From February 5 to 12, a group of Senior High School students had the wonderful opportunity to do a retreat-pilgrimage in the Holy Land. They were accompanied by Father Roque Reyes, their Theology Teacher and School Chaplain. According to Father Reyes, he organized the trip because “I wanted my students to see where Jesus lived; and walk where He walked in order to know and love Him better. It was only for a little over a week, but it was a life changing experience for all of us. Seeing the place where God who became man lived and walked left an indelible mark in our Christian life and changed forever the way we look at life.”
The group was also joined by some parents, alumnae, faculty and staff. Among them was Chiqui Agoncillo, Woodrose Class of 2012, whose daily reflections we share here.
06 February 2018 (Day 1)
07 February 2018 (Day 2)
08 February 2018 (Day 3)
09 February 2018 (Day 4)
10 February 2018
Being the last day of the retreat pilgrimage proper, today revolved around the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus. We started by doing the Way of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa, which greatly helped facilitate deeper prayer and reflection. It was a most emotional and sincere act of love on the part of us pilgrims, who took turns carrying a wooden cross all the way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest site in all Christendom.
There, we lined up to ascend Golgotha/Calvary to touch the spot – that is, cold stone (the site used to be a quarry) – where Jesus was crucified and died. We also kissed the stone on which a then dead Jesus’ body was laid and anointed for burial, after which we heard Mass in one of the Roman Catholic chapels in the church. It was a solemn celebration, definitely one to be remembered for the rest of our lives.
After Mass, it was finally time to see The Tomb. An hour and a half lining up seemed nothing compared to the excitement of seeing the venue of the very foundation of our faith: Jesus’ Resurrection! Seeing His tomb empty is a definite cause for celebration as Murad repeatedly told us.
Following that, Murad quickly toured us around the rest of the church, where a portion of the exposed rock forming Golgotha bears evidence to the earthquake that split the hill into two when Jesus breathed his last. We also saw the other tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, the rich Jew who donated what was supposed to be his own tomb to Jesus.
The Wailing Wall was up next on our list of places to see. While not a Catholic site, it was a valuable experience for us to learn more about our Jewish brothers’ and sisters’ beliefs and customs, particularly the observance of shabbat, or day of rest. After this, we went up to the Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem, a fittingly feminine tribute to the Virgin Mary and motherhood in general. Father Reyes gave the girls their last meditation here, thus formally ending the retreat.
But, of course, we could not leave the Holy Land without a visitation of our own to Saxum Foundation’s Visitor Center – a 21st-century tool for evangelization that would no doubt make its original dreamers, St. Josemaría Escrivá and Bl. Alvaro del Portillo, mighty proud. Seeking to provide pilgrims with a solid biblical, geographical, and historical base for their visit to the Holy Land, Saxum Visitor Center utilizes modern audio-visual methods to redefine what it means to follow in the footsteps of Christ and His Body, the Church. The first ever PAREF Woodrose School Senior High School retreat pilgrimage to the Holy Land could not have been culminated in a better way.
