On Sunday morning, we travelled to Abu Gosh, one of the possible sites of Emmaus, where we went to a wonderful Benedictine Monastery for a beautiful mass in French. The singing was amazing with about 10 nuns and 7 priests and brothers leading. It was wonderful to witness this community of faith in prayer and worship.
On Sunday afternoon, I wandered down to the Mount of Olives for some quiet time. I went firstly to the tomb of Mary, which we did not see on our first visit as there was an Armenian mass happening. There was no one there this time, so I visited the tomb which is like the one in the holy Sepulchre, but you could stay in as long as you liked.
I then went around the corner to the grotto of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed before being betrayed by Judas. I stayed in the silence there for about 20 minutes, most of the time on my own- it was very quiet and very prayerful.
On Monday morning we had a final prayer and sending liturgy. We each said a word or a phrase about our experience over the last month, then we each had the opportunity to light a candle and say a prayer. Each of the prayers were very sincere and heartfelt. People prayed for peace in this land, for world leaders, for the children of this land etc. It was very moving. Sister Bernadette then said some lovely words about our journey and about where we go from here and what we take with us. We then received our graduation certificates and a lovely silver bookmark with footprints on it.
After morning tea, we had our final mass together in the basilica downstairs. It was a great celebration with beautiful singing and lovely hymns that meant a lot to all of us. The gospel was the end of Matthew's gospel where the disciples are "sent forth" by the risen Christ - very appropriate as we all journey our separate ways. Richard, in his homily, mentioned that, in the Gospel, Jesus tells the women to tell the disciples to go to Galilee, and they would see him there. This meant that the disciples would find Jesus back at their home, and so we must do the same!
After communion, we anointed each other with oil, as a sign of our being sent forth.
We then had a final celebratory lunch together in the garden. After lunch, the farewells began- I felt sad to say goodbye to my beautiful buddy Beth. She gave me a lovely card and a rainbow set of rosary beads that had been blessed by the Pope in Rome before Beth came to Jerusalem - very special.
I spent the afternoon having a rest and packing, before heading to the Holy Sepulchre one last time - this time in the quiet of the evening to sit, reflect and pray.
We head off in the morning for the long trip home. It has truly been a life changing and spiritually uplifting experience for me- one I will never forget!
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