Maundy Thursday

Gethsemane basilica last year

It is surely one of the strangest Holy Triduum in living memory. All church doors closed ... not just any church but here in the Holy Land ... the churches on the actual places where the Passion took place.  This is extraordinary. We're under a curfew ... not just a lockdown.

The Last Supper Room is closed and the friars there celebrated the poignant event alone ... but on behalf of the whole Church. Gethsemane's basilica is closed ... the friars are making eucharistic adoration alone on behalf of the whole Church.

Last Supper Room

It's unprecedented. Even during the war, during the Intifada when muslim extremists threatened to bomb our churches, we went ahead with our celebrations. Now with a virus ... everything changed. In a way it's good. It makes us appreciate what we've taken for granted ... all the liturgies and celebrations.

The curfew has also restricted the jews form celebrating their Passover as a family event. It's even more unprecedented when the chief rabbis supported the social-distancing law and overrode tradition by allowing many other provisions deemed unacceptable in normal times ... like using telephones and computers to unite with family during the ritual. Soon at the end of the month, muslims will be celebrating Ramadan and already talk is that they too will not be allowed to visit and crowd around when the fast is broken every evening. Unusual times ... but I'm sure there're positive aspects.

Retreat today

It was nice to receive phone calls from former workers. People who worked on certain projects and then left. But in this crisis, they remembered and called to ask if everything is alright. I appreciated that. I myself have been calling lots of others to make sure they're ok. It's good to see the christian community caring for each other.

I spent the most part of the morning and afternoon on retreat. Read some homilies by Augustine and Cyril of Alexandria and John Chrysostom. Also Macarius the Egyptian. The weather was fine so I sat on our terrace enjoying the sun, facing the Mt. of Olives. The sermons were very inspiring ... but what occupied my mind was how sad most families in the City are ... living in tight quarters, not being able to see the sun or stretch their legs during this lockdown. Up on the Mt of Olives, families have huge gardens and fields. They are the lucky ones.