ST. ANNE'S CHURCH AND THE POOL OF BETHESDA

            We celebrated this Sunday’s Mass at the Church of St. Anne in the Old City of Jerusalem, which tradition holds stands on the site of the home of Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary. As with so many other churches in the Holy Land, the present church is not the first on this site, the others having been destroyed by succeeding waves of invaders.  The current one was built by the Crusaders in 1140 and has been under the guardianship of the White Fathers of France since 1856.  The church is noted for its excellent acoustics, which added to the beauty and solemnity of the Mass.  After our Mass had ended, successive groups of pilgrims stood on the steps of the sanctuary to test the acoustics.  Again, as with many other sites in the Holy Land, these groups came from around the world:  a group of Indonesians sang Alleluia over and over at the top of their lungs, some growing very emotional, followed by a French group, and then a very animated group from Zimbabwe, shaking castanets and dancing as they sang.  There were also groups from Korea and Poland when we visited. 

Pool of Bethesda

            The church is adjacent to the ancient Pool of Bethesda, which is mentioned in John’s Gospel as the place where Jesus healed a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years (John 5:2-9). Excavations have uncovered just a part of the pool, which lies 33 feet below today’s ground level.  The Gospel story tells us that the waters were believed to have healing properties; the first person to enter the water after they had been stirred up “by an angel” would be healed.  The paralytic was never able to enter because he needed help to go down to the water, and could never reach it first.  His encounter with Jesus was life-changing:  Jesus had compassion on him and healed him, telling him to take up his mat and walk.  It was not necessary to enter the pool that day, for Jesus’ words were enough.  Our visit to the Pool of Bethesda served as a reminder to us to look to Jesus with confidence as the one who can heal us of all our wounds, whatever they may be.  

Pool of Bethesda