From the Rector

Dear Friends in Christ,

When you read this I will be on a plane returning to the States. I wrote this note in advance and pray no terrible event happens between it being sent for publication and you reading it.

It is a wonderful thing to be a pilgrim in the Holy Land. It is also heartbreaking.

One gets to walk the way of Jesus, taking footsteps where he once preached, taught, healed, fed, and more. It’s simultaneously powerful and restorative…and exhausting.

One is where Jesus was born. It’s a wonderful thing.

One also gets to walk the way of the cross, too. Taking footsteps where Jesus once carried his cross on the path to the place called the Skull. One finds oneself standing at the judgment seat and in the prison of the high priest. One finds oneself in Gethsemane wondering what’s next—even while knowing what’s to come.

One is where he died. It’s a wonderful thing.

That is the timeless power of this place and this faith. Even though we know the story, it never ceases to stir our imagination or still our hearts.

Whatever the joys or terrors or gains or sacrifices we find ourselves in the midst of, Christ meets us. He walks the way with us, too. He is with us in moments of wonder. He is with us as we carry our own crosses.

The final destination, the source and summit of the Christian journey in Jerusalem, is not the Sepulchre, though. It is not the grave we go to see. The final destination is the empty tomb.

Jesus’ destination here, on this earth as a pilgrim himself, was our own grave. He’s crafted a road that leads through our hearts to his heart—out of his heart. Having gone before us, even to our final resting place, Christ has opened it up already. Opening our hearts, he has opened his Kingdom.

Christ has paved a new way, a royal road, down which he bids us to follow.

We’re following in his footsteps not just in bustling marketplaces or down dusty alleys. We’re following the King’s footsteps toward the heavenly Jerusalem. We walk not simply from one town to another but from one hope to another.

This is our earthly pilgrimage.

It’s a wonderful thing, indeed, to be on this earthly pilgrimage with you. I look forward to being home with you soon.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert