I Just
finished Sharon Kay Penman’s latest historical novel – “The Land Beyond the Sea.”
It is the story of Outremer – the Holy Land in the 12th century –
King Baldwin, the Leper King, Saladin, the Horns of Hattin, and the surrender
of Jerusalem. Jerusalem - so important to the three monotheistic religions:
Jews – pray at Western
Wall – last remnant of the Temple
Muslims – Dome of the Rock
& the Night Flight of Mohammed
Christians – Church of
Holy Sepulcher – death and resurrection of Christ.
There are other holy
places as well:
Mount Zion is just outside
the old city of Jerusalem – contains today the Catholic Cemetery where Oskar
Shindler is buried – Dormition Abbey which is the site of the Assumption of
Mary, the Tomb of David and right nearby – Cenacle – Latin “Cena” the Upper
Room.
So much happened in the
Cenacle
-
Where they
prepared the Last Supper
-
Jesus Washed the feet
of his disciples
-
Where he appeared
to them after the Resurrection
-
Where they
gathered after the Ascension
-
Where they chose
the replacement for Judas – Matthias
-
Pentecost.
If we were to go to the
Cenacle today – discover you cannot have Mass there – sound familiar? Only 2x a year – Holy Thursday &
Pentecost. Also, as the disciples found themselves spending so much time in the
upper room, so we are spending much more time together in our Upper Rooms with
our families.
What can the Cenacle teach
us?
1)
Sadly, a place of
betrayal – one turned against Jesus – every sin of ours is a betrayal – and He
knew – Simon, after you recover, you must strengthen your brothers! So, our homes,
how easy it is to hurt one another – we seek forgiveness and mercy today for
that.
2)
Place of Service –
apart from the cross Jesus gave no greater example than the foot wash – he emptied
himself, took the form of a slave – to lift us up, to wash away our sins! Our homes
– cooking, cleaning, teaching, and learning.
3)
Place of
Sacrifice – Jesus offered himself up – this is the meaning of love – willing the
good of the other. Took me a while to understand the sacrifices my parents were
making. How might I sacrifice for them?
4)
Place of Friendship
– I no longer call you servants but friends – relationship!!! Rediscover
(father at home with children, board games)
5)
Place of Promise – I will not leave you orphans
– HOPE – do not be afraid. Family give hope to one another, I support you, I am
with you.
6)
Place of the church
– first church – family of God. Homes are little church – unusual opportunity
to pray and worship together.
The time would come that the
disciples would leave behind the cenacle – go out into the world – and the time
will come that we will leave our cenacles and gather for worship. But I have to
imagine that the disciples always carried the lessons of the upper room with
them – and perhaps so can we!
