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Fr. Armand Nigro, S.J.Mass At The TombROSE COLORED dawn glowed behind the Mount of Olives and a light mist hung on adjoining Mt. Scopus as we walked eastward in silence towards the walls of Old Jerusalem,Before setting out, our group listened to St. Matthew’s account of that morning when companions of Jesus came to the tomb and learned that He had been raised from death.THE OLD CITY was just beginning to stir into life as we entered Jaffa Gate, where King Herod’s citadel once stood. Most of the shops were still shuttered and locked. I he narrow stone paved streets were almost deserted. Arab workmen were beginning tocome from nearby villages and a few vendors squatted in the streets with fresh breadrings and boiled eggs and fruit forearly risers.It is easy to pray on a walk like this when everything around you is so authentic and brings to life the times and events of Our Lord’s life. ItMark’s Gospel account (in 1:35) is typical of |esus, then He, too, was an early riser who loved to be alone in prayer with His Father and to greet the dawn of a new day. (For night owl insomniacs like me, early rises are killing!) Luke assures us that Jesus “would always go off some place where He could be alone and pray (Lk. 5:16)” and that sometimes “He spent the whole night in prayer with God (Luke 15:12).”APPARENTLY EVEN Hisenemies knew His prayer habits and His favorite places for prayer, because they trapped and sei/ed Him in one of them and had Him executed.When we entered the basilica which covers both the rocky outcrop of Calvary (Golgatha) and the Lord’s tomb (directly under thecentral dome), Ethiopian Coptic monks had already begun their morning Liturgy.From behind the crypt of the sepulcher, their atonal chant filled the church.1 VESTED for Mass and our little group of six crowded into the tomb crypt where the stone ledge sits (now topped with a marble slab) on which the body of Jesus rested. There He came to us in Eucharist.This empty tomb has beenthe focal point for Christian pilgrims from all over the world, since that day when the women closest to Jesus were astounded here by an angel who said: “Don’t be afraid. I know; You’ve come looking for Jesus of Na/areth who was crucified. Well, He’s not here. He has risen, just as He said He would: Look at this place; then go quickly and tell theothers.” (Mt. 28:5 7)FROM THIS spot and from that moment apostles of Jesus have been telling others the “good news that Jesus is alive and glorified, and that with all who accept Him as the Messiah (the promised Redeemer King) and the Lord (God’s own Son), He shares His own eternal life received from the Father.By the time we left the basilica, the streets of the Old City were alive with noise and business, with people facing the challenge of a new day. From a nearby mosque a tape recording blared out the call to prayer, reminding us that most of the people in Jerusalem and Israel are not Christians, but either Moslems or Jews. I wish we knew how to tell them convincingly that Jesus isTHEIR LORD and the Lord of the whole universe; that He is really alive and that He can and will, if they let Him, transform their lives into sharing what He is God’s own Son.”“GOOD MORNING,Father,” said one of the Arab shopkeepers as we passed. “Please, come in and look. I give you a good price.”
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Marquette Upper Peninsula Catholic
Marquette, Michigan, US
Fri, May 17, 1974
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GB 29 Apr 2021
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