We are staying in St George’s College in the grounds of the Cathedral. The Archbishop of Jerusalem is Hosam Naoum but we’ve not met him yet for reasons the will become clear below.
Today we went to the top of the Mount of Olives which is just above Jerusalem and mentioned many times in the Bible. Jesus and the disciples often stayed there when visiting Jerusalem. His good friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived in nearby Bethany (sadly no longer directly accessible because it’s the other side of the wall of separation.)
The view of Jerusalem was spectacular from there and we lingered for a while spotting different things familiar from the Bible and from other moments in history.
After much photo taking we walked slowly down into Jerusalem. Stopping at the place where traditionally we remember that Jesus wept over Jerusalem and then onto the garden of Gethsemane.
It was extraordinary to ponder that many times Jesus and his disciples would have walked down the same hill as they approached Jerusalem. Including on Palm Sunday when the King of King rode down the hill on a humble donkey to sacrifice everything for us as he completed the work he was called to do.
All the more poignant today, the Coronation of our new British King processing through London with great fanfare and pageantry.
We headed back to college through the narrow busy streets full of interesting food and drink and spices (along everyday things like vacuum cleaner shops!)
We gathered at the college to watch the Coronation together and were delighted to see Archbishop Hosam Naoum in London delivering the oil of gladness used to anoint the King and Queen. It was pressed from olive tress on the Mount of Olives and then consecrated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
We watched as King Charles divested himself of his ornate robes to kneel before God in a simple white garment to be anointed as a child of God into the extraordinary complex responsibility and service of a modern monarch.
Then onto our own special service for the Coronation in the Cathedral followed by a drinks reception in the garden.
An extraordinary day which reminded us that each of us are called as a humble child of God first and within our specific calling of ministry mission as curates in our different contexts.
