As of today, I have been in the Holy Land for eight weeks. Of course, it has flown past, just like everything else in life (except my future homilies.) We just have two weeks left, but there is still more to see, so don’t tune out just yet.

Tuesday was a free day to work on homework. Wednesday we had classes, but we started with Mass at the Church of Gethsemane. Then Thursday we had a full day of adventure around the Old City. Today, we celebrated Mass in the Church of Ecce Homo. I’m sure you’re very excited, so let’s get started, shall we?

Church of Gethsemane

I know I talked about this a little in a previous posting, but there were a few more things to discuss. Gethsemane is on the lower part of the Mount of Olives, which is east of the Old City, facing the city from across the Kidron Valley. It is here, of course, that Jesus took His disciples to pray after the Last Supper.

The church is one of the many here in the Holy Land designed by Antonio Barluzzi (the newest addition to my list of favorite architects) back after World War I when the British had control The altar is situated behind the rock believed to be where Christ prayed and sweat blood. The church’s structure is composed in a 3×3 square, with a dome over each of the nine parts. The domes were each dedicated to a different country that helped to pay for the cost of the church. The church is also called by the name Church of the Nations. Instead of glass in the windows, Barluzzi used thin sheets of purple alabaster marble. This helps to keep the church darker, even during the day, in order to enhance the sense that Christ was in some of His darkest hours at this spot.

To the north of the church, there is a garden that has about 15 olive trees. I don’t know how old the oldest are, but some of them were massive. I could have a tea party inside some of them. They were at least several centuries old. Anyway, this was a great spot to try to prayerfully enter the interaction between Jesus and his tired disciples, who perhaps were just not aware of the urgency of the moment.

To the south of the church, as well as across the Kidron Valley, there are countless graves. The Jews believe that the messiah will come from the east, entering the old city through the Golden Gate (which is sealed now, waiting to be opened.) The Jews want to be there when it happens, so they have themselves buried in the area. Many Christians are buried here as well.

Tour of the Old City of Jerusalem

When I say “Old City,” I am referring to the historical city, which has a history from the Canaanites to the Turks. The new city is the ever expanding modern Jerusalem. There were no new buildings outside the walls until 1860. Now the city is quite large.

The classic city of Jerusalem slopes from north to south. To the west and east, meeting at the southeast corner of the city, are two valleys. The Kidron Valley is to the east and to the west is the Hinnon Valley (known in the Scriptures as Gehenna, where the city trash was constantly burning.) The city was easily defended along these edges, especially since they built massive walls above the valleys. Jerusalem’s weak side was in the north, where the terrain doesn’t drop off. Nearly all of the conquerors of Jerusalem came from the north.

The city was significant to Israel before it was conquered by David around 1000BC. Abraham had stopped here for the blessing and offering of Melchizedek. Abraham also was here when the angel stopped him from sacrificing Isaac. (The present Dome of the Rock, the golden domed Islamic structure in the center of the temple mount, is where the Muslims believe that Abraham almost sacrificed his other son, Ishmael, of whom they believe they are descendents.)

The city David found here was very small and just south of the temple mount. Joab, one of David’s generals, helped David conquer the Jebusite city of Jerusalem by sneaking into the city through the water supply tunnel. We walked through this tunnel. We also saw the tunnel that King Hezekiah built from the same Gihon spring, which was outside the walls, to a pool inside the city walls he had built. The king did this because he knew the Assyrians, who had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, were on their way to conquer Jerusalem and the southern kingdom. His new walls and water system worked and the city was saved.

Temple Mount

There were two temple periods in Jerusalem. The first temple, built by Solomon in the 900s BC, lasted until the Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BC. The second temple was built around 530 BC, but it was small and a huge disappointment to any who remembered the first temple. Herod the Great enlarged the temple and created a whole temple platform that could host the 100,000 Jewish pilgrims coming to Jerusalem every Passover. The Romans, when they put down the Jewish revolt in the late 60s AD, wanted to completely crush the spirit of the Jews. Therefore, they proceeded to destroy the temple, the upper walls, and the Roman stoa. The platform, though, still remains, along with the foundation walls. The temple mount area, this platform, is now under the charge of the Muslims. Their Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque are on the mount. Jews are forbidden to go up there for fear of possible conflict. No Bibles are allowed on the mount, because some have tried to read from the Bible there before in hopes of bringing on the Second (or first, if you’re a Jew) Coming. We actually got to go up on the mount, which was great, because it gave us a sense of just how enormous the complex was.

Wailing Wall

The Western Wall, or Wailing Wall as it is known, is the western foundation wall of the temple mount. The place of Jewish prayer is the central section of this wall, with both an interior and exterior area for prayer. This section is closest to what would have been the temple’s Holy of Holies 2000 years ago. They pray at the wall by orienting themselves toward the former location of the Holy of Holies, praying with the psalms, and bobbing their upper body back and forth, being moved by the Spirit. There are also groups that dance and sing. We happened to arrive on a day dedicated to Bar Mitzvahs. There were several young teenage men there, becoming “sons of God’s Law.” The women prayed and observed in a smaller section just south of the men’s section.

The wall is called the Wailing Wall because of the mourning for the loss of the temple. In the daily prayers of a Jew they say: “May the temple be built speedily and in our time.”

It was incredible to actually be there. I hope to go back with more time to pray some more. I’m told that at sundown on Friday nights, there are tons of people there, beginning the Sabbath with prayer.

South Wall

We went through temple mount ruins at the southwest corner and along the south wall. They have uncovered the first century paved road that runs along the western wall. One did not enter the temple complex at this level, but rather through bridges and elevated walkways twenty five feet above this level. It was neat to be walking on stones that Jesus and His disciples certainly walked on 2000 years ago. At this corner, way up above on the walls that were pushed off the temple mount by the Romans, there was the pinnacle. This was where the high priest would blow the horn. It is thought that this is the pinnacle referred to when the devil tempts Jesus in the desert.

We also went to sit on the south wall steps. Inside the mount, on the other side of these steps, there was the Roman stoa. Below this stoa was the area of the Sanhedrin. Surrounding the steps were excavations from first century and Byzantine ruins.

Pool of Siloam

I was talking before about the tunnels of Hezekiah. The water would empty into a pool, which was known as the pool of Siloam. It was rather simple until Herod developed it. This is where Jesus told the blind man to go bath after He healed him. It has just been uncovered in the last twenty years or so.

Ecce Homo

Jesus was probably condemned by Pilate in the Antonio Fortress. This fortress, which overlooked the northwestern edge of the temple complex, was where the procurator would stay during feast days. Its location gave him and his soldiers the best view of the crowds in order to maintain order (now the Israelis use small blimps to oversee the Muslims during prayers on Fridays.)

There really aren’t any ruins of the fortress to speak of, at least not ones that have been uncovered, except under the Ecce Homo church. Down below the church, where we had Mass today, are the temple mount cistern pools, which were adjacent to the fortress. There is also a first century road which Jesus possibly took once He accepted His cross. There are also the remnants of a game board etched in pavement. They have found this game at several Roman barracks throughout the land. The game, they think, has a theme of one person becoming a king for awhile and then being killed at the end of his reign. Could they have been playing this when Jesus was robed and mocked? Who knows?

Well, this ride was intense, but it is finally over. I hope you learned some things. I sure did.

Tonight we have a reception with entertainment for the donors who have helped to make this pilgrimage happen. It should be fun. Till next time, God bless y’all.

If you told me five years ago that I would visit Jordan, I would have bet you ten bucks that you were crazy. It’s a shame you didn’t take me up on the bet, because you’d be 3 happy meals richer. Well, we just got back from three days in Jordan, and it was pretty awesome. So, let’s get started:

Shroud of Turin

Sorry, before we talk about Jordan, I wanted to quickly tell you about an exhibit on the Shroud of Turin that we toured at the Notre Dame Center (NDC), our place of lodging in Jerusalem. As you probably know, the Shroud was discredited for about twenty years when scientists tested a piece and claimed it wasn’t even half the age claimed. But, a couple years ago, this test was checked and found to be wanting, so the scientific community rejected the findings.

At the NDC, they have an exhibit that goes through all of the research that has been done on the shroud. The claim against the authenticity has always been that it was created by an artist in the middle ages. I can’t even begin to describe all of the evidence, but, for instance, they found pollen on the shroud from three different flowers that can only be found in a five mile radius around Jerusalem. The proportions would work for an adult male, the type of lashings match the instruments that the Romans used, and the wounds in the head match the type of crown of thorns they probably used (whole head and not just ring like we usually see.) Anyway, there is no way I can describe it all for you, but I have to say that the evidence for authenticity is quite vast. I don’t want to make a claim either way, but if you ever go to Jerusalem, I think this exhibit is really worth your visit. The surprise at the end is also pretty awesome.

Mount Nebo

Okay, now let’s talk about the trip to Jordan. We started by driving to Mount Nebo. This is the mountain that Moses climbed to see the Promised Land. He, of course, was not able to actually enter the Promised Land, because he had struck the rock twice when God asked him to strike it once to bring forth a spring. We had to imagine what it was he saw, because dust was making it too hazy to see much more than the bottom of the mountain. It did make me contemplate, though, what it might be like to be a good priest who didn’t persevere to the end. May God never let me, or any of us, give up the fight until we find eternal happiness with Him.

Madaba

Don’t feel bad if you don’t recognize the name. I had never heard of it either. It probably wouldn’t have been a stop for us if it wasn’t for a mosaic in the floor of one Byzantine church. The mosaic was a map of the Holy Land, listing over a hundred and fifty holy sites, with pretty accurate scale in spacing between the sites. They have actually been able to use the map to find sites that were lost due to earthquakes and hundreds of years of sand deposits. Unfortunately the map had been severely damaged due to earthquakes, but it still is an amazing historical tool.

Petra

Have you ever seen the third Indiana Jones movie, The Holy Grail? In that movie the Grail is found in a temple carved in the face of a cliff in Petra. After walking for an hour and a half through a cavern, I actually saw the temple. It is just one in a series of elaborate graves carved out of the cliff walls. The Nabatines were a people who dwelled in the caves and plains of the area of Petra for hundreds of years before Christ. It was these Nabatines who carved these graves, and like so many civilizations, it is these monuments to their dead that have survived and tell us so much about their culture.

Petra is along the King’s Highway, which connects Mesopotamia and Egypt, so it was constantly being visited by traders and merchants making their way along this route. Eventually the Romans took over the area in the second century AD, but the Nabatines were able to peacefully coexist with the Romans. At the exit of the Romans, the Byzantines came in and occupied the area, building churches and living in the graves (no, that’s not morbid at all.) The route of the King’s Highway eventually changed during the Byzantine period and the city was essentially abandoned and forgotten until the late 19th century. There were cave-dwellers who remained throughout, though, and it wasn’t until the last 15 years or so that the Jordanian government moved them to new housing an hour away. They still come back every day, though, in order to sell their wares to tourists.

The temple from The Holy Grail, built over a 100-year span, was carved around the time of Jesus. It is even more impressive in person. Thanks to the trade route, the Nabatines were influenced by so many other civilizations. This is apparent in a study of the temple (or treasury, which was what people originally thought it was,) which has statues of Greek gods, a Phoenician goddess of fertility, the Egyptian god Isis, an Amazonite goddess, and Assyrian mythical eagles. Eventually the Romans turned it into a Roman pagan temple. Talk about a confusing place to worship. Unlike the movie, the inside is merely just large, empty rooms, but it was still a memorable visit.

Bethany across the Jordan

This is the spot where it is believed that Jesus was baptized by St. John the Baptist in the river Jordan. It is also the spot believed to be the point where the prophet Elijah was taken to heaven on a chariot. I don’t think there’s any coincidence that John, the new Elijah, performed his ministry as “a voice crying the desert” preparing “the way of the Lord” near the spot where the old Elijah finished his prophetic ministry centuries before.

There have been churches in this location throughout the centuries, but it really has not been rediscovered and built up until the last few decades. This is partially because there are about four different spots that could possibly be the baptism spot, though this one has the strongest case for authenticity. Though a spiritually significant spot, there wasn’t much there. The best building was a new Russian Orthodox church, whose walls were covered with iconic paintings. They were perhaps the most exquisite church paintings I’ve seen in a new church. The colors were so vibrant and the figures were so well done.

Paradise

The night before we had Mass at Bethany, we stayed at a five star Marriot on the Dead Sea. I have never been to a hotel this nice. There were eight pools, a developed beach on the sea, at least six different restaurants, beautiful landscaping, and architectural elegance everywhere you turned. It was unbelievable. I know that we don’t deserve such treatment, and hopefully, for my soul, this is the last time I get such spoiling. But it did make me contemplate the lavish paradise that God longs to give us all in the life to come.

This is where I need to make a long overdue thank you to all of the donors who have made this trip possible. It has been funded both by the people of the Archdiocese of Kansas City and the donors of Mundelein seminary. Thanks to all of them and to all of you who have prayed or made this whole thing possible. May God bless you in your generosity and bring unimaginable fruit to our future ministry.

Before I begin today, I want to let you know that I am praying in solidarity with you on this sad day in U.S. history, when our Constitution was used to justify protection of the slaughter of millions of innocent children and the exploitation of their mothers. Let us all pray together that the Lord may convert the hearts of Americans, including most importantly the heart of our new leader.

Well, we had a midterm this week in our Reading the Scriptures in the Holy Land class, which focuses on the psalms. Due to my diligent studying (no comments from the peanut gallery,) I took a few days off from blogging. One of these days I’ll realize that it is easier for you and me if I do this daily.

Nebi Samwil

As you know, this land is considered holy by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Many of the Old Testament prophets and leaders are revered by all three faiths, and where there is a birthplace or grave of one of these men, there will probably be clamoring as everyone tries to claim the spot. Nebi Samwil is one of those spots, as it is the tomb of Samuel, the last of the Old Testament judges who anointed Saul as the first king of Israel. There was a crusader church, but now there is building over it, with one side as a mosque and the other side as a synagogue. I’m sure it can be very contentious there at times.

The city itself is on the highest point in all of the Jerusalem area. On a clear day, which we didn’t have, you can see Jordan, the mountains of Galilee, and the Mediterranean Sea. Not a bad view when you get up in the morning, I would say.

Abu Ghosh (possible Emmaus)

This is the modern name of a town that is proposed as the first century location of Emmaus. There are about four towns that people claim are Emmaus, but this one, being about seven miles from Jerusalem, is the most likely. The crusaders believed this to be the case and built a simple, yet beautiful Romanesque church there. The interior surfaces were covered in paintings at one time, but now much has been worn off, and for some reason, many of the faces of the figures that remain have been removed. Anyway, we went there for Sunday morning chanted Mass with the French Benedictine nuns and monks that now live there. The acoustics of the space are really good (unlike the carpeted-wall monstrosities we built in the 50s and 60s,) and their chant sounded heavenly. It was a beautiful Mass.

Bet Guvrin-Maresha

These two ancient cities really have no historical significance that you would care about, and I wasn’t quite sure why we were there to begin with. As we were there, we were told that the highway from Tel Aviv (major airport) to Jerusalem (can’t land planes on hills) was going to be closed soon for the European Union delegates coming to do Gaza ceasefire talks with Israel. So, we had to move quickly, and our guide said we should go see the caves where they got chalk for concrete. I rolled my eyes and thought, what a pointless waste of time. Well, he knew what he was doing because there were enormous caverns of chalk. They were quite impressive.

Holy Sepulcher

On the 19th, we had Mass at 6am at the chapel in the Holy Sepulcher where Christ was crucified. It was a little early to fully appreciate the connection between what was being re-presented on the altar and what happened there 2000 years ago, but it was still a great prayer experience. After Mass, we did the Stations of the Cross through the Old City, with the tour guide giving explanations at a few points. Then he gave us a tour of the Sepulcher. It is the church, of course, that commemorates both the spot of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb where Jesus was laid and where He rose was not far away from Golgotha, so they could enclose both in the same crusader church. That church used to be bigger than it is, but much has been torn down. So much has been added on over the years with different styles that is now has a very unorganized, confused sense to it, but the circular nave around the sepulcher chapel is quite impressive with a massive dome. The church is now shared by six different Catholic and Orthodox churches, which as usual leads to problems. A few months ago monks from two different churches got into fisticuffs in the church, and someone of course video taped it and put it on Youtube. Nice.

The next day we went back to the Holy Sepulcher for 6am Mass in the sepulcher chapel, which is over the tomb of Christ. I had not been in this chapel yet, and I was scheduled to be the server for this Mass. Needless to say, I was so excited that my first time inside the chapel that commemorates the most important event in history was to serve a servant of THE Servant of God. It was a spiritually powerful experience.

Now, I did have a little gaffe. My mom had told me several times over the years that people always walk backwards out of the chapel, not wanting to turn their back on Christ. I thought this was universal, so as Mass ended I led the priest out, walking backwards. Even though I’m short, I still smacked the back of my head against the low marble doorway. Thanks Mom.

Yad Vashem

This is the holocaust museum in Israel, part of an enormous complex dedicated to keeping alive the memory of the six million Jews who lost their lives in the holocaust. I had been to the museum in Washington DC and to one of the concentration camps in Poland, but this was still a powerful experience. This museum had a lot of information about the ghettos, which was enlightening for me.

The controversial part was right at the beginning. There was a whole little movie about how the Christians were responsible for 1800 years of persecution of the Jews. There were also anti-Jewish quotes from St. Augustine in big letters as you enter the exhibit. I was a little defensive at first, but eventually I didn’t think it was too biased. The really controversial part was something I somehow missed. It was a picture of Pius XII with a quote about how he did nothing to help the Jews during the Holocaust. Though one might be able to say that he could have done more (though the complexity of the situation is unmistakable,) this description completely ignores the hundreds of thousands of Jews saved by Pius and other Catholics throughout Europe. Pope Benedict XVI, in negotiating his upcoming visit to Israel, made it a condition of his visit that Israel remove the picture and description. Israel rejected that and the other conditions he made, but he’s still coming. There are obviously bigger things in Israel that this government needs to change right now, and hopefully he can use his clout to get them to make some of those necessary changes, but it looks like the picture and description will stay.

The architecture of the museum was very effective, though I was skeptical when I saw the site model at the complex entrance. The museum is a long channel-like structure that cuts through a hill. The main side walls are large bare concrete walls that dramatically lean inwards. The main hall closes in on you as you walk through, and then forces you back and forth to view exhibits off of the hall. Then, after going through the exhibits and seeing an enormous circular space that houses thousands of binders containing the names and information of victims, you reach the exit. You walk out the glass doors and the walls that had been closing in on you dramatically widen, and you find yourself on a deck with an incredible view of Israel hillside. The building took you through the heavy burden of the holocaust in order to deliver you to this view which so clearly says, “This is Israel. This is Zion. This exists so that the Holocaust will never happen again.” Perhaps a little propaganda-ish, but it was very effective. I was impressed.

First Century Jerusalem Model

In the early 1960s, the owner of the Holy Land Hotel in Jerusalem hired an architect and archeologist to make a 1:50 scale model of what Jerusalem would have looked like in the first century, just before it was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD. It included the entire city within the walls, most impressively the temple that Herod the Great built before the turn of the millennia. It was an extraordinary model, which effectively gave you a visual sense of the make up of Jerusalem and the trajectory of the Holy Week events. I was in architecture school heaven. Of course, being me, I was down to my last two batteries, so I took about a third of the pictures that I would have with more batteries.

We didn’t see the model in the hotel, but rather it has been moved outside a few years ago to the Jerusalem Museum. In the same complex, there is an exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Essene community that produced the scrolls in the first century AD. For those of you who might not know, these scrolls were discovered in 1947 in caves in near the Dead Sea. They contain information about the Essenes, but most importantly they contain full texts of nearly all of the Old Testament books. These texts were 1000 years older than any other full Old Testament codex.

Church of the Visitation and St. John’s Church

It isn’t stated in the Bible where Mary’s cousin Elizabeth and Zachariah lived, except that they were in the Judean hill country. The present city of Ain Karem is the place believed to be their home. Here they have two churches, one up a hill for the Visitation. The other is at the bottom of the hill, dedicated to the birthplace of St. John the Baptist. We are all a little curious why it is believed that the Visitation and the birth happened so far apart from each other, but when you consider that we don’t even know the town is certain, why worry about a detail like that.

I know you are sick of me saying this, but St. John is another one of my favorite saints. It was nice to pray in the church dedicated to his birth. The church wasn’t visually that stunning, and was covered with blue and white stenciled tile, like you’d find in a kitchen from the 1920s. The Church of the Visitation had some very impressive paintings.

I have to admit, embarrassingly, that the real highlight for me that afternoon was getting delicious gelato on the way out of the town.

Gethsemane

On our way back from the Church of the Visitation, we stopped on the Mount of Olives and had a holy hour at the Church of Gethsemane. This, of course, is where Jesus prayed to the Father that, despite His distress about enduring the Passion, He would endure it if it was the Father’s will. It is a profound place to meditate on Christ’s humanity. I hope to go back again at some point to spend more time in prayer.

Peter in Gallicantu

After Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas and the temple guard came and arrested Him. They took him to the house of Caiaphas, where He was kept until the next morning, when He was taken before Pontius Pilate. It was in the courtyard of this house that Peter denied Jesus three times. Gallicantu refers to the cock crowing after the denials.

There are a series of caves under the lower church here. It is believed that these were where Jesus was held overnight. It would have been a completely dark dungeon-like experience, probably matching well the sense of abandonment Christ must have felt. His Father was allowing Him to be tortured and killed. His friends abandoned Him. His closest friend denied even knowing Him. And now He was forced to contemplate all of this by Himself in a pitch dark cave. This too I hope to go back to for meditation.

I know this entry was long. Sorry, but thanks for enduring to the end.

You have all been such good students that I decided to give you the last four days off. I hope you made good use of the break. You can also thank the schizophrenic internet connection here.

The last few days have been very nice, though there haven’t been a ton of new sites. We are now finally in Jerusalem. I really did not want to leave Galilee, because it is so beautiful there. I can understand why Peter tried to keep Jesus from going to Jerusalem. It wasn’t so much about avoiding the cross. He just didn’t want to leave the beauty of his home. (I’d be an awesome revisionist historian.)

Before I tell you about the sites, I wanted to share some realizations I had this week. First, it dawned on me that when I bring pilgrims back here years from now, it will not be like it is now. It is such a blessing to be able to go back to sites over and over again, by myself, for leisurely prayer. Pilgrimages are so rushed that deep prayer rarely gets to happen. Second, I had thought for the first half of this pilgrimage that I would be able to bring people here and show them the sites myself. I will have been here for ten weeks, which would make me a quasi-expert, right? Well, eventually I realized the stupidity of that thought. The local guides we’ve had are invaluable. No foreigner, even with Holy Land experience, could ever give what they give. Finally, related to this last realization, I have come to appreciate the fact that this land and its history and its present problems can never be “figured out.” It is complex beyond belief, and I’m not going to understand it better than anyone else. All I know is that this place needs Christ’s peace, and therefore it needs Christ’s disciples here to spread His message. We need to support Christians in the Holy Land (and pray that they stop arguing with each other.)

Capernaum

We had Mass here on the 12th. For some reason this was one of the places I was most excited about visiting. This is primarily because it was the home of St. Peter, who has always been one of my favorite saints. (I can sympathize with his mistakes, and I hope that I can ultimately respond to Christ’s calling for my life the way he did.)

Capernaum was located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, placed along the Via Maris, an important international trade route in Galilee. The town was located right on the border between the tetrachies of two of Herod the Great’s sons, Philip and Antipas. This meant that tolls were collected there for travel along the Via Maris. This would explain why Levi (or Matthew,) the tax collector, was called by Jesus here. It also meant that the plethora of foreigners that passed through were able to see Jesus’ miracles and spread the stories throughout the Middle East.

Like many places in Israel and all along the Syrian/African Rift, the city was destroyed in the 749 earthquake. Jesus did say that things wouldn’t go so well for Capernaum because they saw His works but did not believe. So, moral of the story: if you’re planning on not believing God’s miraculous actions in your life, make sure you design your buildings for a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.

Presently, the excavations have exposed several buildings, including a fourth or fifth century octagonal Byzantine church over the spot of Peter’s house. In 1989, after waiting eleven years for a permit, they built a modern church over the spot. It is not attractive, but it is an engineering marvel, suspended over the ruins on only 8 piers and designed to withstand another large earthquake. There is also a synagogue from the fifth century. It had to compete with the popular church over Peter’s house, so they built it in the elaborate basilica style, even though it was a gentile style. You could throw a rock from Peter’s house to the synagogue, which is where it would have been at Jesus’ time. Jesus performed a lot of miracles in Capernaum, in and out of the synagogue, and as His following grew, His enemies in the synagogue leadership probably also grew. So, Jesus was probably in hot water well before He made His way to Jerusalem.

Tel Dan

In case you are not familiar with the term “tel,” it is a site where several civilizations built on top of the previous ones. It creates a big mound, which archeologists uncover level by level, starting with a shaft through them all that helps establish layers and the periods they represent. This particular tel goes back to the 9th millenium BC (note, I really mean 9000 years before Christ!!!!) It still had exterior city walls that went all the way back to several millenia BC. Some of them were 20 feet tall and still in good condition. I’m sure all the retaining walls I designed in Kansas City will last that long.

The tribe of Dan took over the area in northern Galilee near the Golan Heights well over 1000 BC. This town was built up by the tribe, but its real significance came in the 9th century BC. Jeroboam, a northern kingdom leader, tried to turn this area into a significant place of worship and sacrifice so that his people wouldn’t go to Jerusalem to worship, giving their allegiance to the southern kingdom of Judah. He didn’t even care if the sacrifice was pagan, which led to all sorts of problems, obviously, ending with the Assyrian defeat of the northern kingdom in the 8th century BC. Moral of the story: don’t go sacrificing to other gods because you’re kingdom (or its modern equivalent) will be destroyed by the Assyrians (or their modern equivalent) and you’ll be bummed (or a modern equivalent.)

Church of the Beatitudes

They aren’t exactly sure where the Sermon on the Mount took place. The church at the top of a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee is from the 19th or early 20th century. They have found ruins of a much older church, but it is in a slightly different location. I personally don’t really care whether the present church is at the exact spot or not, but our guide made an interesting note. He said that locals will go to pray at the church at night, sometimes, and they can actually hear the fisherman talking out on the water, over a quarter mile away. So, the location has great acoustics, but the key is that the speaker has to be at the bottom of the hill. So, perhaps, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was at the bottom with followers sitting comfortable sitting up the hill, easily hearing everything He had to say. Who knows? Well, I guess some people do, but they’re too busy singing God’s heavenly praises to worry about it.

Jericho

There really wasn’t much to see here. They have done some excavating, but there wasn’t enough for us to bother going into the site. So, instead, we ate lunch next to the oldest city in the world.

From Jericho we could see the Mount of Temptation, where it is thought that Jesus was tempted while He fasted in the desert. There is a monastery about 2/3rds of the way up the cliff. We didn’t go. It’s run by the Orthodox, so we’d probably be shoed away anyway.

Notre Dame Center

Okay, so we have been in Jerusalem for a few days. I haven’t quite wrapped my mind around the fact that I am sitting just a few football fields from the spot where Christ died and rose, saving us from our sins. I actually didn’t go to the Holy Sepulcher for the first couple days because I didn’t feel spiritually ready to go there. Eventually, yesterday, I did the Stations of the Cross with the Franciscans. The last five or six stations, of course, happen inside the Holy Sepulcher, so I finally got inside, though I have yet to make a visit inside the tomb. All in due time, I’m sure.

The place we are staying at is called the Notre Dame Center. Right across from the New Gate, it was built over a hundred years ago and has mostly served as a spot for pilgrims. It is now run by the Legionnaires of Christ and it is very nice. The director, Fr. Kelly from Ireland, gave us an introduction the other day, which included going to the roof, which overlooks the Old City. We could see so much, and he did a great job of orienting us to the area, including walking us through Jesus’ Holy Week. Then we all sang Holy God, We Praise Thy Name. I happened to be looking up at the stars when we reached the line: “Infinite Thy Vast Domain.” Yes, all those stars were created through the same Person of the Holy Trinity Who, just yards away, suffered and died for little old you and me. Incredible! Praise God!!

January 11th

We woke up today to the falling of rain, which is greatly needed in the country. Some spots went nine months without rain, and the Sea of Galilee is very low. This is an issue, given that it is the water source for 70% of Israel. But because of the rain, we only made a few stops today.

Caesarea Philippi

The tribe of Dan took over this part of the Golan Heights, entering the land of the Canaanites much further north than the other Israelite tribes. Part of the area of their conquest was Banias, which is one of the three sources of the Jordan River. It is a spring at the bottom of a basalt rock cliff with a large cave.

When the Greeks took over in the fourth century BC, a myth developed here related to the god Pan. The cave was supposedly his dwelling, into which worshippers would throw their sacrificed animals to appease the god. Over the years there were three different temples built here, to Pan, to Nemesis, and to the emperor Augustus (built by Herod the Great.) When Herod’s son Philip inherited the tetrarch here, he built up the city and called it Caesarea Philippi, a nod to Caesar with a little self glorification.

It was here that Christ, the source of living water, took His disciples to ask the question, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Of course, it is Peter who replies that He is Christ, the Son of the Living God. Christ then gives him the keys to the kingdom.

There are the remains of a fifth century church here, but the real neat parts are the cave and the spring. Seeing the source of the famous Jordan River is pretty powerful. I had to give my second and last reflection here today. It wasn’t too bad, especially considering that I forgot I had to give it and came up with what I’d say on the ride over. The Holy Spirit will even work with slobs like me, for some reason.

Drews

We stopped in a town run by the Drews. They are a sect that broke from the Muslims in the 1000s. They profess all of the monotheistic religions, but hold their founder as a god. It is strange religion. The only point of the story is that we stopped here to get trademark drew sandwiches. They use really thin bread, thinner than a tortilla.

Syria

The Golan Heights, as you know, were occupied by Syria until the 1967 war. Now the separation between Syria and Israel is a no-man’s land, patrolled by the UN. We stopped to see the UN base and look out across the valley to see Syria in the distance. Israel has not really built much in the Golan Heights, perhaps because they sense that eventually the land may have to be returned to Syria. One of the reasons they want the land is the only Israeli ski resort, which is on Mount Hermon, the highest point in the land. (By the way, the Sea of Galilee is 600 feet BELOW sea level.) One of the other reasons for wanting the land is the fact that one of the Jordan sources is in the area, and they don’t like the idea of the source being controlled by Syria.

We made it from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee today, with a lot of stops in between. I told you the Galilee portion was going to be an adventure, and it has been.

Magdala

This was only a small town excavated by the Franciscans. We couldn’t even walk around it due to a fence, but here was the home of Mary Magdalene. It is right on the Sea of Galilee, and it is believed that it was a very active fishing town, at one point containing a couple hundred boats.

Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes

Our German lodging while at the Sea of Galilee is just a short walk from Tabgha, which is one of the locations where Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes. There is a simple but beautiful church there owned by German Benedictines. A few of us went there for evening prayer, which revealed to me that my German is pretty bad. No surprises here.

Gergesa (the Gedarene Demoniac)

At the base of a steep hill are the ruins of a 5th century church. It is a neat little spot, which was only discovered in the last decade or two when the highway department was widening the road. There has always been debate about whether the town was Jewish, because it is odd that swine would be raised there if it was. But a record of temple collections found in a nearby town lists Gergesa, indicating that indeed it was a Jewish town. It wasn’t hard to imagine the pigs running down the steep hill into the water. The Israelites, and most ancient people, thought that water contained darkness and evil, so it is no wonder that the newly possessed pigs would run into the water and drown.

Korazim (Corazin)

This town is only mentioned once, I believe, by Christ when He speaks of the people there seeing miracles and still not believing. There are the remains of a 5th century synagogue there.

Primacy of Peter

This is the spot where the Risen Jesus asked Peter the three questions about his love for Jesus. These questions, of course, were posed to Peter in order to give him a chance to atone for his three denials of Christ on the night before the Crucifixion. Jesus then tells Peter to feed His sheep. Christ had already given Peter the keys to the kingdom, and even though Peter tried to stop Jesus from going to His death, and even though he denied Jesus, Christ wanted to emphasize that Peter was still the one to lead His Church.

It was very peaceful to sit on the rocks and look out at the water, imagining Peter jumping from the boat and running to shore to see the Risen Jesus cooking fish. I felt connected with Peter there, who is one of my favorite saints. It was a “favorite saints” day for me, starting with St. Joseph in Nazareth and stopping here with St. Peter.

If you pardon my musing, I want to open today with an adventure I had today in Nazareth. After that, I’ll summarize the site visits.

An Adventure

A few years ago I spent time meditating on the hidden life of Christ, the time between when Mary and Joseph found Him in the Temple and when He began His public ministry. During those periods of meditation, I imagined the times when Jesus would leave the home, leave the workshop, and go up on a nearby hillside to spend time with His Father in prayer. It ended up being a fruitful time of prayer for me, trying to enter into the dialogue between Christ and the Father. And as the time has gone by, I have often wondered just how close to the reality of Nazareth my imagination was. One of my excitements about coming to Nazareth was seeing what the topography was like, hoping that maybe there was a small rocky hill nearby to match my meditation. Once I got here, I realized just how hilly Nazareth is, and I stopped thinking about my meditation.

So, today, after we took our tours, I decided to just walk around Nazareth, a city of 80,000. I like walking around and seeing the people and places, without a real agenda. Eventually, I decided to scale the highest Nazareth hill to visit a monastery I saw on the top. It was quite a trek through back alleys streets and up steep streets. I discovered how out of shape I am. Eventually I got to the monastery, only to find it was more secure than a fort. I almost decided to just head back, but something told me to try the other side. I finally found the street that ran along the top of the hill, behind the monastery. I was looking for an entrance on my left when a view opened up to my right. Suddenly, I realized that God had given me a treat. I believe He inspired me to climb the hill in order to see perhaps where Christ spent time in prayer. I don’t know how He wouldn’t have prayed up there, because the view was incredible. On the left, several miles away, were Mt. Carmel, Haifa, and Acco. On the right were the mountains of Lebanon. In the middle, just barely visible due to heavy haze, was the Mediterranean Sea (my favorite body of water, by the way.) It hit me like a ton of spiritual bricks and I started laughing at the generous of God. My imagination of the “small rocky hill” paled in comparison to what Christ actually saw. The view, created through Him long ago, was enough to take even His breath away. God is truly good, especially when we aren’t expecting it.

Cana

We went to Cana, to the place where Our Lord began His ministry. The Church that is built there is simple but beautiful. There is also the excavations below that include buildings from the first century, though there is no certainty about where the miracle took place. It was neat to be in the area below knowing that my parents had a picture from when they went to Cana and had their vows renewed.

The best part of this visit was the traditions our guide shared with us about Palestinian weddings. He said that his niece was getting married this July, and he has already taken ten days off. He said that he, his wife, and his kids would be over at his brother’s house a lot, helping to host the hundreds of family and friends that will show up for the seven days before the wedding. The hosts have to have food and drink ready for everybody, and if they don’t, it is a real embarrassment. So, for the wedding party at Cana to have run out of wine already “on the third day” was a real problem. Jesus’ first miracle was quite opportune.

Basilica of the Annunciation

While we are in Nazareth, we are staying just a block away from the Basilica. After Pope Paul VI visited in 1964, they decided to tear down the old church and build a new one to accommodate what they thought be an influx in pilgrims. Unfortunately for them, the Six Day War in 1967 hurt tourism, but they still finished the new church in 1969. It definitely looks like it was built in 1969. It is truly a period piece, a concrete structure with angles all over the place, though it is symmetrical. The inside walls on either side of the nave have mosaics or paintings from each country honoring Our Lady. The one from the US is a monstrosity. The concrete columns were supposed to be covered with an alabaster marble veneer, but they decided against it, so all the concrete has fist-sized divots where the marble would have connected. It is not a good look at all.

The basilica is two levels. I like the lower level, which preserved the grotto where Mary lived with Joachim and Anne, as well as some of the structure of the two previous churches. We had Mass down there, and it was so powerful to be just yards away from where God became man. Although I didn’t care much for the basilica design, the fact that the grotto was there made it all worth it.

Shrine of St. Joseph

The basilica and Mary’s grotto mark the southern edge of first century Nazareth. There were probably only about 250 people, so the town was not very big. In fact, the northern end of the Franciscan monastery connected to the basilica is the shrine of St. Joseph, which was the northern most point of the town. They have found something like 25 caves in the area, which were the only types of homes used in Nazareth at the time. So, both Joachim and Anne’s abode and the Holy Family’s abode were caves.

The Holy Family’s cave is below St. Joseph’s shrine, which was built in the early to mid 20th century. It is a simple church, but I enjoyed praying there. St. Joseph is one of my favorite saints, so it was comforting to spend time inside.

Our Lodging

The place where we stayed was run by the Religious of Nazareth, an order of nuns. There wasn’t much special about the place, except that it is situated over ruins of a crusader church. They just found in the last year or two a grave attributed to a just man. According to oral tradition going back a long way, this grotto grave would have been for St. Joseph. It would have been situated outside the walls of Nazareth, which makes sense for a grave.

We have now started our journey through Galilee, the place where Christ spent most of His life. Now that I have traveled around Galilee a little bit, I completely understand why God in His infinite wisdom decided that His only Son would grow up in this land. It is quite amazing, full of vegetation, topography, and great views. This is our third day here so far, with five more to go, so let’s get into the meat of our travels.

Archbishop Shakur

We spent Wednesday morning meeting with Archbishop Shakur, who is the archbishop for the Melkite Church in the Holy Land. He is an amazing individual. He told us story after story of his struggles to live in peace and dignity in Israel, and I found that I hung on his every word. He is quite a speaker.

He told us about how the town of his childhood was demolished by the Israeli army. He spoke of his early priesthood, when he was assigned to a parish in a village without electricity or water. He was supposed to be there for a month, but he spent six months living in his VW Bug and 38 years there total. While he was there, he started a high school. He discussed a few different times where he went up against Israeli authorities to get building permits. One time he took his case all the way to Washington DC. He just walked up to Secretary of State James Baker’s house and knocked on the door. An hour later he was leading a bible study with Mrs. Baker (who had never met or heard of him). Through the Bakers he was able to convince Israel to give him the permit. The school now serves 4500 high schoolers, with a staff of 250 teachers. He has Jews, Christians, and Muslims attending and teaching at the school. It is great seedbed of peaceful coexistence.

His faith is very strong and it shows in his speech and in his actions. I really felt like I was in the presence of saint. I got his book, Blood Brothers. I’ll tell you about it if I can find the time to read it.

Akko (Acre)

This port town was the capital of the Third Crusader Kingdom here in the Holy Land. It has a lot of pretty cool, old structures. It is a little north of Haifa and south of Lebanon. That’s all I’m going to say about Akko.

Naim (Nain, Nein)

As you probably remember, Jesus, as he was entering Naim, came upon a widow mourning the death of her only. He took pity upon her and raised him from the dead. We went to the little town where this took place. The only Christian presence there is a small church that the Franciscans built in the late 1800s. The keys to the church are kept by a Muslim family that lives next door. This isn’t the only church where this happens. Sometimes the religious orders feel its better to give the keys to a Muslim family so that different Christian denominations don’t fight over them.

Anyway, all of the seminarians have to give reflections periodically at the sites we visit. One of my sites was Naim, so I gave a little reflection, wondering if whether Jesus saw the future plight of His own mother in this widow losing her only son. Jesus showed compassion on them both, in different ways, without them even asking. How much more compassion would He show on us who call upon Him in our time of real struggle?

Mount Tabor

The mountain where Christ was Transfigured is amazing. It is quite a little mountain, much bigger than I expected, and it is covered with trees. It is visible from Nazareth, which is a range of hills. The only things on the top of Mount Tabor are the Church of the Transfiguration and the buildings of Orthodox and Catholic Monasteries. The latest church was built in the 1920s and is very impressive. We got to spend a large amount of time there, which was nice because it gave us plenty of time to pray. (Consider yourself prayed for on Mount Tabor.) Then we had an Italian lunch and took the road back down.

I can understand why Peter thought that they should erect some tents. First of all, he was exhausted from scaling the steep slopes of the mountain. Second, the views up there are incredible. I have to imagine that Jesus spent time up there when he was growing up, using the spot to retreat periodically, perusing the beauty created through Him.

Nazareth

We are staying in Nazareth for a few days as a base of operations. I will probably write more about Nazareth in a few days.

January 6th

Leaving Bethlehem

We left Betharram a little after 9am this morning. I decided not to go to the Church of the Nativity for one last time this morning, because I got to bed too late last night, after making a watery mess of my room by mopping. The trip was pretty uneventful, though I was bummed to be leaving. When you stay in a place that long, you start to think it is just a new part of your life. But, when the place is within a wall on the other side of the world, you get sad to leave. Of course, it is very likely that I will be in Bethlehem sometime in my life, as opposed to, say, Sydney.

Caesarea by the Sea

This was a pretty cool visit, though it was way too short. The area was a small port for centuries, but it was Herod the Great who really established it. He received it from Rome in 25BC, and over 15 years he made it a great port. He started by putting in breakwater walls. He dropped in absolutely massive blocks, creating a walkway, unto which he added large statures. He also added a theatre and circus, among the other palace buildings. We spent a lot of time sitting in the theatre, which has been rebuilt. Some of the floor and the foundations of the stands and stage are still there, but it has been added to in order to give the feel. Apparently the Romans would force everyone to come to shows when the king or emperor was there. The shows would last for hours, and you couldn’t leave. It is not surprising that the Jews rebelled there during the 60s, having been sick of being subjected to pagan plays.

There was a lot more there, but we didn’t have time to go through it all. It is there that was found the plaque that established Pilate as the procurator there during the time of Jesus. They had a copy of the stone marker. After the Romans, the Byzantines expanded the city. The crusaders built a smaller city within the old city walls, and it was very likely that this was the last place from which they left.

Now remember that it was here that Peter had his dream about the food being lowered in the sheet and God telling him to eat, because nothing God created was unclean. Shortly after this he met with Cornelius, the Roman soldier interested in Christ. It was at this time that Peter realized that the gospel needed to be spread to the Gentiles. This is quite a moment in the history of Christianity. I mean, you and I, being that we aren’t Jews, may have never heard of Christ if it hadn’t been for Caesarea. Okay, that may be a stretch, but don’t forget that we are Gentiles who became adopted daughters and sons of the Father.

Megiddo

This is the city in the valley where the battle of Armageddon was to happen. The city was very important and sought after, because it was at the point of intersection of trade routes, most importantly the one from Egypt to Mesopotamia. The city had actually been conquered 25 times. Solomon conquered it, the 16th conquest. The valley it overlooks is spectacular, and you can see Nazareth and Mt. Tabor from the valley.

The spring was located outside the city walls, so they built a tunnel down to it. They were able to locate it without GPS by digging along the interface be soft rock and hard rock, which is where spring water travels until it comes forth in the spot of the spring. The gate was supposedly pretty magnificent, and gates were always important places where lots of stuff was accomplished. Caravans couldn’t come into the city, so that is where trade happened. Kings would also make decisions there.

Elijah’s Cave

We are staying on Mt. Carmel, overlooking Haifa, which is the third largest cities in Israel, with 400,000 people. Mt. Carmel is where the Carmelites were established, being the first order in the Holy Land. Elijah’s cave is here, where he was after the challenge against the priests of Ba’al. There is a gorgeous church over the cave. We are staying in a place called Stella Maris, which has some amazing views. We watched the sun set today, and then walked toward the city to take better pictures of the soccer stadium and the smaller copy of a big Dubai hotel.

Praying in Elijah’s church made me realize how awesome Elijah was, making me hope that I become even a fourth of the prophet that he was.

More soon.

If I made it this far in the pilgrimage without any decent prayer experiences, then it would be best to pack my things and come back home. Pilgrimages should bring us closer to the Lord, and that is my deepest hope for this pilgrimage. So far, He has not disappointed. I thought I’d talk about a few, just because I know you’re dying to know.

Yesterday, due to peaceful and political demonstrations near the Church of the Nativity, our teachers thought it would be good to stay on our “compound” at Betharram. Next to our lodging is a cloistered Carmelite convent. A few of us went over to their chapel for Mass. The chapel is a gorgeous Romanesque church with a bit of an Arabian flair to it. The Mass was a pretty cool experience, because it made it so clear just how universal the Church is, even here in the small town of Bethlehem. There was an Italian priest who said Mass in French, the language of the nuns. In the congregation there were local Palestinians; seminarians from Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, America, and Kansas; and novices from Central Africa and the Ivory Coast. At one point the guys from Africa led a hymn in French with an African drum. I just gazed around the chapel, closed my eyes, and felt like I was getting a taste of heaven. It was a great experience. Then, to top it off, we said the Our Father in Latin so that we could all join in. Isn’t the Church pretty cool?

One other story I’ll share happened on New Year’s Eve. A friend of my sister’s was in Bethlehem, so I tried to go find her at the Church of the Nativity. It was a needle-in-a-haystack sort of task, given that I couldn’t even remember what she looked like, but I figured that if God really wanted it to happen, I’d find her. I didn’t, but I took the chance to go into the Manger Chapel and pray that the Prince of Peace would bring some peace to the land of His earthly life. I also took the opportunity to pray for all of you, which I have been doing everyday, in all sorts of sites. It was just a peaceful experience, even as hundreds and hundreds of pilgrims from all over passed by the spot of the birth. Eventually, all the pilgrims were finished, and I was left as just one of two or three in the chapel. I went to the manger, where the statue of the baby Jesus is. I knelt there, staring at him, and I could feel Mary and Joseph with me, saying “isn’t He beautiful?” Beautiful indeed.

I have been able to go to several 5am Masses in the Manger Chapel, always offering my Masses for my many pregnant friends and family member. The Mass is in Italian, which I don’t mind, because it brings me back to the month I spent in Rome, getting to celebrate Mass in Italian at several churches. Again, universality is such a gift from Christ.

Alright, I should get going. We’ll chat again in a few days, after we start our Galilee adventure.