zackomoroblogs

THE START  OF  CHRISTIAN ERA The  Khamseen is an oppressive and strong desert sandstorm that is experienced in Israel and the Levant.  It  is strongest in April and May sometimes lasting up to three hours enveloping the entire country with very fine sand giving the environment an eerie kind of darkness even at  noon. The Khamseen was blowing on that Friday,  the third day of April in 33 AD.  It was also the day Jesus Christ was crucified.  T he  week commemorating the last week of Jesus on earth is dubbed  "holy week".It is  the most solemn period in the Christian calendar. It begins on Sunday with a ceremony depicting Jesus Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem with a charged crowd waving palm leaf branches and chanting Hosanna,  words traditionally used to welcome a king. The chants of Hosanna were  a conscious recreation of an old Testament prophecy that the king of Jews would come to them moun...

This week heralds the most holy week for the Christian calendar; it spells the hours leading to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, a central figure in human history. It is a solemn period full of symbolism and outward signs of penitence, fasting, alms giving and personal surrender. About the same time last year, on Good Friday, I had joined my local faithful in enacting the tribulations of Jesus Christ from the courtroom to the crucifixion grounds. We Catholics call it the Way of the Cross. We were a big crowd of about 1500-2000 people and our snaking way of the cross route took us across the town. As the faithful continued with the way of the cross along the town streets, people on their routine duties too time to look at this group of Christians and after a minute or two lost interest and continued with their routine and chores. We plodded on and on rounding a corner, I could not help noticing a stranger along our path. He was a big man, rough, bearded craggy face...