Home Going to the Holy Land

By the time you read this I will most likely be somewhere over the Atlantic on my way to the Holy Land. As a part of our formation here at Mundelein Seminary the third year class spends the winter quarter on pilgrimage. For the first time in 7 years we are going to the Holy Land. This means that I will be spending Christmas in Bethlehem! I’m very excited.

This is going to be a great spiritual opportunity which is truly once in a lifetime. I will get to spend 10 weeks in the land where our Lord walked. Much like the original disciples of Jesus, I hope to learn by following in His footsteps with the Gospels as my aid. Our first destination is Bethlehem where we will stay for about 5 weeks and then we move to Jerusalem for about another 5 weeks. In between there we spend a week in the Galilee region. Just to add a little more to the early church experience, I’m then going to spend 10 days in Rome.

Although this pilgrimage will no doubt be a very important time in my life, I know that this pilgrimage is not just about me. It is a great privilege to have this opportunity and I know that I’ve been given it so that I can better minister to my future parishioners. This experience is meant to be shared. I plan to start sharing even now by at least attempting to keep my website here updated as I go. We are supposed to have internet in our building in Jerusalem when we get there, but the situation in Bethlehem is a little more iffy. I will do my best to find places to plug in my laptop and upload my pictures and reflections.

Now I must go board my plane. We are flying this evening to Zurich where we have a 12 hour layover and then to Tel Aviv. From there we take a bus to the Little Town of Bethlehem. Watch for me on TV from Manger Square on Christmas Eve. Please pray for me and I will pray for you.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More