By Natalie Hoefer
JERUSALEM— In the dark of the morning, at 5 a.m., the pilgrims walked through the quiet, empty streets of the Christian quarter of Jerusalem for Mass at the tomb of the Holy Sepulcher.
(See a photo gallery from the pilgrims' day)
Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin chose to begin Mass in the chapel of the tomb of Christ’s burial with words appropriate to the occasion.
“Normally we say the entrance antiphon, but I just thought the one for Easter was just very appropriate: ‘Early in the morning they came to the sepulcher at sunrise, alleluia,’ ” he explained. “That’s what we did, and we found it empty.”
The sanctuary of the chapel over the tomb consists of a small circular room in which about 25 people can stand, followed by a short archway leading to the even smaller section where Mass is celebrated. In that smaller sanctuary, built directly above what early Christians revered as the tomb of Christ, is a slab of stone. Immediately under that slab is the stone shelf on which the body of Christ was believed to have rested in the tomb.
As the half-hour Mass was celebrated, one by one the pilgrims bent low through the arch and touched the stone.
“The four gospels agree on one detail of the Lord’s resurrection—that no one saw him rise,” the archbishop said in his homily. “In that sense we stand shoulder to shoulder with Mary of Magdala and Peter and John. All they found was an empty tomb, and we come this morning and find this empty tomb, which is God’s answer to human suffering, to human sin, to human mortality—an empty tomb.
“Like Peter, we look and we believe, and we thank God that we share that was illuminated here. All we can do is thank God and live as children of the light.”
The Mass left many pilgrims at a loss for the right words to capture their emotions.
“It’s almost overwhelming to think we were at the place where Jesus was buried,” said Joni Greulich of St. Simon Parish in Indianapolis. “I’ll never look at Easter the same again.”
Sharon Rushing of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Olympia, Wash., appreciated the hushed, reverent tone of the early Mass.
“I’m so glad we were there early, because we had the quiet,” she said. “It just seemed right. It was a short time, but it was the right time, not in the hubbub of everything.”
Larry Dougherty of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish found himself focusing on the fact that the tomb is empty.
“It was a special place, but what I was thinking was, ‘He’s resurrected. He’s not here. He’s gone,’ ” Dougherty said. “But it’s still a holy place.”
Later in the day, the archbishop reflected on his experience celebrating Mass at the site of Christ’s burial and resurrection.
“It’s hard to describe,” he admitted. “The word awesome is overworked these days, but that was really a feeling of being in awe, standing there. Knowing that the mysteries we were celebrating on that altar were the mysteries of the cross and the empty tomb.”
As he reflected upon the pilgrimage, Archbishop Tobin said he was “very conscious of carrying the archdiocese with me. Whenever I prayed, I prayed in a special way for the archdiocese.
“I also kind of sensed from past pilgrimages that we would come together as a community, and that would be one of the great consequences of the pilgrimage, and that has certainly happened,” he said.
Likewise, many pilgrims felt an admiration for the archbishop.
“The whole pilgrimage, we were witnesses to the archbishop, and Father Joe [Newton], too, as our leader and servant, both leading and serving us,” said Sheila Sterrett of St. Lawrence Parish in Indianapolis. “I think it strengthens our kindness toward each other to see that in our leaders. I think that added a lot to the pilgrimage.”
See a photo gallery from Day Eleven of the pilgrimage
