Cana

We arrived there in late afternoon, walked uphill (almost everyplace we traveled was uphill) to the Franciscan church built in 1881. As in other places in the Holy Land, there is no consensus as to where Cana's exact location is, but for now, it seems historians have settled on a village in Galilee just outside of Nazareth, now called Kefar Kana.

For seven couples in our group, the visit to Cana was the experience of a lifetime, for at Cana, in the presence of the rest of us and Father Francisco, they renewed their wedding vows. Afterwards, we all gathered in the beautiful courtyard, which was discovered in excavations that also unearthed an ancient synagogue and mosaic pavement. We toasted the couples with wine that is reputed to be of the same quality as that which was made two thousand years ago. I thought about being there, sampling the wine of Jesus' first miracle.

Caesarea

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on the faithful. For he knows how we are formed, remembers that we are dust. Our days are like the grass; like flowers of the field we blossom. The wind sweeps over us and we are gone; our place knows us no more. Ps. 103: 13-16.

Caesarea was built by Herod in 40 B.C. He was merely a puppet king of Rome, but his ambitions were high. He wanted nothing less than to imitate Roman glory in Jerusalem. The program of building he embarked upon was unrivaled in the known world. Herod's aim to achieve lasting renown led him on an extensive building campaign with the construction of amphitheaters, temples, aqueducts, and palaces. His most ambitious project was the port city of Caesarea, named in honor of his Roman masters, and he imbued it with all the splendor of the day. Caesarea had a temple, a hippodrome, an amphitheater, a theater and baths. He built an aqueduct that carried water into the city from miles away. It was truly magnificent and Herod achieved his fame, but it was short-lived. Herod's magnificent port city began to sink almost as soon as it was built, for it had been built on an unstable fault along the shore of the Mediterranean.

Caesarea appears in the Book of Acts in the New Testament. In Acts chapter 8, we learn that a deacon named Philip ministered there and was visited by St. Paul. In Caesarea, St. Peter converted Cornelius the first Gentile to become a Christian. And St. Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea while waiting to be sent to Rome to be tried.

I had been on the Mediterranean in Spain and in Greece, but this place felt different. It was melancholy even in the bright sunshine. We sat in the Roman theater which still holds concerts and seats 5,000 spectators and we opened our Bibles and read about the conversion of Cornelius. It was a dazzling day, sunny and cloudless. The sea provided a beautiful backdrop. Everywhere we looked we saw ruins. In the clear waters of the Mediterranean we could see the remains of Herod's palace, a stark reminder of how fleeting and fragile life is. Our guide pointed out the barely discernible stables and the remains of the bath houses used by spectators and visitors to the hippodrome. The theater where we read was once the scene of the massacres of thousands of Jews who were forced to fight to the death as gladiators. As the Palmist says, they and Herod are all gone and what remains is in ruins. And so Herod is like the fool in Jesus' parable who built his house on sand, The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined. Mt. 7:27.

The Mount of the Beatitudes

The Mount of the Beatitudes is an idyllic place, perfect for Jesus' proclamation, Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them" Mt 5:17.

The mount is a tree-lined hill not far from Capernaum. It overlooks the sea of Galilee. Of the places I have been so far in the Holy Land, I decide that I like Galilee best. Here on the mount, I feel a peace and serenity that I have not experienced anywhere else. I presume that it is the beauty of the place that is the cause. Every direction I turn provides me with beautiful vistas, shades of green against blue sky and water, rolling plains, flowers, distant mountains, date-palms and cypress trees. Blessed tranquility! Regal nature!

As soon as we arrive, I am invigorated, ready to explore my surroundings. It is beautiful and yet not what I had expected, still it is not disappointing. Jesus walked here. I can't get over this. This is where He did his most intense teaching, where he challenged the multitudes to become truly like Him, Christians. Doers of the word.

In this place Jesus reinforced and reiterated our moral code. In this setting and speaking with divine authority, He urged, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mt 5:3. He spoke with intensity and urgency. He let his listeners know how God views the issues that concern humanity to this day: divorce, anger, adultery, marriage, oaths, retaliation, love for our enemies, alms giving. You have heard it said. . .But I say to you. . . Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Mt 5: 6-7. He spoke as the Messiah, and the people saw in him someone greater than Moses; they believed. They took His words to their hearts. In Galilee, against that setting, it was easy to do. His words challenged then; they challenge today. Today the challenge falls on deaf ears.

We walk through the arched ambulatory into the main chapel of the domed octagonal church built by the order of St. Francis, and there Father celebrates Mass. Above us sunlight filters through the stained glass windows on which the words of the Beatitudes are written.

Mass is always an emotional experience for me, and on this day I am moved to tears. On this day, I really understood Jesus' powerful words so urgent and so unheeded. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. . . So be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Mt 5: 43-45, 48.

The Church of the Pater Noster

He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, When you pray, say : Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. . . Lk 11:1-4.

The gospels do not identify the "certain place" where Jesus gave us the Pater Noster, but tradition places it in the Mount of Olives. History tells us that Constantine built a church on the spot, but it was later destroyed by the Persians. Then when the Crusaders came along, they erected another church, and they called it the Pater Noster. After they were expelled, the church fell into ruins until the 19th century when a Florentine princess purchased the site and built a Carmelite Convent there. This is the church we found when we arrived at the mount around mid-morning. There were already crowds there. Father led us directly to the courtyard where the Church of the Pater Noster is situated, urging us not to get side-tracked by stores and vendors. There were so many people there that it was hard to imagine the quiet mount of olives where Jesus prayed all those years ago.

As had become our custom, we read the Scripture and then we prayed the words that Jesus taught us in probably the very spot where his disciples heard the words. I tried to reconstruct the scene as it might have been on the day that Jesus taught the prayer, but there were too many distractions. And then I realized, the crowds, vendors and the clicking of the camera shutters were evidence that although we live in a chaotic world, if we speak to the Father from the heart, He will hear us and answer.

Capernaum

When John the Baptist was arrested, and Jesus was rejected in his hometown of Nazareth, He went to Capernaum and made it His chief residence during His Galilean ministry. There He performed several miracles. He healed the mother in law of St. Peter and the Centurion's servant. He cast out devils, and called his apostles. He cured a paralyzed man. He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. Mt4:12-14. It was in Capernaum that Jesus also had many of His confrontations with the Pharisees, and it was in Capernaum that He even confronted his disciples when they had their discussion as to who would be the greatest. Jesus' exhortation? If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all. Mk 9:35.

Jesus was accepted in Capernaum. There the people listened to Him. They saw His miracles, and they believed. His apostles heard his call, and they followed Him. Most astonishing and amazing of all was the centurion, Lord I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word and my servant will be healed. 8:8.

So there in Capernaum on the northwest shore of the sea of Galilee, we sat in the ruins of an ancient synagogue which some believe was built above the one where Jesus preached. We read from scripture and meditated on His words, Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Mt 4:17. It was another perfect autumn day. Earlier, we had walked the grounds, stopping to see the place where it is presumed the house of Peter's mother in law had once been.

The River Jordan

And when Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him: and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. Mt 3:16-17.

Like so many other landmarks in the Holy Land, the Jordan has its superlatives. The Jordan is a meandering river that takes 200 miles to flow a course of only 65, starting out as melting snow from Mount Hermon in the north, feeding the Sea of Galilee and another Lake Huleh, before finally ending up in the Dead Sea. It is the world's lowest river, reaching a depth of nearly 700 feet below sea level at the Sea of Galilee and 1,286 feet below sea level when it ends in the Dead Sea.

It is the most important river in Palestine and the most significant river in scripture. Who hasn't heard of Jesus' baptism by his cousin, John? Or of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, bathed in rays of light, as God introduces His Son? Most significant is the trinitarian event that occurred before so many present that is, the voice of God the Father and the sight of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Before Jesus' arrival on the scene, John was baptizing for the removal of sins, but Jesus was without sin and John was reluctant to baptize Him. Jesus' response, Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness Mt 3:15. For Christians, Jesus' anointing by the Holy Spirit and commissioning by God the Father is the cornerstone of our faith. It is the start of His ministry. From here on He proclaims the Kingdom of God.

We hurried to the Jordan in the evening, as the sun was beginning to set. Father was going to have us re-enact our baptism (for you are baptized only once), and as there were nearly forty of us in the group, he wanted to do this while there was still light. Naturally, I had not known what to expect, so I was surprised to see so many people there at that hour of the evening. Some were being completely immersed in the river; others were just having water poured over their heads. Many were wearing long white gowns. We looked like tourists, most of us wearing the yellow caps the guide had given us to wear so that he could find us easily and we could spot each other. We carried our cameras of course and all the other unnecessary stuff we had collected that day.

Father led us to a spot the guide indicated. We sat down facing the river, which looked very green to me after the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee . It was a peaceful river; I could barely detect its movement, and the cool breeze that was blowing was barely discernible. Had it been blowing harder, we would have felt cold.

Father asked me and another person to read from the gospel of Matthew. Then we said a prayer. We all took off our shoes and one by one, we stepped into the river. Taking a small amount of water in a conch he had brought for us, father poured water over our heads and prayed the baptismal prayer. We were so quiet, I could hear the silence.

Afterwards, I felt light as I do when I step out of the confessional. None of us said much. We were lost in our own reverie. We had just renounced Satan. What more can be said? Two thousand years ago, Jesus had allowed John to immerse Him in these very waters! I could almost hear John's voice, Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. How awesome is that?

Jericho

After driving in the Judean desert for miles, we began to glimpse the fertile oasis in its midst. The patches of green in the middle of so much brown and gold were a soothing sight. We soon discovered that these were date-palm groves. This is why you can find the largest and most delicious dates in the world around Jericho. Seeing the change in the landscape helped me to understand what the Israelites must have felt when they saw it after wandering around in the desert for forty years. And to think that most of them were not even going to get to leave the desert! That's what they got for being such a "stiff-necked" people.

Jericho was an attractive place then and it is now because it was built around the Spring of Elsha, which releases some 1,000 gallons of water a minute. It was the winter home not only to Herod the Great (a title he gave himself) but to the last caliph of the Umayyad dynasty around 743 AD. It is also the lowest town in the world at 1200 feet below sea level.

But Jericho is notable for so much else. Jericho is the oldest place in the world, at least 10,000 years old. By the time Joshua conquered it for the Israelites, it was already an ancient city.

During the time of Elijah and Elisha, there was a school of prophets living in Jericho, and in the New Testament, Jericho was the home of Zacchaeus, the tax collector, who climbed the sycamore tree in Luke 19:1-10 to get a glimpse of Jesus. Jesus was just passing through Jericho when He looked up, saw Zacchaeus and told him, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today. Imagine that! In Jericho, Jesus healed the blind man, Bartimaeus (Matt 20:29-31), and the parable of the Good Samaritan was set on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.

There in Jericho, some of us took a cable car up to the Mount of Temptation, where Christian tradition holds that the devil tempted Jesus during Jesus' forty days in the desert. A beautiful Orthodox church is built at the site.

After lunch and an afternoon in Jericho, we boarded our bus for Jerusalem. We had much to ponder and meditate upon in Jericho, this ancient city that fits so prominently in our Biblical past. Most of us spent the rest of the journey into Jerusalem in quiet contemplation.

Mount Tabor

To get to Mount Tabor, we traveled by bus part of the way and then took a "very fast" moving van to the summit. The drivers could probably tell they were scaring us out of our wits as they wound their way around and up, but I tried to keep my mind on more significant things, and I prayed a lot!

Mt. Tabor is 1,500 feet above the Plain of Esdraelon, the biblical plain between Galilee and Samaria, where some major Old Testament battles took place. The Plain of Esdraelon or Jezreel was notably the place where Deborah and Barak defeated the forces of Jabin and Gideon defeated the Midianites. But most importantly, Mt. Tabor is believed by Christians to be the place where the miracle of Jesus' Transfiguration took place. If I am going to die, I thought, what better place than this!

In no time we were at the top and making our way to the Basilica of the Transfiguration, a magnificent church first erected in the 4th century and later enlarged by the Crusaders. But this one was not the original. This one has only been in existence since 1924. No matter, it is nevertheless magnificent.

Father celebrated Mass there. I had the privilege of doing one of the readings. Our Mass followed a beautiful Latin Mass celebrated by no fewer than twenty Franciscans. I did not take pictures of the Mass out of a sense of reverence and awe.

Afterwards, we wandered around the premises. I looked out at the Holy Land below and breathed in the crisp evening breeze. "Tabor rises up to Heaven like an altar that the Creator built to himself," I read somewhere. How true. In those moments, I was transported back through faith to witness the miracle of the Transfiguration.

Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Added to my list of "I nevers" is Qumran. I never thought I would one day walk on the same ground as John the Baptist! Again, there I was! I also never thought I would think the desert was beautiful, and it was.

Qumran is by the Dead Sea, about 25 miles southeast of Jerusalem. It is thought to be the place where John the Baptist grew up, and it is the place where in 1947 a Bedouin boy found the Dead Sea Scrolls. I took a picture of the cave reputed to be the place where the scrolls were found. It looks very much like hundreds of other caves that are seen in the rock formations in the area. I say "rock formations" because that is what they are---not mountains but cliffs and plateaus, jutting up here and there throughout the desert. Everything is sand and sand-colored, and it looks beautiful when the sun hits it a certain way. And then of course, there is the Dead Sea, a magnificent blue.

We visited there in the late afternoon after going up to Masada. The guide took us around, showing us an Essene monastery, perhaps the very one where John the Baptist lived. He cautiously told us that scholars are not sure whether this is indeed the one or not, but being there and seeing it was enough for me. How easy I am!

The recounting of the story of Dead Sea Scrolls sparked a renewed interest in me. As a Christian, I have always taken the New Testament for granted. It seemed enough for me to just believe, but again, here I was, looking at the very place where the scrolls were found. I cannot explain the feeling---it was something much better than awe.

The Dead Sea

I was not prepared for the Dead Sea. I didn't think it would be so beautiful, but there it was. The waters looked to me to be almost the same hue as those of the Caribbean. I had thought (though I should have known better) that it would be a dull brackish color. Imagine a sea so salty that nothing can live in it. That is what I thought, but no, no and no. The sea is alive with millions of microorganisms that thrive in its unique ecosystem. It is indeed very salty, with a salt content of over 30%, according to one source 10 times saltier than the Mediterranean. Its saltiness makes it very buoyant; we were able to float in it effortlessly. It was amazing.

The Dead Sea is constantly being replenished by fresh water from the Jordan River and other nearby springs, but the temperatures in the desert are so hot that the water evaporates very quickly, making the salt content high. Mixed in with the salt are rich minerals that are considered to be very therapeutic. Needless to say, you cannot bathe in the Dead Sea without the ritual slathering of mud over your body. I tried it. Dead Sea mud has a velvety smooth texture, and it leaves your skin feeling great. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth, 1350 feet below sea level! Traveling into the area makes your ears pop.

Masada

Some months back before my trip to the Holy Land, I read an article in National Geographic about Masada, Herod's fortress in the desert. Actually, the fortress had been built by Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus, but Herod rebuilt it (and made it even more luxurious) as a retreat against any who would try to kill him. The fortress was more like a magnificent palace, containing bathhouses which used an elaborate system for bringing water to the site, around 16 storerooms where he stored food supplies and munitions, and lavish sleeping chambers.

Masada is best known for what happened there around 72AD. A group of Jewish extremists in the first Jewish war with Rome, sought refuge at Masada which came under Roman siege. Of the 960 at Masada all but seven committed suicide rather than surrender to the Romans.

Masada (pronounced Metsada) is located in eastern Israel and is 1,300 feet above the Dead Sea. From its summit, the view is spectacular. Standing there, looking down at the sea below and the desert beyond, I could hardly believe I was there!!!

The Holy Land

The Sea of Galilee has several names in the Bible. St. John refers to it as the Sea of Tiberias, and it is also called Gennesaret. I did not know that its name refers to its shape (like a lyre) and is derived from the Hebrew word for harp. The sea is not really a sea at all but rather a fresh-water lake. It is fed by the waters of the Jordan River from the north. It is the largest freshwater lake in Palestine.

Galileans have made their living from fishing, so it is no wonder that Jesus' disciples were fisherman. Jesus chose just who he needed to be fishers of men.

On the day we boarded our fishing boat to cross the sea into Magdala, the waters were calm. Although it was mid-morning, a soft early morning breeze still lingered. It was such a beautiful day that I chose to use my video camera for most of the trip across. The sea is nine miles long and five miles wide, so we were at our destination much too soon. During the time on board I thought about what it would have been like to be on a fishing boat with Jesus, and especially when he calmed the storm. Before coming on board, we were told that the sea is noted for its sudden violent flare-ups and that we were fortunate to be having such smooth sailing. Still, I could not help but think about that time and of Jesus' admonition, Where is your faith?

As had become our practice, someone read from Scripture and we sang and we prayed. We glanced out at Magdala, and I thought about Mary Magdalene. After our brief sail, we were on the bus en route to Mount of the Beatitudes where Father Francisco would celebrate Mass.