psalm 23 in the Kidron Valley, or Psalm 88 in the pit of Christ (where He was held before being brought to Pilate); touching the very rock of Calvary baptized in Christ’s blood; kissing the column where Jesus was scourged; kneeling at the manger in Bethlehem; walking the shore where Peter affirmed his love for Jesus three times; praying where Gabriel appeared to Mary; celebrating the Mass of the Resurrection in the empty tomb. The Holy Land becomes a part of you, just as you become a part of its history, and it is absolutely addictive: I have been back three times already.
There is no place like the Holy Land. Don’t let fear keep you from experiencing its magnificence. Follow in the footsteps of Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, and now Pope Benedict XVI. Pray for the Holy Land. Pray for the pope’s visit. Visit if you possibly can — it is worth the sacrifice. You will never be the same.