We are lucky at St. Clement’s to have a congregation particularly full of a wide variety of people with remarkable life experiences and stories to tell. None more so than Arturo Ochoa, who, born a Catholic in Ecuador, studied there at the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana at Quito, majoring in Teaching Studies with a particular emphasis on Philosophy. He then became a Missionary in Wasakentsa, a remote Amazonian community in Ecuador, and then Moatize in Western Mozambique’s Tete province. In 2007 he started his studies in Theology at the Universidâ Pontificia Salesiana in Jerusalem, Israel, being ordained a Deacon in March 2011 and a Catholic Priest in May 2012. He is now in the process of seeking ordination as an Anglican priest and has kindly agreed to share his experiences of the Holy Land as an inspiration and prologue to our long-held dream of organising a St. Clement’s Pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Below you will find his articles as they become available, and we wish you happy, inspirational reading!
“THE WAY TO JERUSALEM”
This series of articles are designed to serve as a journey along the paths that Jesus himself trod in the Holy Land. My intention is to accompany readers on their spiritual reading and a journey of biblical reflection on the places where Jesus was born, grew up, lived and walked, according to the four Gospels, which are the legacy of the life of our Salvation and the living testimony of our Christian faith.
We will thus be taking a biblical journey through the Holy Land together, supported by the liturgical calendar.
Join us on this journey of faith and reflection. Merry Christmas!
Arturo Ochoa.
Biblical Studies in Jerusalem
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THEME 1.
BETHLEHEM AND THE NEW STAR.
In this Christmas season, the birthplace of Jesus becomes very important to us, engendering within us a special feeling of affection and tenderness.
The Basilica of the Nativity in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem is the focus of attention and pilgrims from all over the world. Here, under the high altar, in a small grotto, there is a 14-pointed star that marks the exact place of the birth of Jesus. In the centre of the star, there is an inscription in Latin which reads: “Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est” which can be translated as: “Here from the Virgin Mary Jesus Christ was born”. The Star has a deep and symbolic meaning that is intertwined with the meaning of the coming of Christ.
As the prophet Isaiah says: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called “Wonderful”, “Counsellor”, “The mighty God”, “The everlasting Father”, “The Prince of Peace”. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah:9, 6-7). In this way the promise of the Old Testament is fulfilled with the testimony of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, from the descendants of David. The 14-pointed star in the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem testifies and confirms that God’s promise has been fulfilled, that God has indeed become man and that Jesus is the awaited Emmanuel.
THEME 2.
THE MILK GROTTO
Continuing on our way to Jerusalem, we arrive in Bethlehem as we continue through the Holy Land, and here we visit one of the places that fills us with emotion and makes our heart beat faster – the Milk Grotto.
Personally, I have always felt a real admiration for the magical and special nature of the divine gift that is a mother breastfeeding her child. A few steps away from the Basilica of the Nativity, there is a beautiful grotto of calcareous origin, where, according to tradition, the holy family took refuge from Herod’s persecution before fleeing to Egypt. “After the wise men returned to their country, an angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up. Escape to Egypt with the child and his mother, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod is going to look for the child to kill him. That night Joseph escaped to Egypt with Mary and the child, and stayed there until Herod died.“ (Matthew 2:13-15)
The Milk Grotto is a Byzantine temple, currently under the care of Catholic Franciscans, visited especially by Christian, Orthodox and Muslim women with fertility problems. In the lower part of the chapel there are three small grottoes, at the end of which there is a painting that welcomes us with the attentive gaze of the little child Jesus suckled by the mother who looks attentively at her little Son, saviour of the world.
The testimonies of the miracles granted are reflected in the writings and commemorative plaques of thousands of families and women from all over the world.
We will now continue our journey to Jerusalem.
