Today is the feast of Stephen. I chose this great saint and first martyr of the Church to be my patron at my Confirmation. So, that makes it my feast day as well. This morning I went down to the Church of the Nativity to see if maybe things would be a little quieter and I could pray. As I walked down to the Church I could tell that all the people of the last few days were gone and things were already back to normal. I was able to go down in the grotto of the church and sit next to the manger for a few hours and pray. They have placed a statue of the infant Jesus lying in a crib in the manger now. There were a few groups of pilgrims that came through while I was there it is often moving to see the great faith of the people that come. I was particularly taken by a couple groups of families from Korea. The father gathered all the children together with his wife and they all prayed together at the manger. There were also many more small children coming today and it was neat when the little kids would climb up into the manger to see the Baby Jesus.

 
Baby Jesus in the Manger

As I prayed this morning, my thoughts again returned to the shepherds, the first visitors to the manger. After receiving the message of the angel they had to go search and find the Christ child. What joy they would have experienced when they finally arrived at the cave and found the Holy Family. I was reminded of my own search and desire to find Jesus. For a while this morning I was able to share in the joy of the shepherds as I sat there and contemplated the miraculous things that took place here. The shepherds left the cave full of joy and wanted to go and tell everyone what they had seen. Their message has gone to the ends of the world now. This morning, following in the footsteps of those first humble shepherds, I and many others came to see the place where the Child was laid. Praise God for the wonderful Christmas gift of His Son.

St. Catherine’s Church Decorated for Christmas

See All The Pictures

Today was a very special day in Bethlehem. Christmas began with Midnight Mass followed by a wonderful reception with the Christian Brothers and the local community at Bethlehem University. We had a very nice mix of traditional English carols as well as some Arabic ones that I’ve become rather fond of now. After sleeping for most of the morning I made my way down to Manger Square. I was able to get into the grotto in the Church of the Nativity and kiss the star where Jesus was born. It was a little hard to envision the quietness of that first Christmas with all the people that were crowding into the cave, but it was still an amazing experience to be there at “ground zero” on Christmas Day.

Midnight Mass with the Papal Nuncio at Bethlehem University

As I walked the streets of Bethlehem today there were many more people out and about. It was nice to finally see a change from the normal day to day experience of Bethlehem that I’ve grown so used to in the past month. I have been waiting and waiting for “all the pilgrims” to show up. I even did my Christmas shopping early last week to “beat the rush.” However, it is somewhat sad to report that almost no tourists came. The local merchants were hoping for around 10,000, with that even being way down from previous years. However, as I walk the streets, I have seen almost no European looking faces. There were definitely more people in town yesterday and today, but they were all locals from right around Bethlehem.

You would think that Bethlehem would be the place to be on Christmas, but I think the fighting this summer caused a lot of people to stay away. One shopkeeper said that there were more Christmas lights hung this year than he can remember and yet he was very sad because no one came. I bought some nice little olive wood sculptures from some of the local Christian stores as my own kind of Christmas present to them, but it’s clear that the joy of Christmas is a bit subdued for many of the people here. It’s sad to say that the message of peace announced by the angels 2000 years ago is not at all the daily experience of people here in the Holy Land.

The Crowded Streets of Bethlehem on Christmas Day

On a more positive note, we all got invited by a local family here to have Christmas dinner at their restaurant. It turns out that this is one of the best restaurants in Bethlehem and we had a magnificent traditional Palestinian Christmas dinner. Everyone was in such good spirits and we had a wonderful celebration. I do have to say that I found myself looking at my watch from time to time throughout the day and was thinking about what was going on back home. I thought of my family gathered on Christmas morning and the big gathering at Grandma’s house. I’ve never spent a Christmas away from Kansas and things definitely felt different this year. Yet, this was a very special Christmas and one that I will never forget.

Now, don’t forget that Christmas just started! Despite the fact that I’m sure the stores back home are getting out their Valentine’s Day candy and your neighbors threw their Christmas tree to the curb already this evening, don’t you do the same. The Advent time of waiting and expectation is over and now it’s finally time to really celebrate the season of Christmas. I will be celebrating here in Bethlehem.

Here, of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ was Born
Come Let us Adore Him

The sun is setting here in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve and there’s a great sense of anticipation. There were many people out and about in the street today. Most of the excitement surrounded the arrival of a certain you know who all dressed in red. That’s right, the Patriarch has come to town. His Beatitude Michael arrived just this afternoon in preparation for Midnight Mass tonight. The Patriarch of Jerusalem is the Catholic Archbishop of what is basically the Holy Land. It was really something to behold. There was a big parade with many of the local scout troops playing drums and bagpipes and marching in procession. I enjoyed seeing the scouts from all over. We heard them practicing all week. I almost wanted to put on my uniform and join in.

Parade for the Arrival of the Patriarch

The Patriarch will be the celebrant tonight at St. Catherine’s (The Church of the Nativity is Greek Orthodox and it’s not Christmas yet for them…long story…tell you later). Unfortunately the Mass at St. Catherine’s, which is at Manger Square, is for ticket-holders only and you basically have to be a major political dignitary to get in. Everyone else just gets to stand in the square. So, instead of standing there without getting to go to Mass we will be having Mass in English with the Papal Nuncio at Bethlehem University. I and some of the other seminarians will be singing in the choir and it should be very lovely. Then, tomorrow morning we will go and have Mass down in the grotto where Jesus was born. It is really quite a priviledge to be in this holy place at this special time of year. This will be a Christmas that I will not soon forget and hopefully one that I will be able to share in many Christmas homilies to come. May the peace of Christmas come to the Holy Land and to you and your famlies this Christmas night.

The Patriarch Arrives in Bethlehem
(He Really is in the Car…I Saw Him)

See All The Pictures

Present-Opening Time

We didn’t speak the same language as far as Arabic goes, but I think we spoke a language that they understood just fine. They were so happy to have people there to play with them and communicate that they are loved. There were many smiles all around and much fun had by all. I think some of us are planning to go back more regularly while we are still here to play with the kids. What a merry Christmas we had today. Now, I’m off to another Christmas concert tonight. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to update this site next. So, I pray that you all have a very Merry Christmas and I will be praying for you especially from ground zero here at the Church of the Nativity.

 
Some Cute Kids Dressed as Shepherds and Various Things

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster
Rowan Williams, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury
Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian, Primate of the Armenian Church in Great Britain
David Coffey, Moderator of the Free Churches

They were hosted by Archbishop Fuad Twal, the Coadjutor Archbishop of Jerusalem

Distinguished Ecumenical Pilgrims from England

It was a nice prayer services as far as those things go. There’s only so much you can do when you can’t celebrate Mass. The highlight, I would say, really came after the prayer service. The university Olive Branch Choir gave a wonderful Christmas concert that really helped put me in the Christmas mood. I still felt a little chill when they were singing “Hurry to Bethlehem” and “O come ye to Bethlehem” and I had to think…O ya…I’m actually here this time!

Later tonight I went to an orchestra concert at St. Catherine’s. This was entitled a concert for Life and Peace that was televised all over the world and is apparently a pretty big deal. It was a very nice concert and the church was packed. It wasn’t Christmas music, but if was very nice. Manger square is starting to look like Christmas with lights everywhere. There still don’t seem to be many tourists thought. One bit of good news (for the locals anyway) was that it finally started raining today. That will be a nice Christmas present for a desert.

Concert for Life and Peace

http://stunink.shutterfly.com

Tomorrow I will write some narrative for my blog and get everything posted. This is a great way for me to keep up my journal of this pilgrimage, but it does take some time too. So, thanks for your patience.

We got up today and got a quick “official” tour of the Church of the Annunciation. We’ll be back again in January, so this was just a brief introduction. While standing outside the church, our guide had me read a little reflection. I was reading loudly so that everyone could hear. In the middle, the reading brought words to my mouth which referred to Nazareth as a “backwater place filled with hicks”. I kind of had to stop for a second hoping that no one living in Nazareth heard was I just said.

Ruins of the Ancient City of Jericho

 We then loaded up the bus, bid goodbye to Nazareth for a few weeks, and headed south for Jericho. Unfortunately, the site of the ruins of the city of Jericho was closed because the workers are on strike. We did, however, get to take cable cars to the top of the Mt. of Temptation. This is the traditional site where Jesus was in the desert for 40 days and was tempted by the devil. There is a monastery up there that I found very beautiful with many wonderful icons and an exquisite dome over the chapel. There’s one monk that lives up there and we were lucky that he was home. On our way out of Jericho we stopped by what is supposed to be the tree that Zacchaeus climbed in order to see Jesus (Luke 19:1-10). As ridiculous as that may sound, it turns out that the tree is indeed likely to be 2000 years old. There are however, other historical problems that seem to say that this is not the tree.

Monastery on the Mt. of Temptation

 
Rock Where Jesus was Tempted, Iconostasis and Dome in the Monastery Chapel

 Our final stop was at another monastery out in the desert like Mar Saba that we visited earlier. This one is dedicated to St. George and is in a truly incredible place. It’s in the middle of the desert on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho (the Good Samaritan went this way) in a big gorge by a river. This location is said to be where St. Joachim received the revelation that his wife Anne, who was sterile, would conceive. The child was of course Mary. So, you could say that the annunciation of the Immaculate Conception took place here. This final stop concluded our 3 day tour and we headed back to Bethlehem to continue our Advent preparation. I find that I have much to aid my meditation thanks to this wonderful trip so connected with the Holy Family.

 
Road to Jericho and St. George Monastery

See More Pictures

Our first stop today was the city of Cana. It is actually very close to Nazareth and only took us about 15 minutes to get there. Here we visited the “Wedding Church” which commemorates the story told in John’s gospel where Jesus changed the water into wine (John 2:1-11). Many couples come here to be married or to renew their wedding vows. Our guide had in fact been married here. One of the more interesting things to see here is an ancient stone water jar from the 1^st century that was found here. It’s a lot bigger than you might envision and would have indeed held a lot of wine. Speaking of wine, they do in fact sell quite a bit of “Cana Wedding Wine” here. I tried some, but found it a little too sweet for my taste. I’m sure the wine Jesus made was better.

Stone Water Jar Found at Cana

Mt. Tabor, See the Church on Top?

 From Cana we headed to Mt. Tabor and the Church of the Transfiguration. It was here on Mt. Tabor that Jesus took Peter, James, and John and was transfigured before them (Matt 17:1-8). Fortunately we had a couple hours to spend here, including having Mass. Mt. Tabor is basically a big hill that is all by itself with plains below on all sides. To get to the top you have to take special taxis because it’s too steep for the busses. As we were going up I couldn’t help but think that Jesus obviously had something pretty important in mind to take the apostles all the way up to the top of this mountain. It’s not the kind of place you would just go for the heck of it. It’s difficult enough to get there in a taxi, yet alone to walk up. When you’re on top it is in fact a wonderful place to pray. We had a beautiful day and I enjoyed praying the luminous mysteries of the rosary, meditating with new insight on the mysteries of the Wedding at Cana and the Transfiguration.

    
Church of the Transfiguration

 Much like St. Peter I felt “It is good to be here” and did not want to leave. However, after lunch we reluctantly said goodbye to Mt. Tabor and headed on to our next stop. We made a brief stop in the city of Nain where Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead (Luke 7:11-17) and then headed on to Megiddo. This is the famous Armageddon of Rev 16:16 (Har Megiddo = Hill of Megiddo). This city is in ruins now and has been the site of countless battles in history. The bible is full of references. Megiddo is what is known as a “tell,” meaning that one city has been built on top of the previous so many times as to make an artificial hill. Archeologists have determined that the tell of Megiddo has the ruins of 25 distinct rebuildings of the city. We saw an ancient pagan altar that was 7000 years old. King Solomon is responsible for one of the sets of walls around the town. I didn’t get any great religious insights at the place, but it was interesting to be there in such a famous and ancient place. Since the world did not end while we were at Megiddo we headed back to Nazareth for the night.

Ruins at Megiddo

 After dinner, the Mother Superior of the convent invited us to tour the excavations that were taking place under their convent. We thought we’d find some pottery shards or something small and insignificant. Instead, we found some of the most incredible ruins from the Crusaders, the Byzantines, and even the first century. The most amazing thing by far was the rock cut tomb from the first century complete with the stone that rolls across it. There are ancient documents that even mention things that would seem to refer to this site under the convent. Archeologists come each year and it will be interesting to see what they continue to find. Before bed a number of us went back to the Church of the Annunciation and prayed a rosary in Mary’s house. I was again overwhelmed. There I was saying the words “Hail Mary” in the very place where Gabriel first uttered this prayer. This is just an amazing place. I also bought a special icon of the Holy Family here tonight that is all the more meaningful having come from this city so close to the Holy Family.

Church of the Annunciation, Mary’s House in Grotto

See More Pictures

Today we loaded up the bus bright and early and headed north for a 3 day tour of Galilee. We’ll be going back for 5 more days in January, so this was just a taste. Our first stop was the ruins of the ancient city of Caesarea. This place is right on the Mediterranean Sea and is absolutely beautiful. The city was one of the major port cities in the first century, with a harbor that could hold 200 ships. There are lots of ruins including a Roman theater, hippodrome, and aqueduct. Also located here is what is beginning to be a recurring theme of our field trips, a palace of King Herod the Great. It seems he had palaces everywhere. However, this time he actually lived here for a while (See Acts 12:19). From the religious side of things, this city has a very important history. It was here in Caesarea that St. Paul was held prisoner before being sent to Rome to stand trial. (See Acts 25).

The Ancient Port of Caesarea

 From Caesarea we continued up the coast to Mt. Carmel and the port city of Haifa. From the top of Mt. Carmel we had an absolutely gorgeous view of the Bay of Haifa and the surrounding town. You might recall here about this place on the news this summer as Lebanon was firing rockets into this town. Next, we visited the Carmelite monastery on top of Mt. Carmel and the church dedicated to Our Lady known as Stella Maris. Like most churches here in the Holy Land, the present church was built in modern times on top of a Crusader church which was built on top of a Byzantine church. It is from this spot that Elijah is said to have had the vision of the small cloud that grew into a storm which the Carmelites came to see as an image of Mary (1 Kings 18:42). Inside the church, under the sanctuary is the cave where Elijah hid from King Ahaz and Jezebel.

Stella Maris Carmelite Church on Mt. Carmel
Cave of Elijah Below

 It turns out that Mt. Carmel is not just a single pointy kind of mountain like you might envision, but a long ridge. So we followed the top of the mountain inland for a few miles to the highest point. Here there is also a Carmelite monastery that is located on the site where Elijah had his famous duel with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:20-40). We also had a very nice view of the surrounding country. We could see the very lush and green Jezreel Valley below, as well as Mt. Tabor in the distance where we will go tomorrow. After seeing the large desert around Bethlehem, it was a very nice change to see how green and beautiful the northern areas are. I can see why Jesus would have liked to live here.

View of Jezreel Valley from Mt. Carmel

 It was evening by this time, so we headed on to Nazareth where we would be staying for the next two nights. It turns out that the convent where we are staying is right next to the Church of the Annunciation. This church is again, a modern church, built over a Crusader church, built over a Byzantine church, and this time built over a first century home. All of the ruins are contained inside the new church and you can actually see all the different structures. The most important thing is the first century cave that was the home of Mary. It was here that the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. One thing that is frustrating about the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is that so much has been added to the cave where Jesus was born that it can be hard to envision it the way it was originally. In the Church of the Annunciation, however, you really feel like you’re walking into Mary’s house when you go there. I was so overwhelmed to be in this place that I couldn’t even enter the house right away. I just knelt down at the entrance and prayed the first joyful mystery of the rosary for a while. St. John’s Gospel beautifully tells us that “The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us.” This phrase is written in Latin on the front of the church. However, down in the grotto, under the altar that is in Mary’s house, you will find instead the quote, in Latin, “The Word Became Flesh HERE”. This was probably the most amazing experience of the entire pilgrimage so far. Unlike the grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem with all the people, it was quiet here in Nazareth and I was just completely taken over by the thought of Mary’s encounter with Gabriel in this very place. Right before my eyes was the exact location where God became Man. I could almost see the encounter taking place in front of me and found myself listening longingly for Mary’s humble reply to the angel. I can’t really describe it adequately in words. This is a special place. I could have stayed there for much longer, but we have another full day planned for tomorrow.

Grotto of the Annunciation, Mary’s House in Nazareth
“The Word Became Flesh HERE”

See More Pictures

Tomorrow we are heading to Galilee for three days to visit Nazareth, Cana, Mt. Carmel and a few other places. I don’t know what the internet situation will be there, so you may not get an update until we get back on Tuesday. We’ll be going to Galilee for three more days later on, but it will be nice to able to visit the Church of the Annunciation in preparation for Christmas. This has been the greatest Advent ever. I should definitely feel prepared to celebrate our savior’s birth this year. It will be interesting to see how many more pilgrims will have arrived this week. They are hoping for a lot here and we will do our part in celebrating. Now, I’m off to dinner and I’m going to try to do better than the Blues Brothers this time. You are in my prayers.

I see by the number of people that are coming to my site now that there are quite a lot of people following my pilgrimage. I’m so happy that people are enjoying my pictures and stories. You really have to be here to experience it, but I’m glad that maybe I can share a little bit with people back home. Let me know if there’s anything you’re interested in that you want me to write about or get a picture of.

View of Bethlehem from my Bedroom Window

 Qumran with Famous Cave #4

From Qumran we went next to En Gedi. This place was made famous as the hideout of David when he was fleeing from Saul as told in 1 Samuel 24. David hid in a cave here and could have killed Saul when he entered the cave, but decided to spare his life. It was really neat to be in this area and see the great high cliffs and picture Saul in pursuit of David. It’s really kind of interesting to see the landscape in which all this played out. En Gedi remains an oasis to this day in the middle of a barren and rugged country. We hiked along a river to a spring and our guide pointed out some of the animals that the Bible mentions as being in this area, including the Ibex (wild goat) and Hyrax (translated gopher in our Bibles) which I thought were kind of cute (see all the pictures for examples). I really enjoy the meditation method on Sacred Scripture taught by St. Ignatius where you try to visualize the biblical story as vividly as possible. Now that I’ve been to this place, my image has changed a bit. Every time I would come to a cave, I would wonder if maybe that was the cave that David hid in. Who knows? It has to be here somewhere. It’s neat to envision the story taking place before your eyes. The climate is so dry here that not much has really changed over the years. It looks much the same as it did in the time of David. Check out the pictures and see if it matches how you envisioned this passage.

 The Oasis of En Gedi

On day 11 we visited the Herodian, the ruins of a palace of Herod the Great on top of a mountain near Bethlehem. It turns out that Herod had many palaces scattered about to serve as hiding places in times of trouble. Our next stop today was another one of these palaces. Whereas the Herodian is on top of what would be considered a big volcano-like hill, nothing could prepare me for what we found at this next palace. We had been skirting the lowlands in the valley all day with these huge cliffs to the west. As we approached our destination our guide pointed out what I would consider a mountain with a plateau on top. Herod’s palace, and indeed an entire village, was located on top. The place is called Masada. I’ve never seen anything like this. Here is this huge steep mountain with a flat top on which people actually built a small little city. It reminded me of something the Mayans would have done in Peru, except in a desert. We had to take a cable car to get to the top. The place was chosen for its strategic location. It was very difficult to get to the top and there was no way an army could mount an attack (or so it would seem…) (note the foreshadowing). It turns out that Herod was probably never even here to use his palace. He is actually buried at the Herodian where we were the other day and died before he ever had need of his palace here at Masada.

 Mountain of Masada, There’s a City on Top

View of Dead Sea from top of Masada

The real claim to fame of Masada comes from the 2nd century, about 136 AD, when the last of the Zealots (remember Simon the Zealot, the Apostle) sought refuge from the Romans on top of Masada. Because of the symbolic nature of this group as the last stronghold of the Jews, the Romans were going to spare no expense to put an end to them. They estimate that there were probably about 900 people living on top including women and children. In order to capture the fort, the Romans employed the standard technique of a siege. Believe it or not, they actually built a siege wall around the mountain. You can still see the wall and the various forts where the Romans camped. The siege lasted over two and a half years. I said before that you would think that no army could mount an attack on the top because of the steep sides, but the Romans had another idea. As unbelievable as building a wall around a mountain is, they actually decided to build a ramp from the valley floor to the top of the mountain. You have to see this to believe it, but that is what they did for two and a half years. Using wood and stone they built a ramp that rises almost a thousand feet at a nice gradual incline. You can still see the ruins of the ramp today and it is impressive. The Romans rolled a battering ram up the ramp and knocked down the wall. However there is huge twist in the story. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that when the Romans finally breeched the wall they encountered not a battle but only a couple women and children and 900 corpses from everyone else who had committed suicide rather than be taken prisoner. Each husband killed his wife and children and then ten men were chosen by lot to kill all the other men. Finally, one man was chosen to kill the other 9 and then himself. Some of the historical details are now questioned, but it is an amazing story. I had never heard of this story or of Masada before today, but there was apparently a famous movie made about it. I will have to look it up when I get home.

Ruins of Roman Ramp to Top of Masada

Our final stop was one of no religious significance at all, but was a lot of fun. We finished up the day by going swimming in the Dead Sea. I say swimming, but I use the term loosely. Floating is probably better. As you may be aware, the mineral content of the Dead Sea is so high (26% I think) that you cannot sink. It is the strangest thing. You walk out a little way and then just sit down and you float. I could stand straight up without touching the bottom and you just float there. It actually makes it kind of hard to really swim because you can’t keep enough of your body in the water. You keep popping out. It’s much warmer at the Dead Sea and we had close to 80 degrees all day. The water however was kind of cold, but it was worth it. It’s an experience you can only get in the Dead Sea. The reason for the high mineral content is that all of the water in the region, including the Jordan River, runs into the Dead Sea, but there is no outlet. It is the lowest point on earth. So, the water is constantly evaporating, but none of the salt ever leaves. As you walk out into the water, the bottom is actually covered with large salt crystals. Don’t get any of the water in your eye though because it burns really bad. As an added bonus today, we also got to watch Israeli fighter jets buzzing by us every so often. They were coming really low over the Dead Sea while we were swimming and made a lot of noise. It was like an air show. We floated for about an hour and then headed for home. These field trip days are just wonderful, but you sure do feel like you’ve had a full day when it’s over. I need some rest now.

 Me “Swimming” in the Dead Sea

See More Pictures

God is great; God is great (Allah Akbar!);
I attest that there is not (another God), except God;
I attest that Mohammad is the chosen of God;
Arise! (Come) to prayer;
Arise! (Come) to salvation (at Dawn – prayer is better than sleep)
God is great! God is great!
There is not (another God), except God.

That doesn’t really sound so bad now does it? Admittedly, it can sound like quite a cacophony when every Mosque in the city is playing this as loud as they can at the same time. However, when I remember that they are just yelling how great God is, then it kind of makes me feel good.

Allah Akbar! God is Great!

 The Mosque of Omar at Manger Square

 One of Solomon’s Pools

From there we went on to the famous city of Hebron. It was here that David was crowned king. However, the town is most famous for being the burial place of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You can read in the book of Genesis how Abraham bargained to buy a cave at Hebron to bury his wife Sarah. He was later buried there as well as Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah (Rachel is buried on the way to Bethlehem). Joseph is also buried there. King Herod the Great built a large complex on top of the cave sometime shortly before the birth of Jesus. The stones are original and identical to the construction of the wall of the temple still visible in Jerusalem. The stone work is amazing. Some of these stones are just huge. The smallest one weighs 50 tons and yet they’re all stacked up on top of each other and have stayed there unbothered for 2000 years.

Herod the Great’s Tomb of the Patriarchs

Inside, the site is divided into a Muslim half and a Jewish half. We were very fortunate in that we got to visit both sides. Our guide had never been allowed into Jewish side before. On the Jewish side are the graves of Jacob and Leah, Abraham and Sarah, and Joseph. On the Muslim side is a very beautiful Mosque with the graves of Isaac and Rebecca and also has access to Abraham and Sarah. This was my first time in a Mosque. This is the fourth holiest Mosque in the world for the Muslims, so this was a good first Mosque for me to visit. I guess I should clarify that when I referred to the “graves” above. I really mean grave markers or cenotaphs. The actual graves are very deep in the earth below the building in the original cave that Abraham bought. Medieval pilgrims were able to descend a set of stairs down to the cave, but access has been cut off. There is a hole in the Mosque that supposedly leads down to the cave, but there was no light to see. As with most the places in the holy land, you can never be exactly sure that you’re at the precise spot, but that’s really not the point. Even if this isn’t the actual cave, and I just assume that it is in fact the actual cave mentioned in the Bible, you still know that it has to be right around here. Abraham was definitely here in this area. The scientist in me really wants to go down to the cave below and find the actual graves, but it is enough to trust that it is there. The purpose is still served. These were real people! They have to be buried somewhere and it might as well be here. You really come to see that the earth is only so big and you’re as close as you could ever hope to get to touching history.

 The Abraham Mosque (Cenotaph of Rebecca on Left, Isaac on Right)

I’ve always loved the stories of the Old Testament and it was an amazing feeling to be able to pray there in what is possibly the world’s most famous hall of fame. I was reminded of the fact that Abraham is buried here in a land that was not his home. He too was a pilgrim who left Ur when God called him and set out on a journey. As I passed by each cenotaph the stories of the Bible flashed before my mind and I was conscious of the fact that these famous people of faith lived real lives in a real place. As much as you think you get what that means when you’re at home, it’s just different here. I’ve never doubted the existence of the patriarchs or their stories, but being here at their final resting place really made them seem real to me. As I prayed today, my thoughts turned to heaven. As exciting as it was to enter the tombs of these giants in faith, I can’t wait to meet them in person in heaven. When you think that Abraham’s body has been lying in the cave for thousands of years, the short span of my own life, however long it may be, reminds me that it won’t be too long and I’ll get my wish. Until then, I remain a pilgrim on earth presently in the Holy Land like the patriarchs once were.

The Cenotaph of Abraham

On our way back from Hebron we stopped at a place known as the Herodian, named after Herod the Great. This is a big mountain that looks like a volcano. In the middle are the ruins of one of King Herod’s palaces. It was a big climb to the top and we came out through a hidden network of secret caves used for hiding and clandestine attacks. It was a very impressive looking structure, but the view from the top was equally impressive. Once again, just walking around in something 2000 years old and touching everything is an experience I’m still getting used to. Until next time.

Runis of King Herod’s Palace

See More Pictures

St. Catherine’s Catholic Church

When Pope Benedict recently went to Turkey he referred to this separation among Christians as a scandal to the world and it is very evident here. In the cave where Jesus was born there are two altars. The Orthodox and Armenians are the only ones allowed to use the altar over the star and the Catholics are allowed to use the altar by the manger. There’s a certain little area that the Catholic priest has to stay in so as not to cross into the Armenian territory. It borders on the ridiculous. There are so many Muslims here that you would think the Christians would be a pretty tightly knit group. However, it seems that perhaps the greatest signs of division here are not between Christians and Muslims, but among the Christians ourselves.

After our tour of the church I went to Bethlehem University with a number of other seminarians to play volleyball with the students. It was a great time. We are really coming to value the friends we have made at Bethlehem U. This was our night to go out to dinner so we thought we’d sample the local food. We ended up having cheeseburgers at a restaurant named Bonjour that was playing Spanish music while we watched the Blues Brothers on TV with Arabic subtitles. We’ll have to do better next time.

The Monastery of Mar Saba

After our regular morning classes today we took our first “field trip”. Our first destination was to a remote monastery founded by Mar Saba (Saint Saba), a Byzantine hermit from what I think was the 7th century. As our bus left the city of Bethlehem, it didn’t take long to see just what a desert this place really is. As we got further and further out in the middle of nowhere I couldn’t help but wonder how anyone could live out here. We eventually arrived at the very simple monastery located basically on the side of a cliff. As much as life in a monastery out in the middle of the desert seemed to be difficult enough to me, our guide told us that the monks actually lived in caves in the side of the cliffs and only came to the monastery once a week. They ate only bread and water and, once, a monk was caught dipping his bread in his water and was immediately punished by the Saintly founder. As I looked at the monastery I assumed we were looking at a historic site that had been preserved for us to look at. However, we then realized that there were still monks living here. It is the oldest continually occupied monastery in the world. About dozen Greek Orthodox monks live there now in much the same conditions as those first monks in the 7th century. It’s a great witness to see how, in this age of technology and constant communication, God still plants a desire in certain people to get away and leave it all to go be at peace and pray. I think there’s a little bit of that in all of us. As we read the Gospel of Luke in class I notice how Jesus even needs to get away by himself and pray. The monastery of Mar Saba and the life of the monks I envision live there does have a sort of appeal to me. The monks don’t live in the caves any more, so we rang their bell, hoping to meet them and see the monastery, but they were busy praying…which seemed rather fitting to me and so I was not too disappointed. An interesting note is that our guide is the same guide the Mundelein pilgrims had 7 years ago when we last had the pilgrimage quarter in the Holy Land. To give you an idea of how remote and desolate this place is, the guide said the last time he had been to Mar Saba was seven years ago with the previous Mundelein pilgrims.

Pictures Inside Church at Shepherds’ Fields

After our visit to Mar Saba we went to the location of the Shepherds’ Fields where the angels appeared to the shepherds announcing the birth of Jesus. This location has had some kind of a monument marking the spot since at least the 4th century and a monastery was first built there about that time as well. The site is located in the hills overlooking a valley with fields below. The fields were somewhat barren at this time of winter, but our guide said that they would be green by March and that shepherds still bring their sheep here. There are caves up in the hills where the shepherds would sleep, and use to bring the sheep inside for protection. We had Mass in one of these caves. I didn’t really know what to expect from our visit to shepherds’ fields, but I ended up having a very powerful experience there. As we finished Mass it was getting dark and I could just picture it being sundown on Christmas Eve 2000 years ago. I found myself looking up at the sky and picturing what this place would look like with “a multitude of the heavenly hosts” all hovering about the sky. I tried to put myself in the place of the shepherds. What a wondrous night that must have been, to hear the voice of the angel…Glory to God in the Highest! The little town of Bethlehem would have been about 20 minutes away. My mind returned back to my visit to the Church of the Nativity and I imaged the shepherds running haste there and entering the little cave to find Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Shepherds’ Fields is such a powerful place to meditate. I really wanted to be there 2000 years ago and be able to observe the scene from my spot on the hill. As it grew darker and became time to leave, I thought in my mind that hopefully in heaven I will be able to come back to this place and really experience what it was like that first Christmas Eve.

 Shepherds’ Fields at Sunset

See More Pictures

The Location of the Manger

Today was an absolutely amazing day. We started with Mass in the cave where Jesus was born. As I mentioned earlier, the original cave is preserved under the sanctuary of the Church of the Nativity. I was the lector for Mass today and there I was, standing at the very place where Jesus was born, proclaiming the words of the prophet Isaiah foretelling the birth of the messiah. You just can’t describe these sorts of events in words. It is amazing how real the incarnation seems when you’re right here in Bethlehem. Jesus was a real person who entered this world as a little baby. Somehow being here makes that historical truth come alive like it never has before. The Christmas story is not just a pious tale here; it’s so real. You can reach out and touch it. You can kneel down and kiss the ground in the middle of the star marking the very spot where Jesus was born. You can sit and contemplate the location of the manger. You can walk the road traveled by Mary and Joseph. You can go visit the field where the shepherds heard the good news. I’ve only been here for 3 days and already the Holy Land is helping to make the Word of God in the Sacred Scriptures become incarnate in me. Praise God!

The Altar Next to the Manger

I think that if all we did today was to have Mass at the manger that would have been more than enough. However, just the morning contained another amazing experience. I went to visit the church called The Milk Grotto. This church is built over another cave that is believed to be the place where Mary and Joseph stayed in Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus. The story behind the name is that while Mary was nursing the baby Jesus, some drops of milk fell to the ground. The stone in this cave is all very uniquely white and this legend is given to explain it. A wonderful Franciscan priest served as our tour guide. He indicated that whether you believe the legend or not he has had his faith strengthened by the presence of the Holy Family at this location, particularly in regard to the many miracles related to the family that have taken place. You see at some point this white powdery stone began being used by couples who were infertile to help them conceive a child. The priest showed us their office that is covered with pictures of families with new babies who had previously been infertile. They’ve got doctors’ notes from women who were medically sterile who conceived. Basically the husband and wife mix some of the white powder from the grotto with water and drink it and pray the 3rd joyful mystery of the Rosary and God is able to work a miracle because of their faith. The other neat thing about this church is that they are building a beautiful new upper church all with aide from the annual collection taken up for the Holy Land. That second collection for the Holy Land that comes around each year is a lot more meaningful to me now that I see exactly how much good it can do. I had never heard of this Milk Grotto church before, but there is definitely something special going on there. I will surely go back there to invoke the intercession of the Holy Family.

Milk Grotto Church and Miracle Testemonies

In the afternoon I experienced what may have been the highlight of the trip so far. As strange as this may sound after hearing everything I’ve mentioned so far, this highlight came not at a major holy shrine, but at Bethlehem University. This is a Catholic University run by the Christian Brothers. However, as the population in Bethlehem is now a Muslim majority, the student population is about 60% Muslim and 40% Christian. Our visit included presentations by the faculty and then time to talk and have lunch with the students. We have been getting talks each day about the political and religious situation. It’s all very fascinating, but also difficult to understand. I have to admit that I didn’t even really know who the Palestinians were before this week. You think you know from hearing things on TV, but the reality of the situation here is really quite different. For the past few days I’ve been walking the streets here and seeing all kinds of people and not getting to talk to any of them very much. Today we got to talk to university students our own age and hear their story. These are just absolutely amazing people. Most of the people I talked with today were Muslims, but also some Christians. This is a land filled with tension and deep division, but when you walk into the main square of Bethlehem University you see young Muslims and Christians just hanging out and having fun in a way that looked to me much like any college campus in the US. I can’t help but think that this is how peace must come about. It’s a lot harder to speak negatively about “them” when “them” happens to include your friend and classmate that you see every day. I had some great conversation with the students today that I shall not soon forget. I was so happy to be able to meet these wonderful people and to ask them questions and get to know them and their history. The things going on at Bethlehem University are a great sign of hope for the future.

Students at Bethlehem University

Despite the hope that I saw today, I also learned a lot about the sad political situation. Again, I have to admit that I never really realized that all of what we would now call the Holy Land, part of which is Israel, has all been the country/territory of Palestine since shortly after the time of Christ with the Diaspora of the Jews. For almost 2000 years the Palestinians, both Christians and Muslims, had lived here in peace with the remaining Jews. However, in 1948 the UN basically invented the state of Israel and Jews began moving into the region and kicking the Palestinians out of their homes and taking their land. Most of you probably know this, but I never really realized that Bethlehem is not in Israel…it’s in the West Bank, which is some of the land that the Palestinians were allowed to keep. However, the Israelis have continued to take more and more of the Palestinian land, basically just because they have the stronger military and can take what they want. This all became real to me today when we went up on the roof of one of the University buildings to see a panoramic view of the surrounding area. One of the first things that became very obvious was this big wall that the Israelis are building. Nothing represents division and hatred better than a wall and this was the sad site from my viewpoint today. As we looked out and saw Jerusalem not far off in the distance, one young Palestinian woman I was talking to explained how she is not allowed to go to Jerusalem. There are checkpoints all along this wall and it is illegal for Palestinians to enter Israeli territory. She said that if a car approached a checkpoint with a Palestinian in the car the driver would be fined $10,000, arrested, and his license revoked. The vice chancellor of the university here told us of one of their students who died because he was not allowed to cross the border to get medical attention he had previously been receiving in Jerusalem. Here’s another thing that surprised me…there are no Jews in Bethlehem. It’s illegal for them to cross the border going the other way. The Israelis will not allow them to enter the West Bank. From the roof we could also see the “settlements” where Israelis are building cities in Palestinian territory. When you hear about “settlements” on the news I pictured some little tent cities or something, but they’re actually building big buildings right in the face of the Palestinians while pushing their walls further and further forward into the West Bank. This whole situation is just a lot different than you would imagine from the American media. I pray that the friendships and understanding being formed here at Bethlehem University will spread and at some point we will learn the ridiculousness of building walls between people, both physical and figurative. I know I learned a lot today and am thankful for my new Palestinian friends, both Muslim and Christian.

The Wall Separating West Bank from Israel

Oh, I almost forgot…we’re also having class here. After coming back from the University we had a session of our class on the Gospel of Luke. Again, it’s the strangest thing to read about the places and events of Jesus’ birth and be able to know that you touched the place just a few hours earlier. We are also having a class on the spirituality of pilgrimage. When we go to Jerusalem we will switch classes and study the Acts of the Apostles and Church Architecture History.

As if all this wasn’t enough for today, we finished up by going to the seminary for the Latin Rite diocese of Jerusalem. We had evening prayer together that including the seminarians here chanting in Arabic while we interspersed our English. We were all able to pray the Pater Noster together and pray for each other. Their English is very good as is the case with most people we meet. We then shared a wonderful meal and fellowship together. These are such great men who have a real sense of mission to serve the very small Christian population that remains here in the Holy Land. The rector told us that there are about 300,000 Christians in the Holy Land and about 70,000 of those are Catholic.

What a day this has been. I think one of the most important things I found today was just how much, now matter where you go, people aren’t all that different. No place could have seemed more foreign to me than the Middle East before I came here. Already that has started to change as the people who seemed so strange from so far away are actually very friendly and wonderful people who I look forward to getting to know more and more over the coming months. God has given so many graces today that I just can’t put them all in words, but I hope you enjoyed a little bit of my reflections. I won’t probably be able to write so much in the future, but this is the first time I’ve had to really write anything substantial. Let me know if there are any questions or things you’d like to know about or see pictures of. You are also of course in my prayers.

See More Pictures

Entrance to the Church of the Nativity

Today I spent the entire morning at the Church of the Nativity. What an amazing experience! Like millions of pilgrims before, I arrived at the special place of pilgrimage and bowed my head to enter the small door. The door to the church is only about 4 feet high and is known as the “Door of Humility”. Everyone must bend down to enter. There is of course the spiritual significance of this action, but I’m told that it was also done for practical reasons as the door used to be much larger and soldiers would ride their horsed into the church.

The Door of Humility

Once inside, the church itself is not particularly impressive. The architecture is quite a mix of things and it is, for the most part, unornamented. There are openings in the floors that reveal the original mosaic floor from the 4th century. The main altar is used primary by the Greek Orthodox. It and the iconostasis were a gift from Russia. There are also remnants of a few mosaics on the walls. The church has seen many changes over the years, but remains very old by any standard.

Inside the Church of the Nativity

The most important part of the church, of course, has nothing to do with the architecture or how it looks. Right below the main sanctuary you are able to descend into the cave where Jesus was born. I will devote a future entry to my reflections on this site and will just show some pictures for now. Needless to say, this was a powerful experience. Since we will be here for 4 weeks, I’m sure I will return often.

Me at the Birthplace of Jesus

In the cave there is a star marking the place where Jesus was born. It says simply “Hic de Mariae Virginae Jesus Christus Natus Est…Here of Mary the Virgin Jesus Christ Was Born”. I can’t begin to describe what it’s like to read that and know the “here” really means “right HERE”. Again, more on that later.

Star Marking the Birthplace of Jesus

Not far from the star marking the place of Jesus’ birth is the spot where the manger was in which Mary put Jesus to sleep. I am almost out of time for today. So I will write more later. If you’d like to see all the pictures I took today please look and I’ll update some captions for them as I go explaining what everything is. This place is amazing!

See More Pictures

We arrived in Israel early on Sunday morning. After about an hour bus ride from Tel Aviv, we arrived in Bethlehem at about 5 in the morning. We are at a very nice religious house run by the Bettharam Fathers. The rest of Sunday was devoted mainly to sleep, Mass and getting organized.

Today we arived in Zurich, Switzerland where we had a 12 hour layover waiting for our flight to Tel Aviv to leave at 10:00 that night. Although I didn’t sleep much on the plane I wanted to start to fight the jet lag battle, so instead of sleeping in the hotel they had for us, I decided to venture out to downtown Zurich. I figured out where the train was and even figured out the schedule being helped by my experience in Colgne for World Youth Day in 2005.

As I got to the Old Town area I was again reminded of World Youth Day as Zurich has a feel very much like Bonn in Germany. There are some very nice old buildings and a number of impressive looking churches. I must say that the churches are impressive on the outside with big tall steeples, but on the inside they leave much to be desired. Zurich was the center of operations for Zwingly in the reformation and thus most of the churches are not Catholic. I was rather sad to go into a big amazing church and find an empty sanctuary or, what seemed worse, a big pulpit for a sanctuary.

Despite being somewhat disappointed with the inside of churches, I really enjoyed the afternoon I spent walking around. There were many people out and about an I even saw some Santa Claus’s giving out candy. Check out all the pictures to see more. I’m still working in adding captions to tell you what everything is, but just enjoy the pictures for now. It was rather cloudy, but still nice.

See More Pictures

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.