Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.”...
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.” At once he came up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.”[b] Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.
Matthew 26: 36-39, 47-50 NRSVue
On World Food Sunday at the beginning of this week I mentioned the challenges Palestinians face in harvesting their olives because of harrassment and physical violence from settlers in the illegal towns of the West Bank. Sometimes trees are knocked down by the bulldozers of the Israeli army, destroying a traditional source of income and violating a biblical injunction not to destroy fruit-bearing trees, even during conquest.
I have on several occasions been on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives and in the Garden of Gethsemane, an ancient olive grove, the last and undoubtedly final time two years ago. This was the place where Jesus and his disciples "slept rough" while in the city during Passover and where he was arrested the night before he was crucified. Some of those trees may date back to the first century.
It hadn't occurred to me that these trees still produce olives but the harvest is underway and the Roman Catholic priests and nuns who are custodians of the tiny orchard along with volunteers are doing the picking. The name Gethsemane means "olive press."
I came upon an article from the Associated Press with the headline: "On Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed, monks and nuns keep harvesting olives." I find it meaningful that the harvesters continue their age-old task as a trust and a form of prayer. Here are a few paragraphs from the piece
For Dalla Gassa and the other mostly Catholic congregations on the hill, harvesting olives to make preserves and oil is not a business or even primarily a source of sustenance for their communities. Rather, it’s a form of prayer and reverence. “To be the custodian of holy sites doesn’t mean only to guard them, but to live them, physically but also spiritually,” he added. “It’s really the holy sites that guard us.”
Early on a recent morning, Dalla Gassa traded his habit for a T-shirt and shorts — albeit with an olive wood cross around his neck — and headed to the terraces facing Jerusalem’s Old City. The bright sun shone off the golden dome of Al-Aqsa Mosque, visible above the walls encircling the Temple Mount — the holiest site in Judaism — alongside the bell towers of Christian churches.
Dalla Gassa and some volunteers, ranging from Israeli Jews to visiting Italian law enforcement officers, picked the black and green olives by hand and with tiny rakes, dropping them onto nets under the trees.Once they filled a wheelbarrow, Dalla Gassa put on ear covers and got the loud, modern press humming. Soon, the fragrance of freshly pressed green oil filled the air. It takes up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of olives to make one liter (34 ounces) of extra-virgin oil.
The congregations on the hill do not have commercial productions, dedicating the vast majority of the oil to their own use, both in the kitchen and for sacraments. Many Christians use oil, blessed by clergy during an annual Chrism Mass, for rituals ranging from anointing the sick to blessing the baptized and new altars.
For the religious brothers and sisters living among these trees, the harvest itself is spiritual and full of symbolism. “In picking the olives, we learn how we are picked. We go looking for that last olive — that’s what God does with us, even those who are a bit hard to reach,” said Dalla Gassa.
Squeezing a plump green olive between his fingers, he also spoke of the sacrifice that comes with fulfilling one’s vocation of love for God and neighbor.
Loving God and neighbour, part of the teaching of Jesus. are spiritual aspirations in short supply in the oft-times un-Holy Land so this story can inspire us in a gentle way.
Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane -- Paul Gaugin
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