No matter where you go, Ash Wednesday is still Ash Wednesday.
However, I think we had a really nice one here in Jerusalem.
One highlight of being here for this year's beginning of Lent
is that we are able to keep the purposes of fasting, prayer and
almsgiving in mind very easily. We had Mass in our local chapel, but we
are able to visit and pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as well as other
holy sites concerning Jesus' passion, death and resurrection whenever we have
free time. That means we can think about these moments in Jesus' life as
we say "no" to what we might want and ask for our life
from the Lord.
You can be assured that we celebrated 'Mardi Gras' in style the
day before. We had an extra joyful Mass because we had the African Choir sing.
Back at the seminary, the African Choir is a favorite for happy rhythms and
songs at Mass. Even the day after, I've noticed a lot of guys singing or
humming the joyful songs because they stay in your mind long after you've
sang them. Between the Mass and having a social in the evening, we were
all prepared to go into the Lenten season.
In the afternoon, we had an informative session with a local
leader in Jewish-Christian relations. It was helpful to us to hear and
understand something of the Jewish lifestyle since it very much
present and visible around us in Jerusalem. A group of us also attended a local
symphony concert later in the evening. This was planned by one of the
seminarians, and about 20 people went. We walked there and listened to
some beautiful music. It is amazing to have both the holy sites for prayer and
this cultural experience within walking distance of where we are staying. Most
pilgrims get less than two weeks to stay in the whole Holy Land, but I think it
still will be hard to leave Jerusalem even after having that
whole amount of time here!
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