10 days in the Holy Land

MANILA, Philippines - “You have to finish your entire Mass including homily in 15 minutes,” barked the Franciscan monk to Fr. Peter Coching, our spiritual director, before we celebrated Mass at the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher.

Of course, we had to oblige as there was a backlog of Masses to be held at that chapel on the day we visited. That was not a rare occurrence but the daily scenario at most churches in the Holy Land. Day in, day out, the whole-year round, the Holy Land is inundated by only one type of tourist — pilgrims.

Admittedly, I was disappointed by the almost absent reverence for the land where Jesus was born, walked and died. I was a sacristan (Mass server) and seminarian in my younger years like Mike Enriquez and practiced much respect when it came to even just entering a church.

Fortunately, it didn’t lessen my faith a bit.

Our pilgrimage started as we entered the Israel border via the Allenby Bridge border in Jordan. We went through a myriad of check points before we were allowed to set foot on the promised land. As we exited the immigration building, handsome men and beautiful green-eyed ladies toting Uzis, Galils or M16’s were a sight to behold. Our group of 16 — Joey and Eileen de Leon, Mike and Baby Enriquez, Greg and Myrna Garcia, Freddie and Bootsie Lozano, Lito and Celina Banayo, Jorel Nuyda and mom, moi and Mady Samonte, Fr. Peter Coching and Adrian Panganiban (tour leader and former child star) — was small compared to the others that packed the buses with 45 to 50 pilgrims. Pilgrim groups consisted of Filipinos, Indonesians, Koreans, Chinese, Africans, Russians, Americans, Eastern Europeans and Italians who were the majority.

A typical pilgrimage would last a week and cover most of the important landmarks in the Holy Land like the site where Jesus was born, where Jesus was baptized, where the Holy Family lived, where Jesus performed his first miracle, where the Last Supper was held, the path where Jesus carried the cross, where Jesus was crucified and where Jesus was laid to rest.

Our pilgrimage was longer and took 10 days as we included the Wailing Wall and other historical sites in neighboring Jordan. The pilgrims’ daily routine consisted of getting up at dawn, breakfast, morning prayer including the rosary, Mass and communion then visiting the holy sites, which are mostly churches, the whole day only punctuated by lunch at a designated restaurant or venue. I found our first lunch that consisted of salads, hummus (garbanzos turned into a paste like peanut butter), rice cooked in Ghee (clarified butter), spiced roast chicken, meatballs and lamb — interesting and different — but by the third day of the pilgrimage, I was craving for tapsi or palabok. All meals including breakfast were generic and tasted the same. Hummus gave most of us gas problems.

Churches and cathedrals were built over all the holy sites, including Jesus’ birthplace, all the way to where he was buried. The churches are either managed by Franciscan monks or by the Greek Orthodox. What disheartens me is that the over-commercialism of the sites strips the sanctity. Majority of the churches have souvenir shops selling anything from pictures, rosaries, busts, medals, to holy water, etc. Doing the Way of the Cross is another story as one has to navigate through narrow passageways with endless garment, electronic and souvenir shops with occasional pizza shops and restaurants in between while sincerely reciting the prayers at each station. Speakers strategically positioned around the area were blaring Islamic prayers on certain periods of the day. Free use of WCs or toilets is almost non-existent as you have to deposit two shekels (Israeli currency) or half a Euro to get relief from the call of nature. Our pilgrimage included extras like cruising the Sea of Galilee, soaking in the Dead Sea, where sinking is impossible and a tour of historical Petra.

Would I return to the Holy Land given the opportunity? Probably not but I would highly recommend it. A comprehensive account of the pilgrimage will be broadcast on GMA 7 at 7:30 p.m. on Maundy Thursday, April 17 with Joey, Mike and yours truly as hosts.