Justin Appel
Dear Friends,
Today, I’ve been thinking a lot about the relationship between Holy Week and the Holy Land itself. Only a year ago, I was blessed with an opportunity to travel to Israel on a pilgrimage with parishioners and clergy from Saint Philip’s In the Hills, among others. The trip taught me many things, but primarily I discovered that visiting holy pilgrimage sites in company of Christians from all over the world leaves an indelible impression on one’s consciousness.
There is a palpable sense of reification that one experiences, of course, as one realizes that Jesus came to a particular place, that he lived and died here. But I found especially poignant meaning in the nexus of shared experience, devotion, faith, and a sense of God’s love in these physical places. Furthermore, some of the most meaningful moments I experienced were shared shoulder-to-shoulder with complete strangers, who yet sensed similar feelings of urgency and imminence.
Communicating this sort of experience is difficult, so I’m grateful to the Notre Dame Alumni Association for producing a series of Holy Week/Holy Land meditations, which I would like to share with you. The simple, direct, and devout manner of the reflection in these videos can inspire all of us, regardless of whether we have been on pilgrimage or not. I hope these videos will be a blessing to you through this week.
Yours in Christ,
Justin