Last week we had our parish retreat, “Upper Room” with Mari Pablo. If you would like to watch the recording, we have posted it here: https://youtube.com/live/S24nR3Ruwjg
During one part of her presentation, Mari did – true to the name – talk about the Upper Room, the place where Jesus held his Last Supper and where the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles at Pentecost. She said she grew up in a Charismatic household, so she loves the Holy Spirit. And she converted her life back to Christ in front of the Blessed Sacrament, so she loves the Eucharist. So when she had to the opportunity to visit the actual Upper Room in Jerusalem, she was massive excited, to the point that she almost pictured herself in that room floating about the floor, having a mystical experience.
Unfortunately – and if you have been to Jerusalem, you’ll know this – the Upper Room as it stands today is deeply underwhelming. It is likely a reconstruction from the Crusader area on the site of the original Upper Room, and it went through a long period of being used as a Mosque (so all Christian images from the Crusaders would have been removed). In short, it is a whitewashed, empty room with a couple Gothic columns and roof supports.
In her story, Mari talked about how disappointed and sad she was that this place that was supposed to mean so much to her was so much the opposite of a transcendental experience. She told us about complaining to the Lord about how empty and vacuous the place was. And then she said that the Lord put a reply on her heart: “You know, it was pretty much just an empty room when I used it, too.”
Mic drop.
What an incredible reminder. After the Manger, the Cross, and the Empty Tomb, the Upper Room is probably the 4th most important location in all of Christianity, and the two events that occurred there gave us the source and summit of our faith (the Eucharist) and the primordial sacrament of salvation (the Church). And it was – and is – nothing more than an empty, whitewashed room.
If the Lord can do such incredible, mind-blowing, universe-changing things in an empty room, imagine what he can do in us who believe in and follow him.
Fr. Moore 