From the ‘Holy City’ to the ‘Eternal City’
There were twelve of us who journeyed through the Holy Land – from October 15-23. With a lot of barrenness and one mountain and hillside looking just like all the rest, I can completely understand how Moses and the Israelites wandered for 40 years. Gratefully, several thousand years later, we had the assistance of highways and GPS; we made our way through the desert much quicker. (And for those who think Moses would have made it through the desert faster had he stopped to ask for directions – don’t bank on that one. Nice thought, but far from accurate).
We landed in Tel Aviv and traveled up to Haifa – making several stops along the way. The nice thing about this pilgrimage is that we seemed to progress from serene to chaotic … the closer we got to Jerusalem. Probably the most serene place was the Mount of the Beatitudes by the Sea of Galilee (now known as the Sea of Tiberius). Over the course of the three days we spent in that area, there wasn’t a single wave on the water. And the fact that our accomodations were outside of the city was also an appreciated thing; it gave us an opportunity to prayerfully reflect on the experiences of the days.
We walked the Stations of the Cross when we got to Jerusalem. There was commotion all around us – with people walking by and bumping into us – as we prayed. That was quite probably the same experience Jesus had as he carried the cross to Calvary; the city “didn’t stop” on that first Good Friday!
The experiences in Jerusalem were outstanding. The opportunity to spend gather at the spot where Peter denied Jesus, or where Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, or where Jesus wept over Jerusalem, or where Jesus was buried and rose – were moments that won’t soon be forgotten. And to be able to celebrate Mass at these sites was fantastic.
There will be a total of three (3) Holy Land videos – all of which will be posted when I have the time (and bandwidth) to get them uploaded.
VIDEO #1:
VIDEO #2:
VIDEO #3: