Farewell Israel

Farewell to the land of olive oil and honey. You will be missed, but forever etched in my mind and my heart. After this experience I will keep the Lord's greatest commandment always close to me. "...Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22: 37-39 


This pilgrimage has truly transformed me!

It's All A Matter of Love

Today is our last day in Israel. On this bright sunny morning we celebrated mass outside at the Mount of the Beatitudes. This is the site in which Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount.
"When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

      “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

      “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

      “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

      “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

      “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

      “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

      “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

      “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

      “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."   Matthew 5:1-12

There are many altars located outside on the Mount of the Beatitudes.
In this photo a group of Italians are celebrating mass.

The interior of the church at the Mount of Beatitudes

Tabgha

This is the place that Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish. I learned that at this spot it was possible to speak to 5,000 people because of the directions of the winds. If the winds go from Northwest to Southeast it possible to this day for a large crowd to hear you for miles without the use of a microphone.

"Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds,and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children."  Matthew 14:13-21

This is also the place where Jesus commissioned the disciples and appeared to them after his resurrection.

"But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:16-20

God is Good and God is Great!

This morning we traveled to the Church of the Transfiguration to celebrate mass. The church is located at the top of Mount Tabor. I was so amazed at the fact that someone actually designed plans for a church on the summit of this mountain. The tour bus took us to the base of the mountain and then we had to take taxis to the top of the mountain, because the road is too narrow for the buses to travel up the mountain.
"Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone."  Matthew 17:1-8

A view of Mount Tabor from Mount Preipice

The altar of the church

Art work depicting paintings of Moses and Elijah

Mosaics on the ceiling of the altar of the church

The Church of Nain

The Church of Nain was built in the spot where the Jesus performed one of his greatest miracles. In the town of Nain Jesus raised a widow's son form the dead. The church is now cared for by a Muslim family.

"Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd. Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep. ”And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!” This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district." 

Luke 7:11-17

The Church of Nain

The altar of the church

These two paintings depict two artists' rendition of Jesus raising the widow's son from the dead 

Mount Carmel

After leaving the Church of Nain we visited the church at Mount Carmel. This where the prophet Elijah summoned the false prophets of the God Baal.

"So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. “Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. “Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people said, “That is a good idea.”
     So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made. It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. When midday was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.
      Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” So with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two measures of seed. Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water."  1 Kings 18:20-35

Lord, When You Came to the Seashore...

This morning we sailed on the Lake of Jesus which is also known as the Sea of Galilee.  While sailing on the Sea of Galilee we sang songs of praise and enjoyed a lovely morning giving God the glory. This is also the location where Jesus's first disciples dropped all that they had to follow him. 
 "Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.  And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.  But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him." John 5:1-11 

Sailing on the Sea of Galilee

The Church of Cana

After we returned from our boat ride, we then made our way over to the Church of Cana. This is the site in which Jesus performed his first miracle of turning water into wine. 

"On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him." John 2:1-11

The exterior of the Church of Cana

The altar of the church

The Basilica of the Annunciation

We then continued our pilgrimage to to Nazareth to have mass at the Basilica/Church of the Annunciation. This is the spot where the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. The Church of the Annunciation is the largest Catholic church in the Holy Land. We celebrated mass in the lower church. Below you will see various pictures of the church.

"Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her."   Luke 1: 26-38

The Basilica of the Annunciation

Another view of  The Basilica of the Annunciation

In this picture you see the Grotto of the Annunciation located in the lower church

The view of the roof of the church from the lower church

The upper church

Take Me to the Water

This morning we celebrated mass on top of the Mount of Olives, at a church called Dominus Flevit which means the Lord wept. 
"When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” Luke 19:41-44

Dominus Flevit

The interior of  Dominus Flevit

We said our goodbyes to Jerusalem and made our way to Galilee located in the north of Israel.  We then stopped at a baptism site called Yardenit which means little Jordan, to renew our baptismal vows. This is the  site in which Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. 
"Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Matthew 3:13-17

My baptism in the River Jordan

Tabgha

After we left the Yardnit we visited Church of the Primacy of St. Peter located in Tabgha. This is were Jesus appeared to his disciples for the third time after his resurrection. This is also the location were Jesus reinstates Peter after they shared a breakfast of fish and bread.

"Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord.Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead. So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon,son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep."  John 21:12-17

The exterior of the church

The altar of the Church of the Primacy of Peter