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by Zaid Chabaan

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Today we were blessed to visit the church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu . The church is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen and the interior of the Church is covered in majestic mosaics . It remembers the place where Jesus was held in a prison cell at the house of Caiphas on the night of Holy Thursday. Also it remembers Peter, who in the Passion narrative himself declared that he did not know the man (Jesus ). It was a morning full of emotions. We celebrated Mass in the ground chapel of the church and were encouraged by Fr . Battersby to turn to Jesus and let his gaze on Peter transform us, for even in Peter's denial of Christ, Christ did not condemn him but loved him . One of the most moving moments of the entire morning was being able to visit the cell where Jesus was held the night of his imprisonment and we heard Psalm 88 which echoes Christ's solidarity with sinners and is a echo of Christ's willingness to be humiliated by Caiphas and by Pilate and the soldiers to bring consolation to those who suffer unjustly and those who are abandoned by the world. How grateful we are to be in the Year of Mercy . I thought about this especially I contemplated the life of Peter and his own struggle and turning away from the Lord and how even amidst this, Christ still showed him love and mercy . The Christian life is full of trials and there are many times where we come to Jesus being aware that there may be times that we may deny him by things we have done or failed to do. Throughout our entire pilgrimage so far myself and my brother seminarians have been praying that as we enter into this holy sites of our Lord that we may leave different than when we entered . As the Lord turns to Peter with mercy and forgiveness so the Lord also turns to us. On our bus rides and time together we have shared countless stories, told many jokes, and have related to each the other how the pilgrimage has helped me tremendously. It's so hard to believe we have 5 more days in the Holy Land. Amidst all the laughs , there are moments of trial, times where the Lord seems distant even though we have walked in His footsteps, but I think the biggest grace so far that Peter encountered is the endless love and mercy of God. As Peter comes to his senses after he denies Christ three times and he remembers the words of Jesus fortelling the denial Jesus' look was not a reproachful one.
Please be assured of our continued prayers for all of our benefactors, those who have asked for our prayers and our Sacred Heart family. God can turn trial into triumph and even in a place of darkness such as Christ's own passion and suffering His glory triumphs."Lord may I be touched by the full meaning of your merciful look on Peter that you also give me."

Zaid Chabaan

Zaid Chabaan is a graduate seminarian for the Archdiocese of Detroit.

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Sacred Heart Major Seminary is a Christ-centered Catholic community of faith and higher learning committed to forming leaders who will proclaim the good news of Christ to the people of our time. As a leading center of the New Evangelization, Sacred Heart serves the needs of the Archdiocese of Detroit and contributes to the mission of the universal Church.