Citizen Columns
Question
What is the most sacred site in the world for your faith group and why?
Answer
It might seem obvious that places associated with the life and death of
Jesus Christ would be the most sacred sites for Christians, especially for
Eastern Orthodox Christians for whom the Holy Land is home. Many
Palestinians are Orthodox Christians and live in such cities as Jerusalem,
Bethlehem and Nazareth. Indeed, most places mentioned in the New Testament
are located in what was then the eastern half of the Roman Empire. And many
of these places have Orthodox communities with a continuous history up to
the present day. For example, the earliest writing in the New Testament is
St Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians (written around 50 AD), and
there is still a thriving city of Thessalonica in Greece. I lived there for
a year and can testify that its Orthodox believers have a lively sense of
continuity with the ancient church.
Other sacred sites are the places where martyrs suffered and died. These are
dotted throughout the Greco-Roman world and in the many places where 20th
century Christians died under Communist persecution.
Another set of sacred sites are the monasteries throughout the eastern
Christian world that have been centers of prayer for centuries. The
monasteries of the Egyptian desert, St Catherine's monastery on Mt Sinai, Mt
Athos in Greece, and many places in Russia and Eastern Europe continue to
attract monks and nuns and pilgrims. They want to learn more about prayer
and the inner life not just from sacred sites, but from living examples who
continue the ancient traditions.
Which is the most sacred site? None of the above. Christian life does not
require pilgrimages to far-off places. These can help, but Jesus warned
about idolizing any place on earth, even Jerusalem (John 4). Anyone who
seeks the inner kingdom Jesus taught can transfigure even a garret or a
garage into a sacred site that is filled with light.
Father John Jillions
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