Days 8 and 9: Nazareth, Cana, and Galilee: “Tears are the prayers you cannot put into words.”

We took a rainy trip to Nazareth and visited the Basilica of the Annunciation. To the average person, this just a beautiful church; however, most visitors are like us – pilgrims – who are coming to see the place upon which this gorgeous church was built – the remains of the childhood home of the Virgin Mary. It was here that the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary when she was in the range of 12 to 14 years of age and told her that she would bear a son, and His name would be Jesus, and He would be the Messiah. Can you even imagine? In my mind, this is where IT all began. We were fortunate that we were permitted to have Monsignor Al and Father Rich celebrate Mass in the Basilica, and it was gorgeous! What a blessing.

                                               This altar is built above the remain of Mary's Childhood home.

We toured the church and then moved next door to the Church of St. Joseph. We climbed below and got to see the ruins of the Holy Family’s home and St. Joseph’s workshop. There was a beautiful painting of a young Jesus puttering in Joseph’s workshop, and some mind-blowing stained glass windows that showed Mary and Joseph’s wedding, Joseph being reassured by the angels about Mary’s pregnancy, and Jesus and Mary comforting Joseph on his death bed. All were very touching. 

We had lunch at the Sisters of Nazareth. They stuffed us with pasta, bread, salad, steak, potatoes, carrots, and oranges. They took amazing care of us! Then the power went off. We hoped it meant nap time after such an enormous meal, but no such luck. 

 

I think Sister Albertine and Monsignor Al think idle hands (and feet) are the devil’s workshop, so they keep us moving ALL THE TIME! We trekked along to the Garden of Blessed Charles de Foucauld. Charles de Foucauld was a French Catholic religious and priest living among the Tuareg in the Sahara in Algeria. He was assassinated in 1916 outside the door of the fort he built for the protection of the Tuareg, and is considered by the Catholic Church to be a martyr. His inspiration and writings led to the founding of the Little Brothers of Jesus among other religious congregations. He was beatified in 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI. (This last part is from Wikipedia).

 After visiting this lovely garden and chapel, we drive to Cana – the site of Jesus first miracle when He turned the water into wine at the Wedding at Cana. The Franciscan Wedding Church at Cana is built above what are believed the ruins of where the Wedding at Cana was actually held. Tony and I, along with all of the other married couples, renewed our wedding vows during a special ceremony conducted by Monsignor Al and Father Rich.

On Wednesday morning, we awoke and after breakfast, Monsignor Al and Father Rich celebrated Mass outside by the Mount of Beatitudes Chapel on the property where we are staying. Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass here 2000. 

After Mass, we boarded the bus and headed to Capernaum, where Jesus lived during the years of his ministry. Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen living in the village.  Matthew the tax collector also dwelt here. (We saw ruins of Peter’s house, and I have included a picture of them below. There is now a Franciscan Catholic Church with a glass floor looking down upon these ruins built atop the remains of Peter’s house.) Capernaum is one of the three cities cursed by Jesus for its lack of faith. 

We also toured the ruins of a synagogue from a Capernaum, and I have included a picture of me and Pam O’Connell on the site of the synagogue. I should mention that Pam and I grew up just around the block from each other, but we have not seen each other in years. We have thoroughly enjoyed catching up with each other on this trip. 

One of our more “out there” adventures was riding the Jesus Boat on the Sea of Galilee. This boat is a replica of the type of boat used centuries ago, and the men taking us were fantastic. Since we are American, they raised the American flag on the boat and played the “Star Spangled Banner” for us. It was moving for all of us, especially the veterans. After Monsignor Al led us in a prayer, they played “Amazing Grace” by Elvis Presley, and Tony looked at me and whispered, “I think they think we are Baptists.” Then they taught us the “Hava Nagila” dance. I almost killed myself trying do dance as we all danced around in a giant circle on a moving boat, but what a fun time! 

Once we docked, we headed to lunch for St. Peter’s fish, where we had the option to eat the whole entire fish (except for head and bones) or get a fish fillet. It was my first chance to drink whiskey over here, too, which was much-needed since I have been coughing like a mad woman after fighting off bronchitis that I had the week prior to the trip. I have coughed very little since that whiskey lunch. It was scrumptious, but the way! On the way out, a couple of us noticed an ancient transformer on the exterior of the restaurant that was partially covered in dead stuff. If that were my building, I would not be comfortable with something like that so close to my building!

With fully bellies (and booze for some) we moved on to Tabgha to visit the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish. Recall the Gospel of Mark 6: 30-46

The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in a boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognize them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived there ahead of them. As they went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages, and buy something for themselves to eat.” But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denari worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the fives loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men. Immediately, he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountaintop to pray.

The Church visited at the Benedictine Monastery at Tabgha was built on the area where Jesus performed this astounding miracle. Sadly, a group of extremist Orthodox Jews set fire to the site in June of 2015, and it did extensive damage. The attackers left Hebrew graffiti on the walls reading, “All idols will be smashed,” and the fire did extensive damage to the monastery, the church entrance, an office for pilgrims and a book storage unit. Bishop Shomali, with whom we met last week, was quoted after the incident as saying, “There is a real escalation in anti-Christian violence: from a small fire which leaves little damage, to a bigger fire, and finally to an arson attack which is intended to produce major damage and even killing.”

I don’t want this blog to be political, but if there is anything I have learned from traveling, it’s that most people around the world want what we all want – to live our lives peacefully. Sadly, extremists from too many groups – religious groups, political groups, etc. – find ways to threaten the peaceful existence of their fellow human beings. Too many of us seem to only label Muslims as “terrorists.” Most Muslims I know are lovely and wonderful people. Extremists are terrorists. Whether someone is a Muslim extremist, a Jewish extremist, a Christian extremist, a liberal or conservative extremist, a racist extremist, or whatever, and he or she hurts people or property in advancing that extremist cause, that person is a terrorist. 

It was bittersweet to visit a site where a Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 people while looking at the extensive damage Orthodox Jewish terrorists perpetrated on this Holy Site. 

With this in mind, we moved to the site of St. Peter’s Primacy which incorporates part of a 4^th century church in a Franciscan chapel built around the “Rock” on which Jesus built His Church.. We Catholics believe this church is the Catholic Church, and the Primacy of Peter means St. Peter was our first Pope. Theoretically, St. Peter, as the first Pope was the “Rock” on which the Catholic Church was built, and the rock in the chapel was really the Stone Table of Christ (Mensa Christi), as the Gospel of Matthew 16:18 states: “Look at Peter, the great foundation of the Church, that most sold of rocks, upon whom Christ built the Church.” Tony and both found touching the rock while saying a prayer to Jesus and St. Peter to be a profoundly moving experience.

After a drive past part of the Jordan River, we came back to the Mount of Beatitudes for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Apparently, one can earn a plenary indulgence by going to confession during a pilgrimage. According to Catholic Answers, an indulgence is defined as “the remission before God of the temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven as far as there is concerned.” The first thing to note is that forgiveness of a sin is separate from punishment for the sin. Through sacramental confession we obtain forgiveness, but we are not let off the hook as punishment goes. There are two kinds of indulgences, partial and plenary. A partial indulgence removes part of the temporal punishment due for the sins. A plenary indulgence removes ALL of it. This punishment may come in either life, in the form of various sufferings, or in the next life, in purgatory. What we don’t get rid of here, we suffer there.

So we had the chance to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. I am not sure making my confession in a building will ever be the same. I sat on a wall and prayed prior to my confession and wept, for some inexplicable reason. Candidly, I am not much of a crier, but I have cried more on this trip than I have cried in that last couple of years. When my teary self reached Monsignor Al (who I have known for almost 45 years), he said, “Don’t hold back your tears. Tears are the prayers you cannot put into words.” Isn’t that amazing? That is one of the blessings I will take away from this trip.

After dinner, some of us had a conversation with a Christian Palestinian man who we have gotten to know a bit during our time here. We asked him to share with us what it is like to live as a Palestinian in Israel. Honestly, it is horrifying. I cannot imagine even most Jewish people in Israel realize how poorly Palestinian people here are treated. For example, West Jerusalem is Israeli, and East Jerusalem in Palestinian. If someone in West Jerusalem calls in ambulance, it takes 6-8 minutes for the ambulances to arrive. If someone in East Jerusalem asks for the ambulance, it may take an hour or more. Why? Because there will be a Jewish paramedic on the ambulance who is afraid to go to Palestinian area without the police escort. Now, PLEASE note, I am NOT bashing Jewish people. I fear that in revealing this, some of my dear Jewish friends will be furious with me, but I am not for or against Jews or Palestinians. I am only praying for justice and peace for all people, and I am not seeing that happening here. Another example: Jewish extremists from a settlement in the West Bank (land is supposed to Palestinian territory under International Law) firebombed two houses of Palestinian residents injuring three peoples and killing an 18-month-old baby. Another example? Jewish citizens of West Jerusalem get full rights of citizenship, including Israeli passports and the right to vote. Our friend, who was born and grew up in East Jerusalem (along with five generations of his family) is listed as a citizen of Jordan with residency in Jerusalem. He cannot vote, and he cannot get an Israeli passport, but he has lived here his entire life. How is that fair? There was recently a story about an Arab running in the West Bank. Some settlers (again, building homes in land that has been designated at Palestinian under International Law) starting chasing him because they claimed he looked like a terrorist. He was running in running shorts and a light shirt, for goodness’ sake! Soon a police car drove up while he was being chased. As I imagine many of us would do, he ran to the police car for help, and the settlers screamed, “Terrorist,” so the police shot and killed him. What we have learned is that after this, instead of anyone showing remorse for the mistake and anyone being punished for shooting first and verifying later, the runner’s house was demolished and some of his family members were then attacked and also accused for being terrorists. 

We heard a Muslim Palestinian speaker last week who, I believe, said it best for me. He said, “My family has been here for hundreds of years, and the Israelis have claims that go back 5,000 years. I don’t care. Why can’t we all just live together and get along?” I don’t understand the Israeli persecution of the Palestinians. Is every Israeli bad? No. Is every Palestinian good? No. What I see however, is that the Israeli government does not seem to want peace, and there are Israeli extremists who will only be satisfied when all of the Palestinians are gone. It feels a bit like what Hitler wanted for Germany, which is ironic to me. My sense is that many everyday Israelis do not even know what their government is doing to make the lives of Palestinians so brutally difficult. 

For now, I hope you will join in praying for a just and lasting peace here, whatever that may mean.

Day 7: Moving to Tiberias

Today was sad in that we had to say goodbye to our “home” in Jerusalem (the Knight’s Palace Guest House) and move on to Tiberias. In doing so we drove past Magdala (home of Mary Magdalene) and into Galilee. The Sea of Galilee and the area around it is truly beautiful. There are many small villages around Galilee that are truly gorgeous. Among The areas in Galilee that one might recognize are Tiberias (where we are staying at the Mount of Beatitudes), Magdala, Capernaum, Nazareth, Agrippina, Japhia, Mount Tabor, Mount Moreh, Cana, and Kadesh, just to name a few.

On the way to Galilee, we stopped in Emmaus. In the Gospel of Luke, Luke mentioned that Jesus appeared after his death and resurrection to two of his disciples – a man and a women (presumably a married couple) – while they were walking on a road to Emmaus. These disciples has heard about Jesus’s tomb being empty, and they were discussing the events of the day when they came upon Jesus. “Their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” He soon rebukes them for their unbelief, and He explain prophecies about the Messiah to the. On reaching Emmaus, they ask the stranger to join them for the evening meal. When he breaks the bread “their eyes were opened” and they recognized Him as the resurrected Jesus, and Jesus immediately vanishes. I often wonder if I would recognize Jesus in moments like this. I pray that I would.

While in Emmaus, Monsignor Al and Father Rich celebrated Mass at Emmaus Nicopolis on or near the spot where this meal with Jesus and his two disciples occurred. After the Mass, we hit the road again, and we visited Megiddo. In the ancient world, it guarded the western branch of a narrow pass and trade route between Egypt and Assyria. In Greek, Meggido, is known as “Armageddon,” and many believe that Jesus will return to this location on earth to defeat the Antichrist (the beast) or Satan in the Battle of Armageddon, then Satan will be put into the “bottomless pit” for 1,000 years.

After this adventure, our bus driver and our guide treated us to a real picnic lunch with fresh sesame bread, cream cheese, local spices and yogurt. Yummy!!!

At this point, we drove along the Sea Galilee until we arrived at our “home” for the next few days, Mount of Beatitudes Guest House. It is so lovely and peaceful here. We are going to Nazareth and Cana tomorrow!

Peace!