I haven’t forgotten about the final two blog entries and a wrap up reflection. Someone cut the fiber optic line to the parish on Wednesday and Century Link isn’t able to get anyone out here until tomorrow morning. I was able to turn my phone into a hotspot but was warned by Consumer Cellular (my provider) not to overuse it. So, I am just updating the bulletin and other essential things on the parish website.
I am still kind of a wreck with the sleeping but did a little better last night. I almost missed Saturday evening Mass but made it a couple of minutes late.
I will post the blog entries as soon as the internet is restored. Hopefully, that will be tomorrow morning. It is good to be back! Thanks so much for your prayers.
We are staying for a few hours at The Island Hotel in Netayna which is pretty close to the airport. We will be departing at 8PM and leaving Israel around 12:05AM. The flight from Tel Aviv to San Francisco is 15 hours and 5 minutes. I’m not sure whether or not I will be able to sleep on the plane but I am hoping that I will. If not, I will watch movies.
This has been an amazing trip. I will update the blog when I get home from the last two days. Today we weren’t able to have Mass as a group but joined a group of French speaking Benedictine nuns and brothers. It was a beautiful Mass with many blessings.
I’ll try and update everything before retiring tomorrow evening. Thanks so much for your prayers.
Yesterday was a busy and somewhat chaotic day. It wasn’t at all what I envisioned and at the end of the day the Lord reminded me that was a good thing. His ways are not our ways. I guess that’s thing that has always drawn me to the Mary. She had her plans and God broke through and changed them. Her response wasn’t to throw a fit but simply to proclaim His goodness and invite other people to do so. She shows us how to surrender.
We live in a world where so many people are jockeying for control and power and trying to manipulate and control others. Mary simply surrendered and said, “Be it done unto me according to thy word.” (Luke 1:38) If more people were docile to the Holy Spirit and seriously seeking God’s will and not their own, our world would be so different. Until all hearts turn back to God we are going to have chaos. Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit our interior Teacher who helps us to love in the midst of chaos and disappointment.
One of our pilgrims was sick yesterday and stayed behind. Her loving mother also stayed with her. (Moms are awesome!) I am so grateful to report that she is doing better. Another couple of pilgrims were overwhelmed by the aggressive behavior of the street vendors and noisy and chaotic atmosphere on the bus while we had to wait for a lengthy period of time to depart from a gift store and decided to just stay at the hotel and rest. I totally respect their decision. Everyone needs to have the freedom to do what they feel is best to allow the Lord to work with them. Like I stated earlier when the pilgrimage first began, while we were in the Shepherd’s Fields in 2007, I felt really prompted not to follow the group and stay behind and have some quiet time and reflection with a very important song. God directs us in the midst of the chaos and we have to have the ability to break away and follow those promptings. We also have to balance that with being respectful of others and remembering that we are part of a group. There has been some tension with that — that is to be expected. I am proud of how the pilgrims are shouldering all of these challenges!
We are off for Mass at Bethany and then going to the Dead Sea today.
Here are some photos from the events of yesterday.
We got to sleep in a little bit today and had a later departure for the Church of the Transfiguration. That was great because most of the pilgrims were tired from the previous day. There was a lot of travel but it was a great day.
We departed the motel and headed towards Mt. Tabor. It was raining and there were quite a few pilgrims waiting for the vans to take them to the top of Mt. Tabor when we arrived.
Unfortunately, our driver woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was extremely grumpy, yelling at us to hurry up and get into the van. He then tailgated the van in front of us and was grumbling the whole time during the trip and spinning the wheels out on the sharp curves. It was quite a ride!
When we got to the top he said the person ahead was a “new driver” and didn’t know what he was doing. The two of them got into an argument as we hurried out of the van. Ironically, since yesterday was the memorial of St. Catherine of Siena (an amazing saint) I was looking for some of her best quotes to share with the pilgrims. Here is one I would have shared with the driver, although I probably would have gotten kicked out of the van and had to walk up the mountain. 😂
It was cold and windy at the top of Mt. Tabor and a lot of the pilgrims didn’t bring coats. We got a brief introduction to the church and setting and then entered the church for a little while to look around and take photos. There was a group of pilgrims from Oregon celebrating Mass at the main altar. After Communion, a young lady with a guitar sang a beautiful song and the rest of the assembly joined in. I had never heard the song but it was prayerful and anointed. Wow! Wish I could have used my Shazam app to identify it, but I don’t have any cell phone service while I am away.
When we arrived in the sacristy the sacristan, a Franciscan, asked me who was the president. I was puzzled and waited a few seconds before answering with hesitation, “Joe Biden”. He said “no, who is celebrating Mass?” We don’t use that term but rather the word “presider” in our country. I laughed and said, I was the “president”.
We celebrated our Mass at the site of the ruins of a 13th century monastery that was destroyed by the Muslims. It was outside and it was windy but everything went very well. I forgot my recording device and had to use the Voice Memo app on my iPad. I just tried to edit and upload it but it is extremely choppy, so I won’t be able to share it. Tomorrow I won’t forget my recording device.
My homily was all about how God provides what we need. The Lord invites us to go away with him to receive grace and consolation when the going gets tough. We have to see our life in a constant movement towards our goal and remember as St. Ignatius tells us that the “consolation is for the desolation”. I totally understand Peter wanting to build three booths because consolation is such a grace but you can’t always be in a state of consolation and sometimes the most profound spiritual lessons we learn come from periods of desolation when we are forced to examine our motives and whether or not we love the Lord for what He gives us or for who He is. St. Teresa of Avila’s quote “Do not seek the consolation of God but seek the God of consolation” is something I try to remember. I remember having to address this issue shortly after I was baptized in the Holy Spirit in college. The consolations dried up and ceased and in a panic I went into confession telling the priest that something had gone terribly wrong. His response was to laugh at me and then give a great teaching on this topic.
As we were waiting for the vans to return to the top of the mountain, our guide told us that there was a disturbance earlier in the morning where some people attempted to block the entrance to the mountain so that pilgrims couldn’t come and visit the church. This is happening more and more and a few weeks ago there was an issue with people trying to desecrate the Blessed Sacrament. Please pray as Psalm 122 says for the “peace of Jerusalem”. Things are a lot different than when I made my last visit in 2007.
We departed Mt. Tabor and headed for Caesarea Maritima.
This was an important port on the Mediterranean that has been used in a variety of ways over the centuries. George provided a lot of information with regards to the Christian history. I wasn’t able to get all of it but there was a prison there were Paul was imprisioned before heading to Rome because he appealed to Cesar.
Here is a brief snapshot of the area from Wikipedia.
During the early Roman period, Caesarea became the seat of the Roman procurators in the region.[4][5] It later became the provincial capital of the Roman province of Judaea, Roman Syria Palaestina and Byzantine Palaestina Prima provinces. The city was populated throughout the 1st to 6th centuries CE and became an important early centre of Christianity during the Byzantine period. Its importance may have waned starting during the Muslim conquest of 640 in the early Middle Ages.[6] After being re-fortified by Muslim rulers in the 11th century, it was conquered by the Crusaders, who strengthened and made it into an important port, and was conquered by the Mamluks in 1265.
The Latin name Caesarea was adopted into Arabic as Qisarya قيسارية, a small fishing village on the ancient site. In the 1948 Palestine war its population fled ahead of or were expelled by the Zionist militant group Lehi and its houses demolished. The ruins of the ancient city beneath the depopulated village were excavated in the 1950s and 1960s for archaelogical purposes, and in 1977, the site was incorporated into the modern municipality of Caesarea.[7]
We were able to sing “Amazing Grace” in the amphitheater which had “amazing” acoustics. George explained how the Romans had a “vomitorium” where the Romans reportedly enjoyed their food so much that they went out, put their finger in their throats, and vomited up their food so they could go back and enjoy more. I did a little research and this seems to be a somewhat controversial idea some see as a myth. You can google “vomitorium” if you can stomach it and do a little research like I did. I found this article from Scientific American. The Romans gave us so much with architect, culture, politics, etc. It is sad to think they might have been responsible for an eating disorder.
On the way back from Caesarea Maritima to Jerusalem we had an incident where a car pulled in front of the bus and slowed down and tried to run us off the road. The incident quickly woke up those who had been sleeping on the bus and it was quite disturbing. The guy waved his hand and pulled ahead of us. I am not exactly sure what led to the incident but I said the Prayer to Take Authority right after it happened. That prayer has been so helpful to me over the last thirty years.
As we were getting closer to Jerusalem, I was talking with one of the pilgrims and asked if she had ever heard the song, “The Holy City” by Adams. She said no, and then a few minutes later as we were ascending to Jerusalem, George began playing the song over the sound system. Too cool!
Tomorrow we do some shopping, celebrate Mass at Dominus Flevit (the place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem) and go to the Wailing Wall and Temple Mount. I am anxious to see how good the pilgrims are at bartering and will try and capture some videos. I personally hate bartering and am not planning on buying anything.
Thanks again for your prayers. Here are some photos the pilgrims shared with me. I didn’t take very many pictures yesterday. Between all 38 of us I think I can collect enough photos to make a nice slideshow when we return.
Today was very busy with lots of traveling to different spots within a short distance. After breakfast we went to the Mount of Beatitudes to celebrate Mass. There were many other pilgrim groups in the area, but we were able to celebrate an outdoor Mass and Fr. Brian Hoelzen, LCC who has joined our group and is the son of one of the pilgrims was the celebrant and homilist for the Mass.
He gave an inspirational homily that you can listen to here. The three takeaways from the homily: 1) Don’t blame George. 2) Learn from Antonio. 3) Don’t be like the Marines. 😇 As he was preaching I looked out at the beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee and started thinking of all my fishing trips with my father. The waterworks began and then I turned and noticed that the spot we were celebrating Mass had a plaque that was the 2nd Beatitude, “Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted”. That was definitely not a coincidence. One of our pilgrims found some plastic tubing on the ground that was strangely shaped as a cross. His wife was tragically killed 4 years ago and collected crosses. That was a powerful sign of God’s presence with him. There were many others who received consolations as well. It was a beautiful Mass.
We then departed for Caesarea Philippi (which we didn’t visit during my 2007 pilgrimage) and George gave some fascinating background on this setting where Peter made his confession of faith. There is a cave that was part of a pagan temple and understanding right above the spot where this incident took place. It was a great visit because I understand a little more now about some of the references that were made, especially the gates of hell (or Hades) will not prevail.
We left Caesarea Philippi and went to the Primacy of Peter where Jesus gives Peter the Keys to the Kingdom. Many pilgrims dipped their feet in the Sea of Galilee and collected a rock at the beach.
We departed for Magda and saw the beautiful church the Legionnaires constructed. There were many side chapels and the neatest altar constructed in the shape of a boat. The photo is below. Downstairs there was a beautiful painting depicting the healing of the woman who suffered from hemorrhages and touched the tassel of Jesus’ cloak.
We then ended the day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. The crew put up an American flag and played the National Anthem. I then led the pilgrims in “Pescador de Los Hombres” and then we returned to the motel.
Here is the itinerary for our next leg of the pilgrimage:
Following breakfast at our hotel, we depart the Sea of Galilee and make our way to the Mount of Transfiguration for Mass. We continue through the ancient Herodian city of Caesarea Maritima before arriving in Jerusalem for overnight.
Yesterday was a busy but blessed day with the need to transfer hotels and lots of traveling time on the bus.
I wasn’t able to get online last night, so I am in the lobby of the Leonardo Club Hotel in Galilee typing this update.
We began by leaving the Heritage Hotel in Bethlehem and going to the Valley of the Shadow Death. (I got a preview of the “Shadow of Death” when I gazed in the mirror —still having a hard time with the sleeping routine.) Our guide, George, provided a fascinating explanation of this area and the journey people made to get back up to Jerusalem. St. George Monastery is located here and is built into the side of the canyon wall. The Valley of the Shadow of Death is believed to be the setting for Psalm 23 and the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
After our visit to the Valley of the Shadow of Death we returned to the bus and departed for Nazareth. There was a security checkpoint on the way to Nazareth as Israeli Citizens aren’t permitted to go into certain areas in the Holy Land and Palestinians have restrictions as well. That checkpoint went smoothly, but we had a delay at the one coming into Jerusalem from Bethlehem. Two young female Israeli soldiers stopped the bus as we were praying the Rosary. They boarded the bus with machine guns and insisted on viewing our travel documents. George got irritated and was telling the one in the front of the bus that we were just pilgrims who were in prayer. They exchanged a few words and when we drove away he said he told the young woman she was like his 18 year old daughter. 😆 He then told us about some pretty oppressive policies that non-Jewish people have to put up with since more and more radical people are pushing for an all Jewish state. He has to pay way higher taxes because he is not Jewish, he has travel restrictions and can’t be gone from the country more than six months or he can never return and he is not allowed to vote in elections. On our first day we passed a stadium for a football (soccer) team and he said he and any other non-Jewish people aren’t allowed to attend the games. The Zionist movement is gathering strength and it is sad to see that Christians who are promoting this don’t see how they are hurting and getting their own Christian brothers and sisters forced out of the Holy Land. They think if they build the third temple they will hasten the arrival of the Messiah. There is also the prophecy about the red heifer which you can read more about here. Pope Francis reminds us to build bridges and not walls. I think more walls have gone up than bridges since my last visit in 2007.
It is 4:24AM on Saturday (April 29) and I am sitting outside on the little balcony outside my room at the Leonardo Hotel in Galilee. I attempted to post a blog entry early yesterday morning but the internet was poor and it would keep erasing my work while trying to auto save. I finally decided I didn’t want to start my day in a spirit of frustration so I saved what I could and quit. It then dawned on me that I don’t have to do everything online but can prepare the entries on the laptop (or IPad) and save them and then cut and past them into WordPress.
One of the highlights for me on the 2nd day of our pilgrimage was visiting the Mt. of Precipice. This beautiful setting looks over the beautiful Valley of Armageddon. In my mind I have always pictured the Valley of Armageddon as a dry desolate place. I was completely wrong about that. It is lush and filled with agriculture. It was an important trading route in Biblical times and setting for many wars and invasions. There is a very incorrect plaque on the Mt. of Precipice that states Jesus jumped off the cliff. George said someone should take a hammer and destroy it. 😆 Luke clearly states that “ he passed through the midst of them and went away”(Luke 4:30).
We stopped for lunch at the YMCA! I guess the events that unfolded after dinner the night before weren’t just “pathetic” but actually “prophetic”.
We then headed to the Church of the Annunciation where we got a brief tour before heading up to the Church of St. Joseph. We received a great teaching about the Last Supper and how Leonardo DaVinci’s famous painting is theologically inaccurate. He pictures the Apostles as sitting in a chair but the actual posture would be to lean on the floor (George demonstrated this for us) and reclining on one of your elbows. That is why the Scripture says he reclined with them at table. Much religious art transposes the current dress, culture, and a customs of the time and projects them into the art. This is one of the huge advantages of Biblical archeology and research. We have been able to better reconstruct details and events and understand what things were like.
After our tour of the Church of St. Joseph we went back down to the Church of the Annunciation and celebrated Mass in the main church. The acoustics were great and I kept thinking about something George said when we were downstairs in the older church. There was an inscription that quoted the prologue of John’s gospel, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. He said it should say, “And the Word became flesh and “is” dwelling among us. Here is the homily from the Mass.
After lunch we headed to Cana where I was privileged to renew the marriage vows of a good number of the pilgrims. No one bought the awful Cana wedding wine.
We then headed to Galilee to check into our motel.
I am continuing to blog each day but the internet is so poor in this hotel that I am unable to post the entries. So, God willing, when we get to our next hotel this evening, I will have three days worth of posts.
It’s a miracle I was able to get on this long but it will probably go down so I’ll sign off.
Everything is going extremely well with so many blessings!
Thanks for your prayers. We are praying for you as well.
We enjoyed a very blessed first official day of our pilgrimage yesterday. It is about 2AM and while my internal clock is still a bit off, I wanted to sit down and share with you some of the highlights from our first day. Let me first start by sharing some of the photos some of the pilgrims emailed me.
We began our day realizing that Apple products have a glitch with adjusting to the time zone. Many people’s iPhones (including mine) automatically set themselves to the time zone in Hebron which is an hour ahead of Jerusalem time. I did a little research and found the post below on the Apple Community from another person who had the same problem. That post was created yesterday so it is obviously a glitch with the new software update. The inconvenience caused a few mixups with our group but nothing major. People were just off by an hour and had to be retrieved to get on the bus for our departure.
Hi I’m in Jerusalem, Isreal now and the clock keeps going from Jerusalem time to Hebron time zone, without even changing locations. Jerusalem time is an hour ahead of Hebron time The clock is not reliable and my location is on and can’t change it in general settings it’s greyed out.
I need Jerusalem time I’m not anywhere near Hebron.
Apple Community April 26, 2023
We departed after breakfast for the Shepherd’s field where we recalled the beautiful words from St. Luke which I have placed below.
I actually remembered the place from our visit in 2007 and how the group went down to do something but I stayed behind and looked over the field while playing “Bethlehem Morning” on my iPod. It was a moment of great consolation. We later celebrated Mass in one of the caves and when I stood up to proclaim the Gospel I hit my head on one of the rocks. Ouch!
George, our guide gave some great insights into what happened on that hillside and how shepherds tended their sheep. He said when a sheep would go astray the shepherd would go after it and then “twist” its leg causing an injury to teach it not to run off again. He would then place the sheep on his shoulders and carry it back rejoin the rest of the flock. I was told by numerous people that the shepherd would actually “break” the stray lambs leg. I found this response on the Catholic Answers website.
After our trip to the Shepherd’s Field we got back on the bus and went to the Holy Child School. Many of our parishes in Western Washington have experienced the sale of religious articles from Bethlehem over the years. I knew the proceeds from their sales went to help families in the Holy Land but I never knew specially how they were being used. It was a great blessing to visit the school and to see how this ministry is helping disadvantaged Palestinian Christians and Muslims build strong healthy families.
And here is an instructional video they shared with us that highlights their mission:
We were able to visit the classrooms and briefly meet some of the students. When they asked my name and I replied one of the children with great curiosity asked me, “How old are you?” I was a little taken back but answered truthfully. He then just gave me a perplexed look. Appearances and jet lag are deceiving. I’ll leave it at that.
After our visit to the school, we boarded the bus and went through the busy streets making our way to the church of the Nativity. We were scheduled to celebrate Mass at Church of St. Catherine which is right next to the Church of the Nativity at 10AM but ran into another “time” problem. The Palestinians daylight saving time calendar is different than the Israeli daylight saving time calendar. They switch their time zone at the end of the month while the Israeli one is changed earlier. Even though our paperwork said Mass was at 10AM the sacristan said it was actually supposed to be at 11AM. Being pilgrims and valuing flexibility we shifted gears and went back into the Church of the Nativity for some more information. It is actually the oldest church in the world and was never destroyed with all of the conflicts and wars over the centuries.
We returned at 11AM to celebrate the Mass in the side chapel. As one pilgrim commented during dinner, that actually turned out to be a great blessing as the side chapel was much more quiet and better suited for the size of our pilgrimage group. Here is the homily from the Mass.
We went for lunch at a nearby restaurant and while departing to get back on the bus were accosted by street vendors. One pilgrim thought the items (Jerusalem magnets) were complimentary and took them. That set him back $20. I knew better and just walked by the gentleman. Another pilgrim entered the bus with a set of magnets and then the “gentleman” came to the front door where I was sitting and kept trying to peddle the magnets. I tried to ignore him but he got more aggressive. He then demanded that I pass the magnets around the bus. I firmly said, “No!” Our guide returned to the bus and the man started raising his voice and speaking Arabic. I asked George, our guide, what he was saying. He said, “He is cursing you in Arabic.” Seriously? He then warned all of us that the vendors will be much more aggressive when we visit Jerusalem. Part of me feels bad because you know that people are just trying to make a living, but I don’t feel bad in holding people to a standard of being respectful. I wonder if it was like this during the time of Jesus?
Our bus then took us to a what was believed to be the tomb of Herod and from the view just below the mound you could see the Dead Sea. The itinerary said we were going to the Bethlehem Nativity Shop but that never happened.
Dinner was great but something very strange happened during our meal. The hotel had a violinist who playing background music. He played with accompaniment from his computer and was very gifted. I was talking with someone at my table and looked up to see a group of pilgrims dancing festively in front of the buffet (David dancing before the Ark?? Not exactly!) I was invited to join them but declined. A person approached me about doing the YMCA. I said, “okay” seriously thinking that would never happen. A few minutes later I heard the familiar tune and went out to join the group. Yes, it was quite pathetic with me having a hard time forming the “C”. I returned to my seat and someone said, “What happens in Bethlehem stays in Bethlehem.” I looked around at the kitchen staff (not smiling) and quickly departed my table signaling others to join me while saying, “Let’s get out of here before we get excommunicated!”
It was a wonderful and blessed day!
Our itinerary today is as follows:
This morning we drive to Wadi Qelt, along the Good Samaritan Road. We visit Jericho and view the Mount of Temptation. We continue to Nazareth for Mass at the Church of the Annunciation and visit the Church of St. Joseph. Next, we visit Cana the site of Jesus’ first miracle and pause for the renewal of wedding vows. We conclude with a panoramic drive to the Sea of Galilee for the night and ponder our proximity to 80% of Jesus’ miracles!
Based on this new story which is from yesterday I am pretty certain we won’t be going to Jericho as was planned for the day.
I thought of this song (which we used to sing in our Prayer Group in college) as we travelled down the narrow streets of Bethlehem this evening to our hotel. We arrived shortly before 7PM. The Heritage Hotel Bethlehem is very nice and the staff is friendly and helpful.
The trip was long and a little tiresome but overall it went well. During my pilgrimage of 2007, we departed via Newark, NJ and I don’t remember the rather chaotic protocols for boarding the flight to Tel Aviv we experienced at the O’Hare airport. Airline staff were making announcements about the protocols but the sound system was rather poor and I turned to one of the pilgrims and said it reminded me of Charlie Brown’s teacher. 😆
I am so grateful that everyone who checked luggage were able to retrieve all of their bags and nothing was lost. I went light this year with a backpack and carry on. So far our pilgrims are demonstrating patience and observing our sacred rule of “no whining”. We are however “wineing” as wine was complimentary on the international leg of our flight.
George, our guide, is great! He has been leading pilgrimages for over 24 years, has a degree in theology, speaks five languages, and has a great sense of humor. He gave an orientation talk on the bus that clearly revealed he is a man of deep faith. I am really looking forward to his insights and comments as we make our away around.
I, like the other pilgrims am extremely tired from the long trip, so I will be brief with my first post. Tomorrow we have a wake up call at 6AM and then will depart at 8AM with the following itinerary:
This morning we begin at the Church of the Nativity and celebrate our first pilgrimage Mass. Next, we travel to Shepherd’s Fields to reflect on the Word made Flesh in Jesus! Next, we visit the Holy Child Program serving Muslim and Christian children with special needs. We end our day witih a visit to the Bethlehem Nativity Shop and meet the Living Stones.
I have asked my fellow pilgrims to send me photos to share on the blog. Hopefully, they will be able to do that. My email is frnorthrop@thegraceofpentecost.com
Thanks for your prayers for all of us. We are praying for of you so keep submitting your intentions through this link. They come directly to me and I will specifically be remembering each them day during our celebration of Mass.
I can hear chanting coming from the minarets. The Muslims are calling each other to prayer and I am being called to retire for the evening after this beautiful prayer from Night Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours:
Lord, fill this night with your radiance. May we sleep in peace and rise with joy to welcome the light of a new day in your name. We ask this through Christ our Lord. 🙏
Night Prayer (Liturgy of the Hours) Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Easter
Thanks so much for joining us on our journey to the Holy Land. We all promise to pray for you as we retrace the steps of our Lord and the amazing love He showed for us.
Here is the itinerary for our journey. Rather than go to the trouble of setting up a separate account and blog for this particular pilgrimage, I am just going to use my personal blog to allow people to follow us on our journey. I will do my best to have an update everyday and may have more than one entry per day depending on what we experience. I am hoping to get other people’s comments, photos, testimonies during the trip so that everyone has a chance to share this faith journey.
I thank you so much for your prayers for all of us and all pilgrims in the Holy Land. I feel so privileged to be able to make my second journey to the land where God intervened in our human history in the most beautiful and unique way! Here is a link to make prayer requests if you have any. We will be praying for your intentions on this pilgrimage.
Check back soon for updates and rest assured of our prayers for you!
Holy Land Pilgrimage Blog 2023 