Holy Land Pilgrimage: Dec. 1-9 2008

For the last ten days, I have been a pilgrim with thirty-three others, in the Holy Land. This was my twenty-seventh pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine. What a transforming, up-lifting, healing experience each time.

We stayed in two hotels – at En Gev on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee in the north and at the Knights’ Palace in the Old City in Jerusalem – this hotel is owned by the Archdiocese (Patriarchy) of Jerusalem and a short walk from St Savior’s the Franciscan headquarters for the Custody of the Holy Land. Our 12 hour flight from Chicago through Madrid on Iberia Airlines was followed by a two hour bus ride from the coast of the Mediterranean through the Jezreal Valley past Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee.

Our first three days were spent visiting the sights of Galilee and Upper Galilee – beginning with an hour boat ride on the Sea of Galilee (the only fresh water lake in Israel – eight miles by ten miles), to Cana where the married couples renewed their marriage vows, to Nazareth where we celebrated mass at the grotto of the Annunciation, to Mt Tabor where we celebrated Mass
in the Franciscan church of the Transfiguration – from there we could see Nazareth, the Valley of Armageddon/Jezrael from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.
We drove the Golan Heights and Hula Valley in the north, surrounded by Lebanon on the left and Syria on the right to Caeserea Phillippi where in the front of the great shrine to gods of the Canaanites, Greek, Roman, especially the god Pan, Jesus asked the disciples: “Whom do you say I am?” And with Peter we proclaimed our faith that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. At the southern end of the Sea of Galilee/Lake Gennesaret, where the Lake overflows into the Jordan river, we stood in those flowing Jordan waters and renewed our Baptismal Vows – again, as if for the first time.

The next day was spent traveling to Jerusalem – ninety-miles south in the Judean hill country. On the way we drove to the top of Mt Carmel and to the seashore at Caesarea Maritima where St. Peter preached for the first time to a Gentiles in Cornelius’ home – Acts of the Apostles 10. From sea level, we went “up” to Jerusalem, 2400 feet in altitude, singing the Pilgrim Psalms, “I rejoiced when I heard them say, Let us go to the House of the Lord!” The last four days of our pilgrimage was spent visiting and celebrating mass in the Cenacle (Last Supper, Easter, Pentecost), in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the top of Calvary in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, and we celebrated Christmas Mass in Bethlehem. At all of these Franciscan churches, the mass each day is the mass that remembers the particular Gospel event, no matter what feast or season of the church year it actually is. So for the first time in my life, I did not celebrate the Mass of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th. Instead, we celebrated mass at Gethsemane where the liturgy is a special mass remembering Jesus in his agony after the last supper. We did end the mass by singing “Immaculate Mary” and praying for the USA.

One day was spent going “down” from Jerusalem to Jericho, from 2400 feet above sea level to 1400 feet below sea level to the lowest spot on the face of the earth – Jericho and the Dead Sea. There we walked through the ruins of the Essenes’ community where the Dead Sea Scrolls where discovered by a shepherd boy in 1947 and a visit to the mountain escape of King Herod, Masada. Whether we were walking down the Mount Olives on the path of Palm Sunday or walking through the streets of Jerusalem carrying a large cross praying the Stations of the Cross, or at the Pater Noster (Our Father) Church or visiting Shepherds Field outside of Bethlehem, we sang and prayed, shared faith and remembered all of our loved ones and those in need around the world. We laughed a lot and enjoyed delicious food and as our guide often said – “Shopping and Bathroom, Shopping and Bathroom.”

We were and will continue to be blessed by our ten days together – thirty-four persons from Chicago area, St Louis, and Kansas City MO who became a caring, life and faith-sharing community of believers. The Word of God has become ever more a living source of faith and healing, of strength and love.

Fr. Bill Burton OFM (www.biblicist.net) with whom I live in Chicago and I lead the pilgrims in prayer and reflection. Fr. Bill is a Biblicist, a friar who has a doctorate in Biblical Studies from the Biblicum in Rome. His teachings throughout the day added greatly to the pilgrimage.
I prayed for you all each day as we celebrated Mass. I would love to lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land for SFO’s. There we could reflect on the Rule of Life in the places where Jesus lived, taught, healed, died and rose. Inshallah! God willing! Since c. 1380, we Franciscans have been mandated by the Vatican to care for the Shrines and Churches, for Palestinian Christians and Pilgrims. Over 200 Franciscan Friars from around the world serve in the Custody of the Holy Land.

Happy Advent-ing! As the days become shorter and the nights become longer, let us place our fears and darkness before the Lord of Light.