Day 7: Journey to the Sea of Galilee

A journey without par. Walking from the small town of Illaniya to the Sea has been one of the most difficult feats that I have taken on this year. The Sun shone powerfully on me as I made my solitary walk.

 

 

The scenery became much more interersting as I drew nearer to the Horns of Hattin. There on a plateau that affords a precious first good view of the Sea of Galilee the Frankish King Guy was defeated by Saladin. As I neared the site of the battle I thought about how absurd it had all been. All that fighting to have a nearly empty Galilee and a State of Israel, neither Muslim nor Christian.

 

 

I climbed up Mt Arbel, the hightest point near or around the Sea of Galilee to witness the precious view from up above. It was beautiful and unforgettable. The crushing heat tired me out and I was just about incapable of continuing forward. It makes me consider the fact that a Pilgrim doesn't go on a Pilgrimage by his own volition. It's a vocation, a gift.

 

 

Finally I have arrived to the Sea of Galilee and visited the Magdala Center. The beautiful Pilgrim's center made for a special treat. I watched the sun set as I bathed in the beautiful lake upon which Jesus, my Lord and my God, walked. I hope to one day do the same.

Days 5&6 Nazareth, Cana and the Jesus Trail

Beautiful days spent in Nazareth and now walking towards the Sea of Galilee have gone by once more.

 

Nazareth has changed completely since the time of Our Lord. Some of the pilgrims I encountered showed disgust for the present situation. In my case I imagined it to be somewhat as we see it today (except very Jewish). Let me explain.

 

 

Today Nazareth is majority Muslim. They are at present in Ramadan and it strongly effects the local economy and lifestyle. With that said Nazareth continues to be a highly religious town (including the Christian piece of the pie) found in the Middle East. Jews in general live apart from Nazareth.

 

I began my walk to the Sea of Galilee today from Nazareth. I was able to pass through Cana. I prayed in the local Church that commemorates the first miracle of our Lord of changing water into wine as well instituting the sacrament of marriage. I spent some time thinking about my own future and prayed that God bless my efforts as an eventual husband, spouse and father.

 

 

I have since continued onward despite the heat and am staying at a goat farm/eco-tourism camp.

 

 

Day 4: From Jerusalem to Galilee

With a 6am start my morning was filled with movement. I got ready to leave the place I had called home for the previous three days. The view that it afforded as I literally 'looked' down on the Dome of the Rock was beautiful.

 

 

After early morning Mass at the Holy Sepulchre which I fervently enjoyed I breakfasted with Pierre Loup who showed me the way to my home.

 

Corinna, the German contemplative, perpetually found at the Holy Sepulchre gave me a gift as I said "good bye". Some people amaze you with their sense of calm prayer. Se was one of them.

 

Off I was after breakfast back to the Kidron Valley and in the Garden of Gethsemani then up to the Mount of Ascension. The chapel of the Ascension. Today Muslims own the property of the Chapel so I it was a sober entry despite the fact that I was very much alone but in the presence of a a wonderful Czech priest.

 

We continued on to Bethphage where Jesus began his Triumphal walk into Jerusalem before His Death. The majority Arab town was not very interesting but I enjoyed the time any way.

 

Next I crossed the way back through Jerusalem towards the Central Bus Station. Alan, a Clevelander, joined in on the march to the Bus Station and we enjoyed that time together. He explained how his Jewish Faith brought him to Israel and later on to stay several years. He was enthusiastic about being Jewish in the Holy Land all while following the Cavs to through defeat by Golden State, c'est la vie.

 

Off to Nazareth I traveled by bus and I enjoyed the company once more of two of my friends. We pointed out the window towards what we thought to be Mt Tabor among other places. Meggido (aka "Armageddon") was a beautiful stretch.

 

I've been here in Nazareth for just a few hours. It's not the prettiest city but to know that Jesus spent thirty years or more of his life here is an impressive fact. I know that Jesus sancitified the daily life. He worked for his bread and butter. He "grew up" and became a man "growing in grace and wisdom" (Lk 2). I'm sure things are going to be beautiful.

 

Day 3: Bethlehem

So I got to visit the place where Jesus was born today. It's located under the Palestinian Authority just as Bethany is. Take bus 231 from the Damascus Gate and you're there within an hour. Once there everyone in Bethlehem is trying to give you a taxi ride to the Nativity Church. Once in the  6th Century Church built atop of the 4th Century Church you discover an overcrowded assembly with people trying to take selfies.

 

My Pilgrim group and I hunkered down in a corner of the "Grotto" at the floor level and prayed. We praised God for taking Flesh with such great humility and selflessness.

 

Afterwards we visited "The Shepherd's Field". In reality just about all real estate was "Shepherds' Fields". We spent an hour there to ponder the happenings there. Hanni, our taxi driver got us back to the bus station without issue. In my mind I could see the Shepherds leaving behind their sheep and livelihood to meet up with the Messiah that had just been born.

 

 

 

Later on I made some purchases in and around the Damascus Gate. Delicious Hummus, a big pack of water, and my favorite bread at the Muslim side of town.

 

We visited the Bethesda Pool and considered the ailing man from John 5. 38 Years of life in pain taken away through Jesus' Love and Mercy. In the Temple He meets the ailing man and shows him his identity at the risk of his own life.

 

 

Later on a walk through the Kidron Valley I got to enjoy time for prayer off on my own among olive trees. I considered camping there the next time I came to Israel instead of paying rent.

 

Lord,

I offer you this unworthiest of hearts. Grant that I, as the Shepherds, find a place close to you and rejoice each day of our lives to have you so near. Amen

Day 2: Prayer and Penance

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your Children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Mt 23: 37)

 

This was the view I had from the Chapel  Dominus Flevit (The Lord cried). Jesus lamented over Jerusalem before entering into it one last time to die there.

 

 

This stunning panorama captures the view Jesus had of Jerusalem as he lamented. The Dome of the Rock is now where the Temple was then.

 

I began the day considering the Death of Our Lord in Calvary located in the Holy Sepulchre Church. There I met a saintly German contemplative, Corina, whom I had the grace to pray with daily since I have arrived. I went to confession just a few paces away from the Crucifixion Altar. I imagined that this confession was the closest one I would have to Jesus' Death since He had really died there. Mass was in Latin and I enjoyed returning back to the Gregorian Chant. Two of the men at mass begin ridiculing the priest and the sacred worship and had to ushered out by guards. I'm glad I hadn't seen them myself as I would have been highly tempted to do more than usher them.

 

I visited the Dormition Tomb of Mary which was located Near Joseph  and Anne and Joachim's tombs. Where has Mary been all this time any way?

 

 

I came back to Gethsemani and this time I had the chance to enter into a grotto believed to be where Jesus was arrested. I could see how it could be there and not in the Garden of Gethsemani Church since he was "a stone's throw away as he prayed with greater intensity" (Lk 22).

 

I walked down to the Pool of Siloam and climbed up onto the City of David. I got to see where David would have looked down upon Bathsheba as she bathed and later committed adultery.

 

 

Along the way was Absalom's tomb as well as some other ancient monuments.

 

I walked through the Muslim burial site along the Temple/Jerusalem Wall to let the Jews know (as they believe that the Messiah will be entering into Jerusalem through that wall) that He would not be a "Clean" Jew by walking in.

 

The Ramadan worshippers were legion. I felt that I had returned to Rome to some measure. It felt like a Papal Mass exodus but in this case with an even older city.

 

 

After spending  more time in Prayer at Calvary and enjoyed a respite and some long needed food: Hummus and their version of Tortillas: Flat Bread. I could see Jesus eating this bread. 

 

I went back out to see the Sabbath beginning at the Western Wall. It was crawling with all sorts of Jewish men and women. I joined in in Worship and prayed some. Later I joined in at a Local Synagogue but found myself nodding off and heading back home. All in a day's work in God's Holy City.

 

Day 1: Western Wall to Bethany in Palestine

I was awoken by a beautifully delicious sunrise. I felt the gentle rays of light penetrating the curtains of my room.

 

 

The view from the roof of my whereabouts arranged for an instant panoramic experience.

 

I went for a quick job down some of the neighboring streets intent on getting lost and finding my way back. The shops were still closed and it seemed that the Holy City was still asleep.

 

I ran into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and went waltzing in. I walked right past a priest I recognized from my seminary days and feeling skimpy in my jogging gear I decided not to greet him just yet. I headed upstairs to see him begin Mass at the altar of the Crucifixion.

 

 

I headed downstairs and I found the sacristy to inquire about mass times at the Mount of Olives. This ended up with mass inside the Holy Sepulchre. There were just 6 or 7 of us inside the tiny cave of a Tomb where Jesus rose from the Dead.

 

 

I witnessed one of the pilgims pass out and fall over onto the altar. She awoke to my thinking: "We just witnessed a Resurrection…"

 

I visited the Western Wall - in Hebrew, "Ko-tel". I had brought a prayer with me from there and so I prayed it along with psalms from the Psalter.

 

 

After a long period with friends along the Eastern ramparts of Jerusalem we headed to the Last Supper Cenacle where Jesus celebrated the Feast of His Body and Blood. A flood of memories deluged my mind. A lot happened upstairs:

 

1. Jesus instituted the Eucharist
2. Jesus instituted the Priesthood
3. Jesus instituted the Apostolic Forgiveness of Sins
4. Pentecost: The Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and the Church was born.
5. The Apostles hid from the world.
6. Jesus showed up after his Resurrection and said, "Be not Afraid!"

 

I'm sure those were just a few of the things that happened.

 

 

 Later that day after having a Falafel from Heaven I had the chance to do some of my own traveling. I went on to Bethany in Palestinian Territory. It is a very difficult neighborhood and not easy to get to on your own. I prayed at Martha and Mary's Home and grieved the death of a friend along with Jesus. That was the place where it is said of Jesus, "And Jesus wept" (John 11:35). I had been able to make it to the Mount of Olives and to pray in the Garden of Gethsemani. This beautiful place moved me also to tears to think of a friend who was to offer his own life for ours. I'm speaking of Jesus.

 

 

I was able to make it back into Jerusalem and Israeli territory by the help of Spanish Pilgrims but otherwise things were looking not all so easy.

 

After a quick swing through the Muslim Market and getting my daily dosage of fresh bread (for my hummus) it was back to Jerusalem.

 

 

All in all a beautiful day. 

Back at Home: Arriving into Israel and Jerusalem

Arriving to Israel has been in fact a return trip back home. Riding the shuttle bus from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport to Jerusalem was an assertion of that point. Despite being pulled aside for two hours because of Israeli security (and I have a feeling I know why that happened - more about that at then end if you're interested…) or the massive hug I received from my travel companion upon arrival it was all about coming home. It was on that bus, surrounded mainly by Jews, that I discovered a beautiful gift:

 

"I am with my people….This is my Home."

 

Upon treading upon the land of Faith where Love for the One God emanated. It is the locus where our Faith took form in eleven restless apostles and where the Holy Spirit proved to the rest of the world that Love has no boundaries. The millions that come to Israel, or those that merely desire it, want to be part of something grand, something infinite.

 

 

Water has flowed through the hardened bedrock of this soil as a sign of its baptism in grace. Blood has also ravaged this Land, thicker always and crying out to God, "Have Mercy on us!".  Blood may be thicker than water but it is Grace and Mercy (Hesed) that overwhelms all hatred and anything less than love.

 

What do I hope to experience and live out in this, the Land of my People?

 

As Jesus asked the People of Israel, "What did you hope to see [in John the Baptist]?" I hope to give the latent answer that all of us have deep down inside:

 

I wish to Encounter the Living God.

 

I don't want to encounter Him in a perfect situation: friendly (or not so friendly) tourists, Middle East delights, intense Israeli security but rather in the quiet of my heart. In prayer and harmony.

 

 

*So a little bit about why I think I got held up in Israeli security for questioning:

 

Once upon a time having worn a Roman Collar as a religious/seminarian for years upon years I have a passport photo  accordingly so thus when I would say that I was here for vacation as opposed to "religious motives" they started taking a look at whether or not I had stolen someone's identity. Upon arrival I was pulled aside at the terminal and then again at customs. The questionings were momentary but the whole process took two hours with different questions about family and travel. What matters is that I'm here.