By Dheeraj Mascarenhas
Applecross Parish youth leader Dheeraj Mascarenhas is a 2019 BJ Hickey Scholarship recipient. Sharing his experience with The Record, Dheeraj reflects on his opportunity to undertake a Passover and Easter programme at The Centre for Biblical Formation – Notre Dame De Sion, Jerusalem.
“It all started when a good friend of mine from the University of Notre Dame told me about this scholarship. I was amazed by her experience and therefore decided to apply for it myself.
The scholarship was used to study the Gospel of John at the Centre for Biblical Formation – Notre Dame de Sion at Ecce Homo in the heart of the Jerusalem. Students in the class were from a host of countries, including: Australia, Canada, India, Ethiopia, USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, Spain, and Poland.
Aside from the Gospel of John, there were talks on Jewish and Palestinian culture, history of the region, and local traditions.
Bible study was in the morning, followed by visits to Biblical sights in the afternoon – which was the best aspect of the class. Some of the sights visited included the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, The Western Wall, Dome of the Rock, The Temple Mount, Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, Kidron Valley, Room of the Last Supper, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Galilee, River Jordan and the Dead Sea to name a few.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has a lot of significance and is one of the holiest sites for Christians.
Every night, the Church is locked, but about 20 pilgrims are allowed to spend the night locked in the Church. I was one of the lucky ones on Easter Sunday 2019. It was calm and peaceful. At the stroke of midnight, various Christian groups which look after different parts within the Church begin prayers which run till about 4am in the morning when the Church is again re-opened to the public.
Galilee was my favourite part of the Holy Land. Snow-capped mountains can be seen in the distance which feed the River Jordan which in turn flows into the Sea of Galilee and subsequently the dead sea whose shores form the lowest point of land on the earth’s surface at roughly 400m below sea level. The spectacular Boat Chapel in Magdala is not to be missed. We had been on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and spent some time in prayer and silence.
I made a few friends at Ecce Homo as almost everyone is a volunteer. One of my friends was from Ramallah in the West Bank, Palestine. He decided to take a few of us and show us his hometown.
Palestine was a totally different experience. The people of Palestine were very warm and welcoming.
A stark contrast could be seen between Jewish and Palestinian areas.
Our Holy Week coincided with the Jewish Passover or Pesach. I was invited to a Jewish family’s house to celebrate the Jewish Pesach with a traditional meal known as the “Seder”, which involved the removal of leavened products from the house, having matzo for bread, bitter herbs, wine, lamb and telling stories of the Israelites departure from Egypt about 3000 years ago and into the promise land. We were given an English copy of the Haggadah to give us an idea about the sequence of the Seder.
Overall, the Holy Land has been exceptional. I would sincerely like to thank Emeritus Archbishop Barry Hickey and Dr Marco Ceccarelli (Director of Centre for Faith Enrichment) for giving me this incredible opportunity. I would strongly encourage everyone to visit the Holy Land and experience all it has to offer.”