The Old City

Blessings come without warning!

I was still in the Philippines when the thought of visiting Holy Land came to my mind. As to why I have that deep desire, I do not know. I know it's far and a bit impossible. However, it is awesome to know that the Spirit works and flows unimmaginably. Last May, the seemingly impossible happened. Through Fr. Pol's request, I got the chance to work even for a short time at the Holy Land.

Indeed, the role of the Spirit in our lives is critical in every desire of our hearts. I call it harmony when the desire of the Spirit becomes the desire of our hearts and disharomony when they are not. The problem is how to distiguish the desire of the Spirit, from our own desire. As always, the fruit of the Spirit is the growth in our faith, for one of it's role is to help and guide us grow in our faith in Christ.

In my experience, I seldom utter request from the Lord when I pray. I always pray that I may be able to follow and live the desire of the Spirit everyday and may the desire of those poeple who asked me to pray for them be the desire of the Spirit. I have been doing this religiously after I was frustrated many times. Before, I prayed hard for my desire. I did a lot of sacrifices. However, even if it happens, it is not something that was fulfilling and faith-growing. I usually see my hands more trying to make it happen than the hands of the Lord. In the end the Lord will always show me some signs that makes me humble in front of Him.

My short stay in the Holy Land reaffirmed my expereince. I was at first amazed that in the Old city of Jerusalem one can find the three faith being practice. One can see places of worship of Christianity, Islam and Judaism in that Old City. That was a shock for a Christian like me to see, though i heard and read of it, that the place where our Lord was born is being inhabitated more by Muslims and Jews. Christians are the minority in place of Jesus Christ. Did Christ fail in his own land? I think Christ did not fail, but some of his followers did. Some of the so-called Christians before, and even until today, used the name of Christ not to baptize but to subdue and to conquer. Since the time and even before the birth of Christ, killing other people was the rule of the thumb.

Our Gospel today, on this Solemnity of the Most HolyTrinity, tells us that Jesus commanded us "to make disciples of all nations". The blunder that happened in the history of Christianiy which was considered the Golden days was when Christianity became a state religion. The power to conquer was more particular than the power to serve. Some christians became armies of the state. It is ironic to see christians killing other christians in the name of "just war" and believing God is on their side. Conquering lands and territories as in the time Constantinople, Charlemagne, Napoleon, Hitler, Mussolini etc. were common. Killing heretics, unbelievers, other races and the like. These had never been the desire of the Lord during his time. We see the Lord talking and criticising the teachings of his enemies but not killing them. He even asked Peter, not to use the sword for he who lives by the sword dies by the sword. That wisdom happened to Christianity during the dark ages, when Christians were massacred by the Islamic armies and defeated Constantinople. Hence, we have today in Jerusalem the remains of the war, which will remind us not of the power of Christianity before but the message of God to us. The power of the Lord has never been a sword but love. Love made God create the World. Love let God send his Son to us. Love let Jesus announce the Kingdom to come. Love made Jesus gave up His life. Love was the reason the Spirit was sent to us.

In critical areas where Christians are at risk, may the commandment of the Lord to make disciples be always through discipleship. Giving importance to proclaming the Kingdom of God which is a far more different and greater than the kingdoms of men.

The old city of Jerusalem is a testimony not only of Jesus' life but also of those who wanted to follow him. We glorify those who were martyred for their faith in Chris. They believe dying like Christ is better than killing like the Romans did to Christ. St. Paul in his letter to the Romans says "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are Sons of God. For you did not received a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him."

The situation in Jerusalem, may be full of tension, but for me it is a holy place and a witness to how three different faith can live together in harmony. If indeed we are worshipping the same God in different ways, there is no reason for killing. Political claims are never and should not be the reason to kill one another. It is a thrash and a cheap reason to take. The truth is we are all sons and daughters of God. Our being a citizen to a certain nation, is not greater than our being citizens of the Kingdom of God. We can make our nation great not by extending our boarders or dominating other nations but by making each one live out the fullness of their lives. Evil can never be destroyed by evil. Only love has the power to tame hatred in the hearts of men and women.

Indeed, for me, coming to Israel was a blessing. It made me realize that it is not more on how we look at other religions that matter, but how we understand ourselves as followers of Christ.

May the Holy Trinity help us to look at ourselves more as sons and daughters of God, and hopefully be able to understand and follow the commandments of Lord that is to "make disciples of all nations."