Today is Holy Thursday, the start of the Tridium of Lent. Through the wonderful medium of the Eternal Word Television Network, the Catholic TV founded by Mother Angelica, I was able to attend via satellite the Holy Mass of the Lord's Supper officiated by Pope Benedict XVI at St. Peter's Square in Rome. It was wonderful! For more than two hours, I felt myself at the place again witnessing a most important ceremony which involved the enactment of Jesus' washing the apostles' feet.
The Catholic Church commemorates on Holy Thursday Jesus' Last Supper and the institution of the Holy Eucharist through the sharing of His Body and Blood. Also, He gave the apostles, in fact the whole mankind, a new commandment, "To love one another as I have loved you." Jesus, Lord and Master, washing the apostles' feet was a manifestation of the version of His love.
The celebration of Holy Week has been an important part of my life since childhood. As far as I can remember, I have kept the observance of the Tridium of Lent yearly through the years even to the extent of purposely being off from work during those days. But one unforgettable year stands out, 1997, when I was on a pilgrimage with my "balae," Lily and Bing to Caracas, Venezuela. We even had to fly from Caracas to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico on Good Friday. While we attended Mass, I missed the usual activities, Stations of the Cross, Visita Iglesia (visiting of churches)and Seven Last Words Service. This unprecedented experience caused me so much guilty feelings that took a long time to wear off.
Today's Readings dealt on Jesus' instructions regarding the place where they would eat the Passover meal. In Church history, we call it, "The Upper Room." Every pilgrimage to the Holy Land always include a visit to the Upper Room because of its tremendous significance to Christianity.
I recall that during my first visit to the Holy Land in 1977, my time constraints prevented my friends, Ruth and Israel Beit-Halachmi, from taking me to the Upper Room. They were my seatmates in an Air France flight to Geneva, Switzerland in 1977. It was remarkable that they were professed Jews but were so knowledgeable about Jesus and the places associated with Him. In fact, though they resided in Tel-Aviv, they visited Bethlehem three times during Christmas because the Catholics, Greek and Armenian churches celebrate the feastday at different dates based on their own calendar. They took me to their classy boutique of hand-painted glazed glass souvenirs and other artifacts right in Jerusalem. It was the outlet for the goods they themselves manufactured. Was I surprised! Through correspondence, phone calls and my visits to Israel (five times todate) our friendship has withstood time.
During my second visit to the Holy Land in 1994, Regina Tours had the Upper Room in the itinerary. After following the Bethpage route of Jesus and the visit to the Chapel of Dominus Flevit where Jesus wept, our group went to Mount Zion. The Upper Room was located in a building with several entryways. At one door was a man who handed each pilgrim a cap similar to the ones Jewish men used and asked for a dollar. It seemed a requirement before one entered the place of the supposed tomb of David. Dutifully, we paid our dues. Much to my chagrin, the room was so small and narrow just enough for a supposed coffin covered with silk purple cloth. We passed through the room following the length of the box with barely 12 inches away from touching it. A few brass items laid nearby, I wondered whether it was a room or really a tomb. But why was it being used as a passageway to the Upper Room? I knew that David was one of the revered and best loved among the kings of Israel and could not believe that he would be honored in such a manner by the Jewish nation even if the tomb was real or otherwise. I harbored misgivings about it knowing that some unscrupolous minds do operate in different countries and in various ways. It also bothered me that the supposed room of the Tomb of David was immediately situated right below the stairs leading to the Upper Room.
Being in the room where Jesus Christ had His last meal and where He instituted the Holy Eucharist enveloped me with goose flesh. The unbelievable reality that I was there coupled with the tremendous significance of the happenings in the place caused a douwnnpour of tears of sadness and joy altogether. I looked around slowly wanting to take note of every detail on the walls, columns, ceiling and floor. I noted the niche on one wall which could have been the place for the Koran when ithe room became a mosque for sometime. I ran my fingers on the three columns which fomed like a divider in the room , even tried to put my arms around one. I tried to figure out where the low supper table would have been located and where Jesus must have reclined. Didn't they used to recline while partaking meals? My mental image of the apostles seated at table tried to pinpoint Judas' place. He must have sat somewhere near the Master since Jesus handed him a morsel of bread. I remembered that the Jewish custom of individuals dipping food together in the same dish meant a friendship sealed. But Jesus' act of offering Judas a dipped morsel meant that He was giving the traitor another chance to come back into His fold- to soften Judas' hardened heart. That was the extent of the love of Jesus which was later mannifested again in His washing of the spoatles' feet. Then I remembered that our Blessed Mother, apostles and seventy-two other disciples were in the same room during Penticost when the Holy Spirit came to empower them. Where was Mary sitting? I wondered. I clasped my arms close to my heart and mystically felt the heat through my whole being. Praise the Lord!
Then I saw a door on one side of the room, open at that time of our visit. Immediately, I walked towards it and found that it faced a street. I recalled that after the visit of the Holy Spirit, Peter went out of the room and boldly evangelized to the people in the street. I took several deep breaths since the whole scenery attested to what is clearly described in the Book of Acts. It was really the Upper Room because one has to ascend stairs to reach it but was also a room on a street level on one side. I thanked the Lord for the revelation. It was great to be in the Upper Room !!!
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