Jim Mahoney's Blog - Sacred to Etc.

Happy Thanksgiving

Of all the holidays, I enjoy Thanksgiving the most. While not overlooking the spiritual significance of Christmas and Easter, I cannot really say that I enjoy them because they are so exhausting. You put everything you have into those celebrations, connect with the wonderful crowds, and, by the end of those days, you have nothing left. I'm drained.

Thanksgiving is different. A lot of folks come for Mass. Things are reasonably quiet after that (note that I would not impose my very limited ability to cook on the rest of humanity). Later in the day, I eat Thanksgiving dinner with close friends (who have done an incredible amount of work to make the dinner happen). Then the day is done. It was peaceful.

In the midst of dealing with such packed days of never-ending things, and connecting and hopefully helping with so much heartbreak in many people's lives, Thanksgiving is an oasis of wonderful peace.

With the various things that have befallen me over the past several years, I end up with a sense of profound gratitude. I truly say "thank you" to God, to family, and friends. It is good to give thanks. It is good to just reflect on so many good things.

Today, I am at peace. In truth, it does not happen often. But when it does, I just want to savor it a little. And not forget it.

 

Our Parish Pilgrimage - Last Post

Although I said that the last post was the last post from the pilgrimage, an unplanned experience today changed my mind. I want to share it with you.

We had early morning Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. From there, the group was boarding the bus to go to Qumran, Masada, and the Dead Sea. Since my hurting knees had been assaulted by hills and steps yesterday going up to the Church of the Visitation, I decided to stay behind.

When we were in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre a few days ago, we had to wait in a long line for about an hour to reach the actual place where Jesus rose. We could not spend very long given the crowds and some stern monks whose job it is to keep things moving.

I truly wanted to spend a little time at the very place where Jesus rose. I recalled the words of Jesus to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. When I reached the entry way into the tomb, I offered the monk a small gift to make him happy. He smiled and let me go alone into the tomb. (hey, I'm from Chicago - you do what works!)

I want to share this picture with you. I will always treasure this moment. It is the place where the body of Jesus was placed after the crucifixion. It is the place where Jesus was raised from the dead. Without this, nothing makes sense. With this, we can hope.

At this, the holiest of all holy places, the Easter Mass is celebrated every day. So, in that spirit, Alleluia. It was so good to be here.

Our Parish Pilgrimage - Day Nine - The Holocaust - The Written Word - Mary

Our day began with a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. A cantor conducted a service that helped us focus on the spiritual impact of the Holocaust and the lives that were lost. We then moved into the memorial itself.

This was a morning when we were confronted by the memory of evil - evil that has been in our world since the first pages of the book of Genesis and as recently as today's newspaper. The monstrous evil of the Holocaust formed the Jewish people into a resolve that it never happen again. Our group went through this memorial with so much to think about and really little to say. The impression it made was lasting. In the midst of this evil, there were nonetheless people of extraordinary goodness who saved lives. Trees have been planted to honor those good people. Here is the memorial erected for just two of them:

I could write and write about the impressions of this memorial. Sometimes, the most eloquent recollection is simply silence.

We then went to the Shrine of the Book which was built to highlight the Dead Sea scrolls that were discovered in Qumran in 1947.. It is so incredible to actually be able to see one of the most ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament. Today, some pages from the book of Isaiah were presented. These manuscripts have been traced scientifically to the period that runs from 200 years before Christ through 200 years after Christ. They helped to document the accuracy of much later manuscripts. Until the time when these scrolls were discovered, the most ancient manuscripts being used were a thousand years older. Now we could get closer to the actual time periods when these manuscripts were written.

As Catholics, we believe that God is present in the Word just as in the Eucharist. So coming into contact with these ancient manuscripts brought us into closer contact with God.

After lunch, we traveled to Ein Karem, the home of John the Baptist and his family. This is where John was born:

From the Church of Saint John the Baptist, we then trudged up a hill (felt like a massive steep mountain!) to the Church of the Visitation. This is believed to be the place where Mary went to greet Elizabeth. A striking statue outside the Church conveyed the reality of these two women - one pregnant with the herald of Jesus, John the Baptist, and the other pregnant with Jesus, the Son of God.

On the wall behind this statue are copies of the Magnificat, the beautiful prayer of Mary in greeting Elizabeth, presented in many different languages.

Our Mass was celebrated outside today because another group was already using the Church. This was not a problem because we were on holy ground.

Tomorrow is our last day. I won't be posting because there is simply no time. We begin with our second Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, my favorite spiritual place on earth. We then head to Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The group will visit Masada, an incredible site with great significance for Jewish and Roman history. After Masada, then those seeking a creature comfort will be able to float in the water of the Dead Sea.

We'll return to the hotel. Shower. Pack. Dine. Head to the airport at Tel Aviv for a flight leaving at midnight with arrival at JFK in the early morning and back home to Corpus Christi.

This is the final post about the pilgrimage. (I do intend to continuing posting much more regularly - I promise.) These postings have given me the chance to reflect on each day and hopefully have given you some small understanding and sharing in the experience.

Each person on this pilgrimage will undoubtedly have different ways of looking at it. I do believe that none of the participants will be able to hear the Scriptures in the same way ever again; pray the Our Father the same way ever again, think about the events of Holy Week ever again; or just respond gliblly to the constant war of good vs. evil ever again. Hopefully, all these things were benefits and even more.

For me, this pilgrimage gave me the privilege to touch the place where we believe Jesus rose from the dead - the place that gives everything else meaning. Just being in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher helped to renew me - hopefully in some significant ways. For that - and for so many other things (including good-natured pilgrims whom we dragged all over the place) - I'm grateful - and glad that I could be here.

 

 

 

Our Parish Pilgrimage - Day Eight - Jerusalem - Jesus in the Dungeon - A Place of Betrayal -

Our pace today was a little less intense. Frankly, I could sense a little less energy in the group, but the  more precise observation might be that I sensed a little less energy in me!

We first went to the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu. The name essentially means the Church of St. Peter of the Cock's Crow. On the top of the Church is a steeple with a rooster - a reminder of the statement of Jesus to Peter that a cock will crow before you deny me three times. While the opinions of archeologists differ as usual, it is possible that this location was the house of Pontius Pilate and that Jesus was imprisoned here after the soldiers came for him in the Garden of Gethsemane. We descended into the excavations under this beautiful church to stand in darkness at the possible location of the cell of Jesus the night before his crucifixion.

(I hope that this does seem narcissistic.) I had an unusual reaction to this place which I kept to myself at the time because I wanted to reflect more on it before mentioning it. (typical uptight Irish Catholic male who can share more easily with hundreds and thousands rather than a few!) We stood in the darkness of this cell. Hard to get into. Total darkness. For some reason, I went back immediately to the neurosurgical procedure I had three weeks ago when the Gamma Knife gave me radiation for 22 minutes. I can imagine Jesus going through the time before his crucifixion and everything to prepare for his crucifixion in a state of total abandonment. He had to be afraid, terrified. Jesus knew at a far greater level what I experienced in that rather brief time. I preach what I believe - and I believe that God remains with us in good times and bad. Why does Jesus stay with us - because he understands suffering. He has been there. He has felt total abandonment while knowing his Father's love. I know understand more than I did at the time that Jesus was with me during my short period of time getting radiation. My experience was nothing compared to the struggles of most people. Regardless, it is still a comfort to know that we have a God who is there - who has gone through what we have gone through - and is determinded to see us through to an end of suffering, an end of anxiety, and ultimately life. Today I had the privilege to look at these things not through my eyes, but rather through Jesus' eyes.

We don't believe in an idea. We believe in a person, Jesus Christ. Not being in the Holy Land often makes it easy to believe simply in the divinity of Jesus. Being in the Holy Land makes it very easy to understand his humanity as well.

We then proceeded to the site of the Upper Room, the remarkably stark room, where Jesus is believed to have celebrated the Last Supper with his apostles. This may also have been the Upper Room where the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles. The architecture of this room is clearly not from Jesus' time. It came from the Crusaders and the Turks. Mass is not allowed to be celebrated in this room for reasons that I do not know. This is one of the few places where it is difficult for me to readily move into an experience of God. The reason may have something to do with the architecture - the fact that it doe not in any way look like the Last Supper as we have pictured it. The images from traditions other than Jewish or Christian also make it difficult.

The next place was the beautiful Church of the Dormition of Mary. Here the image is of Mary falling asleep at the end of her time on earth. There are different traditions as to where Mary's time on earth ended - some in Jerusalem and one in Ephesus. Who knows! I don't. It truly does not matter. What does matter is what we believe about the end of Mary's time - the person who gave birth to the Son of God clearly would have an ending on earth unlike any other. To think less would be to dishonor her importance to God. For Mary, the words of Jesus would ring so true: "I am going to prepare a place for you."

Our next stop was a repeat stop, the Church of Pater Noster. We were there several days ago, but the crowds and lines were too formidable. Due to the ingenuity of our guide, we arrived at a time when we had the place largely to ourselves. We prayed at the spot where, in all liklihood, Jesus prayed the Our Father with his disciples. An extraordinary and unique place of prayer.

We then went to a kibbutz for lunch that overlooked Bethlehem.

Since the group was so well-behaved and we had visited most of the major and minor places in Jerusalem, the group was dropped off either at the Jaffa Gate in the Old City or the hotel. Everyone could now return to spend more time praying or visiting places that they wished. Several engaged in what was apparantly a local custom called "shopping."

It is good to be here.

Tomorrow will be a day to confront the age-old battle between good and evil - in the Holocaust Museum.

 

Our Parish Pilgrimage - Day Seven - Jerusalem - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Today was the high point for me and, I suspect, for most, if not all, of those on this pilgrimage. To have the opportunity to celebrate Mass right next to the Holy Sepulchre of Jesus, the place where Jesus was raised from the dead, is a spiritual privilege and memory to be savored and cherished.

We headed over to the Old City for an early start. Our first experience was to gather for Mass. Since this is the place where Jesus rose, the Mass for Easter is celebrated every single day. Our group was given a small chapel right next to the Holy Sepulchre itself. I found the proximity between celebrating the Mass and the reality of the tomb of the risen Jesus way beyond description. To hear the Scriptures about Mary Magdalene discovering the stone being rolled away right at the place where we were gathered for Mass - to remember the convictions of the early Church, especially Saint Paul, that nothing makes sense for us as Christians without the Resurrection of Jesus - to know that there is no reason to despair, even in hard times, because we too will conquer sin and death as Jesus conquered sin and death by his Resurrection - this was one of those experiences that just leave me both drained and energized - words seem few and yet words seem many to begin to talk about this particular liturgy and place.

Celebrating Mass right next to the Holy Sepulchre:

Everytime during the Mass that the words mentioned "resurrection" or "eternal life" - they made an impression that may not have been explicit before our pilgrims participated in this liturgy. Who among us can say words like "Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again" without referring back to this time at the Holy Sepulchre.

(A word about the crowds: I was here four years ago and here for another parish pilgrimage 19 years ago. The crowds this time were far larger than ever before. This did make some thinhgs difficult. We wait in line for an hour to actually get into the Sepulchre of Jesus itself. But it was worth it. After touching the slab where the lifeless body of Jesus was placed after the crucifixion - what else can compare. And knowing that this is believed to be the precise place where he was raised up from the dead really wipes away any agitation about crowds that we had to face. The crowds caused us to rearrange and reschedule things. But our guide was phenomenal and handled all of these things in a way that made things bearable for everyone.)

Entrance into the actual place where Jesus rose:

We each walked into the place where Jesus was laid and Jesus rose. We touched the slab. We prayed. Many eyes were moist. Nothing can be better than this anywhere. At the Mass, the statement of John Kennedy came to my mind when he noted at a dinner of Nobel Prize recipients at the White House that this was the greatest gathering of intelligence other than the time that Thomas Jefferson dined alone. I did not mention the Kennedy/Jefferson allusion, but instead said that we were not the closest we would ever be to God with the exception of everytime we are at Mass, everytime that we receive the Eucharist.

We then visited the various places that are significant in the last days of Jesus: the place where Jesus was nailed to the Cross; where his body was prepared for burial; where the actual crucifixion took place; where Jesus carried his cross. The Old City was pretty much in bedlam, but does anyone really think that the Jerusalem of Jesus' time was filled with everyone walking through the narrow streets two by two according to height! It was bedlam, but it was bearable because of where we were.

The place where Jesus died on the Cross:

Realizing after some strenuous walking and climbing up and down stairs, it was time for us  to stop and sample some of the native culinary delicacies. The pizza was delicious. The freshly squeezed lemonade with pieces of lime sprinkled on it was truly a delicacy.

As a respite from our pilgrimage, the group then visited a recommended ceramics and pottery shop and a religious goods shop with reasonable prices. (In truth, both were recommended by me.)

(At this point, I left the group. My knee from the mishap yesterday was really bothering me. I headed back to the hotel to get off my feet. All right, I'm a wimp.)

The rest of the group when went to the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism. They also had the opportunity to pray at the Wailing Wall.

In thinking back over our day, I realize how wonderful it was to share this experience with parishioners and friends. We all approach our faith in different ways. But the mysteries we have experienced on this pilgrimage unite us in so many ways. Again, I appreciate the fact  that there is not one evident prima donna in the group. That makes is to much easier for everyone.

I'm exhausted - but just so happy about this day.

It is good to be here.

 

Some pictures from the past several days:

I thought I had made a new friend. I was wrong. He started to chew my hair and spit at me:

Sunset from the grounds of the Church at Emmaus:

 

 

Our Parish Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Day Six - Inside Jerusalem and Over to Bethlehem

(Sorry, my photos are not inserting themselves in the program. Hopefully, will have this figured out shortly.)

The importance and meaning of each day is becoming a little more difficult to describe. Essentially, the focus now has moved from just being observers of history and some places involving Jesus to now becoming participants in the story of Jesus and everything that surrounded him. We had to deal with the clear destractions of huge crowds and some uncooperative and unhelpful people who were pilgrims from a country that I will not name.

We started at the Church of Pater Noster and the Church of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives. We did pray at the Church of Pater Noster, but hope to return to it later in the week since the lines were so long. The Church of the Ascension started to put us in touch with the fact that Jesus did rise from the dead - and that this historical person, God and Man, was with us and is now totally with God. But his presence remains - in the Mass - in the Scriptures - and in this country.

 

(An unusual respite was the privilege to get close to a camel. While petting a camel that was willing to allow people to ride him for only a few dollars, the camel started to either munch on my hair or perhaps wanted to bite me. He was certainly spitting at me. My conclusion is simply that the camel had never once flossed after eating. Nor did he find the need to use mouthwash. When I studied Hebrew in the seminary, we were told that the worst possible breath was a camel's breath. I can now report with confidence that the professor was right.)

We then headed for Bethlehem. The usual way to enter Bethlehem was closed at the Israeli/Palestinian border. So our always adaptable driver found another way to get into the city.

We headed first for the Church of the Nativity, the birthplace of Jesus. We were disappointed because of a huge crowd that was in line to see the star placed at the spot believed to be the spot where Jesus was born. We would have had to wait in line several hours and, even though, it was not certain that we could get close enough. (None of us do long lines very well. Realistically, we made a good choice, but it would have been nice to see the star.) Frustrating - but any trip to the Middle East is always going to have difficulties and changes. This is the reality.

I asked the driver to take us instead to the Church of the Shepherds' Fields - not on our itinerary. This was extraordinary. We listened to the Scriptures telling about the Shepherds being visited by the angel who told about the birth of Jesus. We were in a cave under the church - probably used by shepherds. Shepherds and angels were mentioned prominently in the world of the Scriptures. Now we can relate to them in our world as well. Imagine the role of the shepherds - not valued by society, yet they became the ones given a message about the birth of Jesus. God takes the weak and makes them strong. We walked in the fields where this happened. Who can not be drawn into it?

Our bus then returned to Jerusalem and headed back to the Mount of Olives and went to the Church of Dominus Flevit. This is one of my favorite churches in the entire world. The open window behind the altar looks out onto the Old City of Jerusalem. Jesus looked at what was happening to Jerusalem and wept. From the Church, we could see the panorama of the city and also knew what had happened there to Jesus and what we would participate in over the next few days.

The nonabandoning love of God means that God is with us wherever we are - and in whatever circumstance we find ourself. When we laugh, God laughs, When we suffer, God suffers with us. Our God weeps for us because he loves us. God never ever abandons us. We'll return to this theme often during the next several days.

The Church and the Garden of Gethsemane were our last stops for the day. Seeing the olive plants in the Garden - that easily could date back to the time of Jesus. Knowing the suffering that Jesus did for us begins to have an effect on us because we are here. We won't forget that love so easily.

(I did have a nasty fall while in Bethlehem and went down hard to meet a sanctuary floor and wrench my knees. It did make the rest of the time a little more onerous than it should have been. However, with some icing, several handfuls of Advil, and a beverage that was recommended by a fellow pilgrim as medicinal, I hope to feel better in the morning.)

It is good to be here.

 

  

Our Parish Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Day Five - Caesarea Philippi - the Golan Heights - Emmaus - and Jerusalem

Today began with some uncertainty. The largest municipal workers' union in Israel called a general strike today beginning at 6 a.m. Fortunately, it ended at 10 a.m. Howewer, our schedule and places to experience had to change a little. Rather than just wait at the hotel until the strike was over, our guide arrange for us to head north and visit the Golan Heights. So, as intrepid pilgrims, we headed up to the Golan Heights right by the border with Syria. Fascinating, and just a little frightening inasmuch as all kinds of conflict was taking place in Syria, but it was not directed against Israel. We learned a great deal of history. One reminder of the awful tragedies and destruction in this region came from the signs all along the road that say that walking in the fields was prohibited due to land mines! Our rather talktative group became rather quiet as we went through those fields. Also, we were very  quiet when we saw Israeli soldiers practicing in their tanks!

Now the above may not seem like the most spiritual things to consider during a pilgrimage. In one respect, this is true. But as the day wore on, I started thinking about a major part of our religous tradition - namely that God works in human history. I'm going to talk about this with our group in the morning. God works in our history. Christianity is an historical reason - we are not an abstract idea. We are connected to a person who was both God and Man - not a myth - not an idea. A person, Jesus Christ.

At Caesarea Philippi, we recalled the question of Jesus asking his disciples who people said he is - Peter responded with his faith that Jesus was the Son of the Living God.

We then went to Caesarea which is a large port city build by Herod the Great. It was interesting to learn that Pontius Pilate lived there for a time.

We became more spiritual and less historical, though still real, when we arrived at Emmaus. The scene of Jesus where his two disciples recognized him in the breaking of bread is capturted so grandly in the large window in our Blessed Sacrament chapel at the parish. As on other days, the Mass in the little chapel at Emmaus was the high point of our day.

We rolled into Jerusalem at 5:45 p.m. Now the most intense spiritual dimension of our pilgrimage begins. I am really looking forward to seeing the way in which participating in this pilgrimage will change and deepen the faith of those fortunate enough to be here. I do not think that you can be in this land be unchanged. That happened to me the two prior times that I was privileged to be here.

Imagine going to sleep and knowing that tomorrow you'll have the chance to be in Bethlehem, the  Mount of Olibves, the place where Jesus ascended intlo heaven, and the place where Jesus suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In the profound words of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, we're not in Kansas anymore - or even Chatham.

I'm so blessed to be here.

 

 

 

 

Our Parish Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Day Four - Tiberias - Mt. Carmel - Megiddo (Armageddon) - Akko

(Again, sorry for no photos - I'm doing something wrong. Will figure it out.)

Today was a different kind of day. Began the day by simply looking out the window and seeing the Sea of Galilee. It does not get better than that.

We had early Mass at the Church of St. Peter in Tiberias, one of the four places in Israel where the Mass being celebrated is always the Mass of Saint Peter.

The bus then drove us to Megiddo. This was the site mentioned in the Book of Revelation as the place where the last battle would take place between good and evil. This is also called the battle of Armageddon. Even though these are physical places, it is daunting to start to think about the realities they represent - in this case, the reality of the battle of good versus evil that has gone on from the beginning of time. The only good thing is the realization that we believe with all our hearts that goodness will win.

We then headed to Mount Carmel, an intriguing place where God intervened so that Elijah could defeat the priests of Ba'al. It was a little disconcerting to find that, after God's intervention, Elijah then slaughtered all of his opponents - admittedly a rather common occurrence in parts of biblical history.

For lunch, we had falafel - a first time for my admittedly picky, yet pedestrian, culinary tastes. I actually enjoyed it.

We journeyed over to Akko, a center for the Crusaders. Toured underground excavations, including tunnels and sewer pipes.

Today was a little tiring, but it was another good day.

Must mention something about the group on this pilgrimage. Unless they are cleverly hiding something, this is a group of good and mellow people who easily deal with various changes that are necessary in our schedule. Not a prima donna in the group. A welcome feature of any group.

It is good to be with them - and good to be here.

 

 

 

 

Our Parish Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Day Three - Sea of Galilee - Sermon on the Mount

(For some reason, photographs are not being inserted. I'll try to figure this out later in the week.)

Today we faced the logistical problem of dealing with highways that were closed due to a bicycle around the Sea of Galilee. I resisted the urge to join the race, but have been saving myself for the New York Marathon. (Oops, just realized that it is on Sunday. Well, perhaps next year.)

The clear spiritual high point was the liturgy at the Church of the Beatitudes, near the place where Jesus is believed to have delivered the Sermon on the Mount, including the Beatitudes. Due to a change in schedule, the Church itself was not available, so this delightful Franciscan sister from Italy brought us to a place outside that had a large stone for the altar and smaller stones where the people could sit.

In reading the Matthew's Gospel for the Beatitudes, the effect was beyond description to identify everyone's feelings at not only hearing those words where they were first proclaimed by Jesus, but also looking at the Sea of Galilee where Jesus had spent so much time and worked some of his miracles there. At a pre-pilgrimage meeting, I had mentioned to our group that they would never hear the Scriptures in the same way once they had been in the Holy Land. I think that they now understood what I was saying.

After this, we went to Tabga where Jesus celebrated the  miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Once again, we experience the reality of God taking ordinary things and doing extraordinary things with them. Everyone photographed the beautiful third century mosaic of the loaves and fish.

We headed to Capernaum where Jesus had parts of his public ministry and where Peter and other apostles had their homes. The original foundation of the home of Peter's mother in law was now able to be seen after much excavation. We developed a clear sense of what Jesus' own home must have been like.

We headed to a place near the shore for what I considered a dreaded experience - St. Peter's fish for lunch. Fortunately, they also had chicken breasts.

A storm subsided so we went out in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. We listened to the reading of Jesus calming the storm and telling his apostles not to be afraid. Again, when you are present where these events happened, hearing them in the future will never be the same.

On the way to Tiberias, we stopped off at a plare on the River Jordan where many people go to be baptized. It is doubtful that this is the exact place where Jesus was baptized, but it nonetheless is a place that can accommodate many people and also has a wide enough part of the river for the baptisms. We sprinkled our group with water from the River Jordan and then renewed their baptismal promises.

Finally, reached Tiberias and our new loding for the next two nights. Imagine what it is like to look out your window and see the Sea of Galilee.

Everyone felt the spiritual power of this, especially the Mass on the Mount.

How good it is to be here.

 

 

 

  

 

Our Parish Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Day Two - Mount Tabor and Nazareth

The weather began to cooperate today so this made things easier. Traffic was heavy today due to a Moslem four day holyday. This caused us to make some changes in our schedule.

We headed first to Mount Tabor, the scene of the transfiguration of Jesus. During this event, Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus while Peter, James, and John were waiting for him.

Here we see in practice the passage from the Easter Mass which reminds us that "earth unites with heaven." Our whole life is meant to unite us with heaven. God does intervene in our lives. We catch glimpses of God's actions in all kinds of things. (I find that I best see God's actions after the fact, rather than before or during the fact!)

I do love Nazareth. It is hard to believe, yet wonderful to realize, that Jesus walked and lived in this town with Mary and Joseph. In Jesus' time, Nazareth had 400 people. Today, Nazareth has 70,000 people - and only one third is Christian. The rest are Muslims.

To read the passage from Luke's Gospel about the Angel Gabriel appearing to Mary and telling about the birth of Jesus is startling when you read it in the place where it happened. Nothing makes things clearer in the Scriptures.

We had Mass in the Church of St. Joseph, considered in tradition the place where Joseph lived with Jesus and Mary. I noted at Mass that this can give us a new understanding of the background of Jesus. Do we ever really think how much Joseph influenced Jesus - and how much influence Joseph had in the relationships and attitudes of Jesus during his adult life?  We shortchange Joseph in the practice of our faith by failing to appreciate his singular contribution to the development of Jesus.

One thing that I did not point out to the group was a sign that pointed the way to the Church of Jesus the Adolescent. I had never heard that title before - but again it reminds us of the development of Jesus with Mary and Joseph. The Gospels tell us little of Jesus' life with Mary and Joseph. Could it have been that different than the life of any teenager with his parents? People can fight about the theological question raised by this statement, but in family terms, Jesus was a teenager - and if we are going to be clear, Mary too was a teenager at the time that she gave birth to Jesus.

Tomorrow morning we head to Cana where 12 married couples on our pilgrimage will renew their wedding vows. Changing water into wine was Jesus' first miracle. Pray that the miracle of God's love will continue to support these parishioners and everyone who is in a special and lasting relationship.

It is good to be here.

 

 

 

 

Our Parish Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Day One - Nazareth

Just 21 short hours after our bus pulled out of Corpus Christi, we flew from JFK to Tel Aviv and got on another bus to head for Nazareth. Israel has had very little rain. It is badly needed. Since we have been plagued by the weather gods, we were able to bring Israel a tremendous thunderstorm. Unlike certain areas we all know and love, the power stayed on!

The group of 34 pilgrims seems quite congenial. No fistfights or arrests - always a good sign for the beginning of a pilgrimage.

It is always surrealistic to fly in a plane and notice on the TV monitors that the plane is flying near Iraq, Beirut, and other places of historical violence. So little has changed in the part of the world over the centuries.

Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up, has become a bustling city as you can see from this photo:

 

We'll be staying in Nazareth for two nights and then moving on to Tiberias.

A couple of quick thoughts as this pilgrimage begins. In essence, for me, this is a time to connect with the divinity and the humanity of Jesus. The divinity is obvious when we head towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the place where Jesus was raised from the dead. That divinity is also seen in the places where miracles were worked by Jersus. But it is also a time of connecting with the humanity of Jesus. We are in Nazareth where Jesus grew up. Everyone knew Jesus and his family, Mary and Joseph. Nazareth is also the place where the people turned on Jesus because they did not understand that he was in fact the Son of God. That haunting phrase: no prophet is without honor, except in his native place.

These times will be a time of being touched by grace - and as touch and walk in the land of Jesus, the land of the Hebrew Scriptures, the land that is the center of the three great religions. Pray for us. We'll pray for you each day.

Tomorrow, we have to be up early so that we can head to Mount Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration of Jesus. We'll see the ruinms of a Galilean village from the days of Jesus. Then to Cana where Jesus worked his first miracle. We end the day back in Nazareth visitng the Church of the Annunciation where the Archangel Gabriel told Mary about what would be happening to her. It is always surrealistic to be in such a place and, as you read the Scriptures, you remember that this is where it all happened.

I'm blessed to be here.