Elizabeth: A Holy Land Pilgrimage is available in paperback and on kindle and is being reprinted on Catholic News Agency with author’s permission. Cheryl’s non-fiction book is called Our Jewish Roots: A Catholic Woman’s Guide to Fulfillment Today by Connecting with Her Past.
Chapter Nineteen
You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; chant the praises of the Lord, who rides the heights of the ancient heavens, whose voice is thunder, mighty thunder. Psalm 68:33-34
When Beth, Sipporah, and Rachel emerged from The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, they were in complete silence. Rachel had been correct in explaining that the entire experience had a way of transporting you to another place and time.
Beth hadn’t noticed another soul inside as she joined Christ in His final agonizing moments on earth. She couldn’t even say that she had a renewed understanding of His salvific actions or the Father’s agape love to have sent His Son.
It was as if she had never even begun to grasp them before, but only now she could attempt to embrace their meaning. She thought of all the Good Friday services she had attended and knew that they would forever have a new place in her heart.
Beth, known for her inquisitive, and according to her children, often annoying nature was rendered mute by the entire experience. In the same way that one woman cannot truly explain to another the pains of childbirth, one pilgrim could not truly explain to another pilgrim what happens during this encounter. To make such an attempt would completely diminish the event because words could not convey its magnitude.
Sipporah and Rachel honored Beth’s silence and the three walked back towards Rachel’s car. As they drove away Beth started crying. It was soft and yet deep, coming from within the years of pain and sadness that Beth had masterfully hidden. From Christ there was no secrets and in the safety of His death and resurrection Beth, too, was reborn.
The previous chapters are listed below:
