'Accessing' the Holy Land

Sixteen disabled persons, eleven in wheelchairs, accompanied by twenty non-disabled companions, spent two weeks in Israel Studying the history and the land of the Bible.

There were months' long preparations to insure the safety of the participants. In that regard, negotiations were undertaken to guarantee adequate accessibility on the airlines, in the hotels and tourist accommodations at every stage of the journey. In each instance the ‘accessibility' was less than desired.

The most urgent problem when the group deplaned at Tel Aviv was the discovery that the bus which had been reserved for our group was not equipped to board some of the people who use electric carts for mobility. Fortunately, this was solved by devising a long wooden ramp which not only facilitated the boarding and exiting of the bus, but also served as well in getting up and down steps and over many other forbidding barriers throughout that rugged land.

The hotels had been designed with ramps to make the rooms accessible but the bathrooms were not equipped as they should be. But disabled people have learned to be creative, and with their guidance, bathroom doors were removed, curtains put up and crates covered with vinyl were installed in some of the tubs.

There were 98 loadings and unloadings of the wheelchair users from the bus, and 1,378 miles traveled, with arduous pushings and pullings at every stop to be exactly on the sites commemorating the most significant events of Jewish and Christian history.

By design, and not to short-change the expectations of this particular group of 'Pilgrims', Fr. Donald Senior, CP, Scripture Professor at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, led the group the length and breadth of Israel. Here are some of his reflections:

"Spirits were high and only got higher as we began our study tour of Jerusalem. I have been leading biblical study tours of people to Israel for several years but never have I been with a group so full of spirit and ready to try anything. And try it we did! Each day was a full one, punctuated with the task of boarding the bus with the ramp and working our way through the narrow stepped streets of the Old City of Jerusalem or over the rough terrain of biblical sites or into the mostly inaccessible shrine churches. We had spent two years preparing for this, scouting out the best approaches and finding decent facilities. But even this preparation did not diminish the challenge and the excitement of actually doing it.

"With God's help and a lot of hard work on the part of everyone in the group, we reached all of the stops on our planned itinerary. At each site input was given on its biblical and historical background. We covered the full spectrum from three days exploring the city of Jerusalem, to the desert fortress of Masada and the vast stretches of the Negev, from the Golan Heights to Caesarea Maritima, from Samaria to Hebron, and a lot of places in between. Four nights and five days were spent in Galilee, residing at the Orthodox kibbutz Lavi. Our visits to all the New Testament sites were memorable, including a ride across the Sea of Galilee (assisted on and off the boat by two burly Israeli seamen) and a swim in its warm waters, a beautiful Eucharist right at the shore of Tabgha, and a wild taxi ride up to the top of Mount Tabor.

"Among our participants was a couple who were celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary and wanted to renew their vows at the spot where Jesus changed water into wine at the marriage feast of Cana. The husband has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. The couple asked our Jewish bus driver (whose friendly disposition and real care for the group were another of God's gifts) to lead the 'bride' up the aisle of that battered old church. It was a special moment, out of very many on this trip.

"Another highpoint was Eucharist at the Holy Sepulchre. On one memorable day we made three separate entries into the walled Old City of Jerusalem, each time the bus having to park where buses can't park, putting up our ramp to allow those in wheelchairs to disembark (thereby tying up traffic), and then navigating the bumpy, tortuous streets of the Old City. By far the most challenging entry was through the Damascus Gate in order to go to the Holy Sepulchre. Entering the gate took us right into the midst of the Arab market, through narrow streets filled with vendors and pedestrians, down steep inclines and up flights of stairs. Everyone worked hard, those in the wheelchairs hanging on for dear life and giving us instructions on how to manage the obstacles, attendants braking motorized carts down slopes, local Arabs and Jews trying to be helpful, but sometimes getting in the way, and some of us carrying the heavy wooden ramp needed for the flights of stairs. It was a glorious procession that moved forward to our goal, the place of Jesus' death and resurrection. As one of our group noted, the carrying of the ramp was like a contemporary Way of the Cross.

"Finally we arrived at the ancient church, encrusted with the faith and struggles of so many Christians before us. It was six 0 clock on Friday evening and the usually turbulent crowds in the church had thinned. (One minor skirmish left in our struggle to gain access.. .the attendant at the public toilets inside the basilica was bellowing at some of our group because they didn't have enough coins to tip him! Another of the wonderful paradoxes that insure God has a sense of humor...) At last gathered about the altar of Mary Magdalene we had a genuine Eucharist, one of the most moving experiences of my priesthood. It was mainly by accident that we celebrated at the altar of Mary Magdalene, but how appropriate it was. As I reflected with our group in the homily, Jesus had a way of gaining access for those that were excluded or alienated. How right it was that in John's Gospel she is the first to whom the Risen Christ returns. Our group--all of us, disabled and attendants--were living out that Gospel; we were opening doors and putting down ramps to let those often pushed to the margins experience their full dignity as daughters and sons of God.

"Each day of our journey was full of struggles and triumphs that welded us together as a community. Those with disabilities were good mentors and helped the rest of us understand the meaning of access and the ways things can be done with respect for the dignity of the human person. The attendants taught all of us what it means to be generous and caring and good humored. Perhaps most important of all, we began to think of ourselves as one--all of us with varying degrees of strengths and all of us with various disabilities, some visible, some not. And when we encountered an obstacle, the question became: how are we going to overcome this?

"This journey was not simply a special two weeks for a small group of people. Its effects are wider than that. First of all, the rationale of the program was that the participants will use what they learned in their families, schools and workplace. All of them are determined to do that and many have already formulated plans and projects to bring the Bible alive for others. Secondly, the group's presence in Israel was an ongoing 'seminar' for a lot of the people on the struggles of disabled persons to gain full access in society. This included airline personnel, travel agents, hotel staffs, and countless people who gathered each time we got on and off our bus with our famous ramp, many people– Jews and Arabs and tourists--who conversed with us on the 1,378 miles we covered in Israel. On four separate occasions, people (an Irishman, an Israeli, an American, a West German) who work with disabled persons approached us to learn specific details on how we managed the trip and each of them said they were determined to bring a group of their own to Israel, since they now knew it could be done!

"Last of all, but equally important, we know that this trip has meant a lot to many, many persons with disabilities across our country. A lot of them were wondering if it really was possible to do it. Getting there and back safely, being able to go to places people had told us we couldn't go, meant not only opening doors for the people of our group; it also opened doors of hope and courage for a lot of persons with disabilities inspired by what the determined pilgrims of our group were able to do.

"The determination to gain access to the Land of the Bible had been fueled by a number of friends with disabilities who had taught me that with imagination and sweat and care, any place can be made accessible. That proved to be true even in a land encrusted with centuries of boundaries. The biblical cry of 'Let my people go' had become for me 'Let my people in!'."

Observations by Disabled Participants

"After all the delays and the hassles on the planes, that first day in Jerusalem we collected ourselves and began what turned out to be a fabulous learning experience... Jerusalem. ..crowned as queen of the world's cities! From its barren hills, the philosophers, the prophets, and Christ launched the eternal laws of brotherly love. ..It is the religious capital of the human race."

"As we visited all the sites, we must have appeared hilarious to passersby. In many ways, we were a miracle; things like this just do not happen...I often wonder what the people watching us thought as they saw us being pushed up and down from that bus."

"I felt the presence of God at the Wall and the Dome of the Rock. It made me realize that we are all connected. We are all children of God."

"I experienced a numbness".. "I never dreamed that I would have an experience like this. I can't get around the city where I live, and there I was getting around that sacred country with all its obstacles"... "We have experienced the Land of the Bible in ways so many others could never have done".. ."The difficulty of the land gave me a deeper understanding of the struggles of the people there"... "I've traveled to many places, but I've never been to a place like it. The history of it is unbelievable" .. . "I felt attracted, then captivated, and finally embraced by the Land"...."The experience was intensive, exhausting, demanding, yet totally compelling and involving, and ultimately fulfilling."

"The group was caring for, respecting, enjoying, appreciating, loving each other. A true community, sharing each other's gifts and strengths, as well as needs and limitations, coming to know each other, and allowing ourselves to be better known with each brief encounter -sharing a meal, a bus or plane seat, a sacred site, a tender moment, a waiting time; being assisted and assisting; revealing talents, dreams and goals for fuller lives."

"The People of Israel were welcoming, accepting empathizing. Sharing their land, their struggles, their hopes for a united. peaceful Israel."

"The Experience of Jesus: We came, as did the disciples, to hear the Word, to walk the Way, to be touched and transformed as never before. For each of us it happened, as the soil of our hearts was ready to receive the Word."

"Burned forever into our hearts and memories will be images of the biblical lands and of the people with whom we first experienced them. It will be a lifelong source of joy and can even be a stimulus for new directions in our lives. It is something we can give to others."

As Christmas draws near, there comes to mind two special sites visited in the early stages of the journey. The first was the Shepherds' Field, the location described in Luke's Gospel: "There were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night when an angel said to them.. 'This day in David's city a Savior is born to you.. in a manger.. wrapped in swaddling clothes."'

There's a lovely chapel on that side where we were scheduled to celebrate mass. But after working our way up a tree-lined, bumpy road, we were again confronted with impregnable stone steps. However, with our 'saving plank', some other scavenged materials, and a lot of muscle, we managed to conquer them. The struggle was reminiscent of Mary and Joseph's own strain in making their way to Bethlehem. One of our disabled women participants wrote of this: "...it was an experience never to be forgotten. We used the liturgy of Christmas and it was so moving, I cried for joy. Christmas was evident; nothing else mattered. Bernice and Phil sang the negro spiritual, 'Mary Had a Baby'. It was wonderful. When our commercial Christmas rolls around again, I will always remember this place. I can't emote, it is not my style, but this is the closest I ever felt to the Nativity."

The next day we drove to Bethlehem to the Church of the Nativity of Jesus. The entrance to that church is a small doorway with an overlarge stone step, so constructed centuries ago to prevent looters from entering with horse-drawn carts.

Inside the church, the designated location of the stable in which Jesus was born is an underground crypt which can only be reached by a narrow, twisting flight of rough marble steps. They are a challenge to any able-bodied person, and seemingly impossible for someone with a mobility limitation.

Undaunted, our wheelchair users insisted on crawling or being carried down those stairs. Once there they sat or lay on the stone floor in silent meditation and wonder. What a live recapturing of the original Christmas scene! These so oft excluded persons of the 20th century were perfect stand-ins for the excluded parents of Jesus and the marginalized shepherds.

On the evening before departure for home, a ceremony was held in which all the participants signed their names on that saving' Passover Plank of wood used for all the access needs.. .a fitting symbol of the cross of Christ. The last signature was traced by a woman who paints and write with her foot.

This plank-memorial was left there - another monument in Israel testifying to the courage and triumph of the human spirit.

The 'Access to the Land of the Bible' program was jointly sponsored by Catholic Theological Union and Stauros International. Fr. Donald Senior, C.P., New Testament Professor at CTU conceived the idea and was its Director. Ably assisting him were Sr. Jennifer Corbett, O.S.F., on-site administrator of the overseas biblical programs and Fr. Flavian Dougherty, C.P. and Judy Benson of the Stauros Office.