Welcome to "The Deacon's Door"
Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 17, 2020)
The Jewish Cemetery on the Mount of Olives,
is the most ancient and most important Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem.
Burial on the Mount of Olives started some 3,000 years ago in
the days of the First
Temple, and continues to this day. The
cemetery contains anywhere between 70,000 and 150,000 tombs from various
periods, including the tombs of famous figures in Jewish history.
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If you have seen
the movie, “Schindler’s List”, you most certainly remember the final scene
where survivors of the holocaust and their families file by the grave of Oskar
Schindler, the man responsible for saving so many Jewish lives during this
terrible time. As if part of a ceremony,
the family members place stones on the grave.
For most of us this may seem to be a strange custom, after all, we have
practiced burying the dead with flowers on the grave. In the Jewish tradition, we would leave
stones, rather than flowers. Stones,
large and small are piled without pattern on the grave of the loved one. There was even a feeling that bringing
flowers was a pagan custom not to be followed.
So why do the
Jewish wish to pile stones rather than flowers on the graves, even today? Stones have a very special character in
Judaism. In the Bible we find that an
altar would be made of little more than a pile of stones and yet it is used for
ones offering to God. Beyond that, the explanation spans from superstitious to
a common belief in the hearts and souls of the Jewish people.
The Superstitious
thinking is that the stones keep the soul down to continue to dwell for a while
in the grave. To some it is a way for
the living to say to the one who is passed, to “Stay put!”. An interesting superstition. To others, there is a very simple reason
that they use stones. As I was told by a
Jewish person on my recent visit to the hills of the Mount of Olives, where
thousands of these grave have existed for thousands of years, “Flowers
will wilt and eventually fade away, but the stone will last forever as a sign
of the loved one who came to visit and offer prayer for those who have
passed.”
The Jewish families have brought their dead to the Mount of
Olives for centuries. The graveyard is
the holiest place for these faithful to be laid to rest. From this sacred place it is only a few
hundred yards to the Holy Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Everyone is buried with their feet facing the
Temple Mount so they can come straight up at the time of the final resurrection
of the dead.
An interesting custom that, while having been a practice for
many generations, will come to a stop soon, as the area is lacking in space now
for new graves. These burial spots are so
sought after that the current cost could run as high as $22,500.00 for a
current plot, if one can be had at all.
While the Gospel today does not speak directly to the raising of
the dead and the glory of eternal life with Our Father in Heaven, it does speak
directly to how we might get the opportunity at the end of days to be included
in those who have lived a love of God by following His Commandments. “If you love me, you will keep my
commandments… And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love
him and reveal myself to him.”
(John 14: 15-21)
This Sunday is a good time for us all to reflect on our life and
on just how much we love God. It is easy
to say, “I love you”, but it is very
difficult to live that love in all we do and all we practice every day of our
lives. Even Saint Peter struggled along
the way and yet, his love won out and God rewarded him for that loyalty and
love.
The life of discipleship that Jesus is calling us to is one that
will stretch and challenge us. Let us
all pray that we will have the gifts from the Holy Spirit to make us strong
enough to meet that challenge in our daily lives and follow His Commandments.
During
this month of May, let us continue to call on Our Mother Mary, asking for her intercessions
to keep us from harm and end this pandemic that challenges us in our daily
lives.
“Pax et bonum” (Peace and Goodness)
Deacon Jim Patera
319-509-1210
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