Page 28 - Discover Israel Magazine - Philippines Edition 2019

On my many trips to Israel, as I approach Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Left below:
Stations 1 and 2, where Jesus is condemned Women immersed in prayer at the Church
to death and then received His cross, I have of the Holy Sepulchre.
and can still hear the whispering echoes of the Photos: www.goisrael.com.
jeering crowds as they stood on the roadside, Photographer: Dafna Tal.
this very same place, where long ago Jesus
walked His final journey.

Continuing through the narrow streets,
I am reminded of the scriptures and of
Jesus’ struggle to carry the weight of the
cross, stumbling three times as the swelling
crowd presses in on Him. Surrounding Him.
Suffocating Him. I imagine inhaling the dust
arising from the hot, unevenly-paved streets,
as the growing crowd continued to ridicule
Him, following Him. I can hear the noise, I
experience the chaos, I can envision in full
clarity what this scene must have been like.
I can feel the thick, heavy moisture laying
stagnant in the air. It’s here, at the Sixth
Station, where He met Veronica and she
wipes His face with her veil and I’m suddenly
caught in time, frozen, remembering that
I, too, played the part of Veronica so many
years ago in high school. In that same place,
today, there is a small chapel serving as a
safe haven of tranquility. What a contradiction
to today’s busy streets of Jerusalem where
pilgrims can visit. Here, on this very spot,
is a small stone inscription that reads, “On
January 4th, 1964, His Holiness Pope Paul VI
on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, prayed in this
place, where tradition commemorates the
meeting of Veronica with Christ.”

Walking with trepidation, as I imagine Jesus
did, approaching this place, where now the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre stands, He was
stripped of His garments, nailed to the cross,
died an agonizing death, and was buried.
The art and majesty of the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre are a reminder of these events,
and capture the imagination of visitors from
around the world, as together, in this place,

we share the commonality of our faith, nurtured and matured in my understanding
professing the oneness of God. of the Bible as I’ve journeyed into adulthood.
These are the stories, these are the events,
Every Friday, a procession of Franciscan these are the moments that have created
monks leads the procession of hundreds and shaped my life. Israel illuminated for me
of pilgrims along the route of the Via everything that I have known in my faith and
Dolorosa. Catholics and Christians from makes everything richer as I read and re-read
around the world come to follow the Way my Bible and outwardly and comfortably
of the Cross, experiencing and sharing in practice my faith in church on Sunday. It is
their faith. now that I fully understand those beautiful
works of art that hang on the walls of the
Being in Israel brings clarity to my faith. It church of my youth.
allows me to see in full color the stories
that were born in my childhood, that were Jill Daly is the Public Relations Director of the Israel
Government Tourist Office, Midwest Region

D I S C O V E R I S R A E L 28