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.

 

 

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.

Why I want to go to the Israel this Summer (Part 3 of 3)

Continued on from Part 2

How can I Encounter Jesus in the Here and Now?

After Jesus stepped foot on Earth He changed everything. Jesus isn't just a Game-changer. He is the Author of the sport. He makes it what it is. The Mystery of Jesus' Incarnation changed the nature of our approach to encounter God. Pioneer and explorer He made way onto Earth so that we could literally meet God here and ever since nothing has remained the same.

The Annunciation of the Lord (Philippe de Champaigne, 1644)

Though Jesus expressed to the Woman at the Well (Jn 4) that it was not upon this mountain nor in Jerusalem that God was to be worshiped soon after it is fact that even Jesus worshiped upon that particular mountain and in Jerusalem. Jesus joined the human community of those worshiping God and worshiped here on Earth. 

"Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem." (John 4:20-21

While our worship is not tied down to a place here and now our every worship embraces a location, a place and a time. We pray from the heart yet that heart beats within a body in motion. We are not 'condemned' or "entombed in our bodies" as Plato and the Ancient Greeks spoke of. We are gifted with our bodies, made as one, in body and spirit.

Jesus also was Body and Spirit. His every movement was measured by duration and he took on the full measure of the human experience. He, though God, knew what it was to be a human being yet retaining every measure of His Divinity. This mystery is one that we'll never plumb. It will allude us to the Gates of Heaven.

So why Israel? To gain ground, to get one inch closer. To get to know Jesus better and to know His World, His Life, His People, and to fall in Love with Him ever more. That is my reason to travel there, experience His Mercy, and get to know the environs in which He became Him.

Sea of Galilee, 1900

View of Mount Tabor, Nazareth, Israel

Jerusalem Today

Why I want to go to Israel this Summer: Mystery (Part 2)

Continued from Why I want to go to Israel this Summer (Part 1)

What does it mean to Encounter the Risen Lord? Where can I find God?

The Greeks of John 12 didn't seem to meet with Jesus. It is mysterious that Jesus would become all of a sudden cryptic, mystical and not down-to-earth. But maybe we are overlooking what is just under our noses. Mystery.

The term lost its touch indefinitely with the English Romanticists (think Conan Doyle or Poe). "Mystery" has merely become the catch word for all literary and theatrical genre in which there is something to be solved. This is perhaps the fruit of French Enlightenment which stood by the fact that all mysteries could be solved, all knowledge could be plumbed. A "Mystery" however is not that. A mystery is a problem that exceeds a solution. The Greek word "Mυστήριον" (mysterion) means secret or enigma. It in turn could be derived from an interesting set of words:

μύω (myo): to close or shut [one's wounds or eyes]

 στερεός (sterion): Solid  

Mystery is a genre in which we shut our eyes. We don't know. Who can plumb the depths of the Mystery of God, the Holy Trinity; Father and Creator, Father of Mercy; Son and Redeemer, made Incarnate for us; Holy Spirit and Counselor, Giver of Life? The simple answer is that no one can. Mystery is the place where we close our eyes. At this point it is not we who figure God out but God who lets us get to know about God.

Proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven (Bl. Fra Angelico)

Where can I find God? In Mystery. It is the specific locus where God descends to us. Throughout the ages Saints and Scholars have used the term to plumb the depths of God-become-man: The Mystery of the Incarnation; The Triune Godhead: The Mystery of the Holy Trinity; But most originally Jesus himself would speak of "The Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven" (cf. Mt 13:11 also see Strong's Lexicon for all uses of "mystery") among other New Testament authors. 

"πνεῦμα ὁ θεός...God is Spirit" (Jn 4:24)

To get to know God doesn't mean to 'go somewhere' and get to know Him. Even reaching Heaven requires that we detach ourselves from the categories of when and where (through death) so as to encounter the God that transcends time and place. Heaven is where we no longer speak of "where" or "when". It is to be brought into the timelessness of God's "I Am" (cf. Ex 3:14; Jn 8:58). It is to be in the present tense yet exceed the present in Eternity.

But How can I meet Jesus here and now?

To be Continued...

Why I want to go to Israel this Summer (Part 1)

Of recent some people have heard that I was going to the Holy Land and have been curious as to why I have decided to take on this sojourn and what I was planning to do when I am there. Here are my poor efforts at unpacking an answer fit for a good question and an even better enquirer.

Israeli Desert

The average temperature in Israel in the month of July could boil and then fry an egg concurrently. The arid turf has the tough and rugged Mediterranean feel to it and pretty much is welcoming to your typical spaghetti western runaway bandit or lost Prairie Indian. Other naysayers have averted to the possible dangers that lie in an overseas trip to the Middle East, i.e. terrorist attacks on Christians, Arabic habibis (don't ask), and the myriad of infinite possible things that could go wrong.

Thus I agree with the Major Premise: It is not the ordinary challenge I would take on...I would rather do it in another part of the world more rugged and beautiful.

Something like this for example would suit my fancy (Mt. Kazbegi, Republic of Georgia)

There is however something so special about Israel, so much so that it is referred to as "The Holy Land" by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. "Holy" because of historic reasons. "Holy Land" because of its sacred nature as hallowed ground for several civilizations mutually considering it their own. Most importantly for me and - I hope for every Christian - is that it be the locus of their encounter with the Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ and Risen Lord.

What does it mean to Encounter the Risen Lord? Where can you find God?
St. John's Gospel narrates that Greeks came to meet Jesus. They said to Phillip:

"Κύριε, θέλομεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἰδεῖν...Lord, we wish to see Jesus."(Jn 12:21)

Phillip turned to Andrew and they in turn presented the petition to Jesus.

"23ὁδὲ Ἰησοῦς ἀποκρίνεται αὐτοῖς λέγων, Ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα ἵναδοξασθῇ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου...And Jesus answered them saying, 'The Hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified'"(Jn 12:23)

 The Encounter has not occurred as of yet but Jesus prefaces it with something very special. That those who have not encountered him upon encountering him would bring Him glory, that Jesus' Mission would be fulfilled.  Jesus then in a cryptic way says:

24ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν,ἐὰν μὴ ὁ κόκκος τοῦ σίτου πεσὼν εἰς τὴν γῆν ἀποθάνῃ,αὐτὸς μόνος μένει: ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ, πολὺν καρπὸν φέρει...Amen Amen I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies upon it...it remains one. If it dies however, it bears much fruit." (Jn 12:24)

 This affirmation is not followed by a narration of Jesus' Encounter with the Greeks. In fact, no meeting is scheduled. Whether the following words were uttered in the Greeks' presence or not it is not clear. Whether it was John's senility upon writing the Gospel or if that those were simply the chain of events to occur are not certain. My simple reading of the situation is such: For us to meet Jesus...Jesus gave up His Life for us so that He could be even more accessible and 'user-friendly' to us. To state the case even more clearly: Jesus died for us so that we could say "We" with Jesus. Let's make things crystal clear: Jesus uses the image of the dying "grain of wheat" as his own life paradigm. Jesus' Death and Resurrection gives unto the eternal Multiplication of the Loaves, the true Miraculous Catch, or the Leaven of God's Kingdom.

This astonishing causation explains how we Encounter Jesus but we still do not have the answer to the question: What does it mean to Encounter the Risen Lord? Where can you find God?

To be Continued...