Jerusalem is wonderful; Had fun "skyping" last night.

Hi everyone.
Last night was great for me. I hear from Walter Carrier and Grace Medeiros saying that they thought everything went well. It really is difficult to teach to a machine. I did not have the visual of the congregation's faces for feedback. That is such an important part of preaching and teaching. Thanks to Pastor Dave Hammett and the good people at Pilgrim United Congregational Church for their technology and their hospitality. I hope that there were some things for everyone to think about as we approach the mid-point of our Lenten pilgrimage.

Because of last night's presentation, I did not get the chance to post a blog for yesterday. Therefore, this one may be a bit longer. I just downloaded 86 pictures from my camera for the past two days. I know there won't be many in the posting. But it still takes time. So here goes.

After our breakfast at the Notre Dame Center we boarded the buses to travel to Bethlehem. Rami, our guide is a Christian Arab and let us in on many of the issues plaguing the Israel/Palestenian conflict. He lives with his wife and 2 year-old son in the Jerusalem. But if he lived in the Palestinian territory, he would never be able to leave. Before arriving into Bethlehem, we had to pass through Israeli security check-points at the huge wall that Israel has built around the Palestinians. There are Palestinian people in their young 30's who have never left Palestine because they are prevented from traveling by the Israeli's. Even the border between Palestine and Jordan is controlled by the Israeli's. The residents of Bethlehem are prevented from travelling to non-Isreali territory by the Isreali's. The wall built by Israel and paid for largely by us Americans is a blight on the land. It hearkens back to the Berlin Wall. It creates a kind of ghetto containing the mostly Arab Christians in the same way that the Jews themselves were contained in ghettos in their own recent history. The prices are being driven up by the restriction of transport of goods through the border. And the Muslim arabs are doing little because these Bethlehem Arabs happen to be Christian. It is a terrible situation.

All of this as we prepare to enter the birth-place of the Prince of Peace.

Our first stop of the day was the church of the Nativity. This holy site is controled by the Greek Orthodox church. You have read in my blog when I have written about Constantinian churches built after the time of Christinaity's decriminalization. Constantine's mother, St. Helena, was sent to the Holy Land by her emperor son to collect relics and begin the construction of many churches at the holy sites. And so Helena came upon the locations where the local oral tradition placed events in Jesus' life and ministry. Major basilicas rivaling those being built by the emperor in Rome were built in the Holy Land. In particular, the birth of Jesus, and the events of Jesus passion, death and resurrection - the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. All of the churches built in the Constantinian period were destroyed by the Persian invasion in the early 600's. The only one to be spared was Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. The reason it survived was because the Persians noticed a mosaic depicting the three magi travelling to adore the Christ child. They recognized the clothing and other details to be Persian. Because of this, they spared the church from destruction. Here are a few pictures.



The main entrance to the Church of the Nativity. You will notice three doorways. The first large sqaure lintel is the original Constantinian doorway. Next you see the outline of the pointed arch in the wall. This is Crusades period construction when the church was fortified to be used as a fortress. And finally, the small square opening. I ought to have taken a picture with a person standing beside it. It is only about 4 feet high and requires that an adult bend down to duck under the doorway to pass through. This was built after the crusades to insure that soldiers could not enter the church on horseback, or loaded down with weapons. Subsequent tradition says that it requires a person to bow in reverence as he enters the church.



The main nave of the church showing the sanctuary and the iconostasis. All Greek Orthodox churches have a screen built across the entrance of the sanctuary. Only the priest may enter at the time of the consecration and a door is closed or a curtain drawn that prevents the congregation from seeing the moment of consecration. The Greek Orthodox believes in the Eucharist as we do. In fact they are permitted to receive Holy Communion in our liturgy but we cannot receive in theirs. 1000 years ago, they excommunicated all Latin Rite Catholics and the Eastern Rite Churches who remained faithful to Rome.

The 4th century mosaics that saved the church from destruction.

This is the grotto under the main altar that is reported to be the place of Jesus' birth.

This is our guide Rami. He is one of the best guide I have experienced. As an example of the bit of information he offered that I never knew before has to do with the detail of Luke's infancy narrative of the fact that "there was no room at the inn". "It was not because of overbooking", he said. The innkeepers would have taken one look at the very pregnant Mary, about to give birth and they would not have let her enter in case she gave birth that night. A Jewish woman becomes ritually impure for 40 days after giving birth. She cannot enter the temple, and people cannot enter her house or they become impure as well. If Mary had given birth in the inn, they would have to close down for 40 days. Rami said that is the case in his culture as well. His wife has to go to church 40 days after giving birth to be purified. The gospel tells us that Mary did that too.  

After visiting the Church of the Nativity, we went next door to the Latin church maintained by the Franciscans. In the crypt of this church there is the grotto of St. Jerome. St. Jerome was a contemporary of St. Augustine. Jerome was the one who translated the Bible from the Hebrew and Greek into Latin, and so made the Bible accessible to more people. We celebreated Mass in this crypt chapel in the Franciscan church.

The Franciscan church in Bethlehem next to the church of the Nativity.

Fr. Don Brownstein as principle celebrant in the St. Jerome crypt chapel.

Bishop Donald Kettler of FAirbanks, Alaska, serving as lector at Mass. Bishop Kettler has been a wonderful companion on our pilgrimage. He has spent the time with us as a brother priest which we all appreciate very much.

Not all the art in these ancient places is ancient. Here is a very contemporary window in the St. Jerome grotto chapel depicting St. Jerome and Jesus as Jerome translates the Bible.

Photo of our whole group after celebrating Mass together in the St. Jerome grotto chapel.

After our visit to the church and Nativity and Mass, we went to the Shepherd's Field. This is an area that is located among many caves in the Bethlehem area. These caves have been used by shepherds as homes, and stable for their sheep and livestock. There is a wonderful church built Labruzzi. This is the second church of his that I visited. I am enjoying his work very much. Liz Lev, he art historian who has been giving the fantastic tours in Rome is polanning on writing a book on Labruzzi's work. That will be a must in my library when it comes out.

A simple church under a dome that has perforated roof. From inside it looke like the stars of heaven.

The dome from inside of the Sheperd's Church

There are three frescoes in the church. The first shows the shepherds hearing the message of the angel. The shepherds are shown to be afraid, even the dog is growling. The center frescoe shows the shepherds arriving at the manger. The last one depicts the shepherds returning home in joy. Now the dog is even smiling next to the shepherd boy who is running with joy at the sight of the newborn Messiah.

The fearful shepherds hearing the good news of the birth of the Messiah.

A detail of the growling dog as the angels appear to announce the Good News.

The shepherds at the manger.

The shepherds returning with joy. Notice the star of Bethlehem already showing in the sky.

Detail of the joyful boy and his happy dog after visiting the Christ child.

Excavations of new caves found under the ruins of an 8th century Byzantine church in the shepherds field. Could these be the real caves of Jesus birth? They keep digging.

Enjoying lunch together.

Left to right: Fr. Frank from North Dakota, Fr. Mike Wensing, Director of ITCE and out leader, Fr. Mike Sullivan from New Zealand.

Left to right: Msgr. Ron Wayland, Washington DC, Msgr. Jim Dixon of Miami, Florida, Msgr. Anthony Sherman from Brooklyn.

After lunch, we visited the Shrine of the Book, a museum devoted to the Qumran scrolls and other historic writings of the Jewish faith. The roof in this picture covers a building in which the Qumran Book of Isaiah is displayed unrolled around the building. The roof is shaped like the covers of the pottery jars in which the scrolls were found.

At the Shrine of the Book, there is this scale model of the ancient city of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. It gives a bird's eye view of the city as Jesus would hae seen it and walked though it.

After the visit to the Shrine of the Book, we visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. I am still processing this one in my head and heart. Of course there are no photographs allowed. I'll save this for a few homilies now and then.

The remainder of the day was spent in final preparation for the Skype talk last night - or should I say this morning.

Monday, March 31:

It was a short night's sleep barely 5 hours, and we were of again. This time to the MOunt of Olives and the Stations of the cross along the Via Dolorosa in the old city.

We visited several sites on the MOunt of Olives. This is where Jesus had to pass everytime he wanted to visit Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany. It is also the location of Gethsemane.

I will finish this tomorrow. We have a relatively short day tomorrow and we were promised that we would be done by noon and have the afternoon free. But we are losing an hours sleep tonight. Israel changes the clocks tonight. They cannot do it on Saturdy into Sunday because of the restrictions for work by the Muslims and the Jews. Operating a clock is considered work that is not permitted.

So I need the sleep after last night.

Shalom

Up to Jerusalem today

We said goodbye to the Sea of Galilee this morning with a 7:30am departure. Today's schedule included a visit to another "tel", to Jericho, to Qumran, swimming in the Dead Sea, Mass at the Tomb of Lazarus in Bethany, and finally "up to Jerusalem".

Our first stop was the Decapolis. This region of the 10 cities is mentioned in the gospels as a place where Jesus went with his disciples. The capital of the Decapolis was Beit She'an. This place has had human habitation since 5000BC. The Egyptians held it until 12th century BC. It was held by the Philistines who lost it to King David in around 1000BC. The Israelites lost it to the Greeks in the 4th Century BC and they lost it to the Romans in 1st Century BC. The Romans built a beautiful city with the necessary theater, coloseum, and circus, or race track. On the top of the "tel", which reveals 18 layers of cities, the Romans built a temple aned did not bother to dig down into the lower levels. As others did, they simply built on top of the previous foundations.

Here are a few pictures from my visit.

A view of the "tel" from the ruins of the 1st century Roman City. This is the city Jesus would have seen. The "tel" stands behind with the ruins of the Roman temple on top.

Rolman cities also had to have public baths which included gymnasiums, cold and hot water pools, dry and steam saunas, spas, and of course toilets. This is meeting room where men gathered before entering the various rooms of the baths.

1st Century Roman toilets. Men just sat n two stones and a flowing water trough below carried away waste.

Remains of a sauna. A floor was built above these short pillars. The hole at the end is one of the chimneys. Fires would be built at one end. The hot smoke would pass through these round pilars and become hot. This in turn would warm up the floor to high heat. Water was added to the surface of the floor for a steam room, or left dry for a dry sauna.

Remains of one of the pools.

The main street. These pillars would have supported a covered walk. Behind the walks would be merchants' stalls and shops. Notice how the street is built higher in the center. Those cap stones covered a trough that carried away water that was not sunning off to the sides of the street. All the water would be drained and collected for use.

This was an important picture for me. It shows columns that had toppled over onto the streets. Archaelogists excavated and decided to leave the columns and wall stones where they lay in order to show us what was discovered at the initial dig. In the previous pictures, the columns along the side of the street were placed in a standing position to show how the street looked in ancient times.

The sidewalks and views of the doorways of the shops along the main street. The sidewalks were covered in mosaics.

We climbed to the top of the "tel". This dead tree is not part of the site. It is the prop used for the crucifixion scene in the movie, "Jesus Christ Superstar", some of which was filmed here at this locationl

View of the main street of Beit She'an looking towards the "tel".

You may think that I have had enough of all these ruins. And sometimes I do think to myself, "...not another dusty ruin". But after I get there, I realize that these are important cities and villages that existed when Jesus walked this earth. Some he actually visited. Jesus' ministry was part of the life of these communities. He challenged the life of the residents, some converted to his teaching, Christians were martyred in the public arenas, and the disciples returned to many of these places after the resurrection and ascension to continue what Jesus had started. For this reason, I am not tiring of these places.

Our next stop was the supposed site of Jesus' Baptism. Actually, the Isreali government has chosen a convenient site along the Jordan River and designated it a National Park. If there anything which challenged my faith and left me a bit disgusted, it was this location. My brother priests were joking, "All that's missing is Mickey and Minnie". The atmosphere they created is more like a carnival rather than the opportunity to reflect on the meaning of Baptism. It's the perfect example of what happens of when you let government get a hold of religion. Enough of this place.

Our next stop was the city of Jericho in Palestinian territory. Jericho is the longest inhabited place in the world - approximately 10,000 years. Jericho is mentioned many times in the Bible. Most notably, in the Old Testatment when Joshua conquered the city for the Israelites. And in the gospel when Jesus and his disciples go there before "Going up to Jerusalem".

A 7000 year old tower of Jericho.

View of the modern city from the top of the ancient city wals.

We next headed to the Dead Sea to go swimming. There are no pictures. I went in the water and left my camera in the bus. There are some pictures that some of the other priests took that they will send my via e-mail. I'll post them here when I get them. The water in the ocean is 4% salty, the Dead Sea is 33% salt. The water feels oily and you cannot sink. When you float on your back, about half of your body remains above the water. Its great fun. And so is the shower after to rinse off all that salt.

We left the Dead Sea and the Jericho area to "Go up to Jerusalem". The last time I did this drive, it was a terrible road, turning and twisting through the mountains and ravines. Today the road is a modern 4 lane interstate highway. It remains uncomplete, it is so new. We stopped in the city of Bethany where Jesus visited Martha, Mary and Lazarus. There is a church there marking the place where Lazarus was buried. WE celebrated Mass there. It is a simple Greek cross, that means the four arms of the cross are of equal length. A dome sits above the crossing of the nave and transept. Here are pictures of the beautiful mosaics in the end of each arm of the cross.

Jesus teaching Martha, Mary and Lazarus, "I am the resurrection and the life."

Jesus calling Lazarus out of the tomb.

Mary washing the feet of Jesus at the home of Simon in Bethany.

Jesus saying to Martha that Mary has chosen the better part.

Leaving Bethany, we completed our trip into Jerusalem. We checked into the Notre Dame Center. We enjoyed a good dinner and some down time together in the roof-top bar. I returned to my room and logged on to find Pastor Don Bliss already at the Pilgrim United Church in New Bedford to prepare the program for tomorrow night. We did the sound checks, and I wandered around the hotel to find the best wi-fi hot spot to wend images and voice. Looks like I will be in the lobby. I am ready to Skype my presentation. Hope you will be there. I will have the chance to see you all as well. Looking forward to talking about Jesus, "going up to Jerusalem."

Blessings everyone.
Shalom from the city of Peace.

Mt. Tabor and the Sea of Galilee

It was up early again this morning. Our first destination was Mt Tabor, the traditional site of the transfiguration. The name of the mountain is never named in the gospels, but we do know that Jesus was in the Jezreel valley. The scriptures speak of Jesus going to a "high place" with Peter, James and John. Mt. Tabor is the highest area around. There is some evidence of tradition among the earliest Christians that it was Tabor which Jesus climbed with his disciples. The place has been a devotional destination since the 4th century when a church was built there. Later, like so many other places, the Persians invaded in the 6th century and destroyed most of the christian structures. The church lay in ruins until the crusaders arrived and built a fortification and large church at the summit. That church was laid to ruins when the crusaders lost their stronghold in the Holy Land. The place was given to the Franciscans by the Ottomans in the 16th century. A church was rebuilt there and rebuilt again in 1930. The architect Berluzzi who built several other structures marking the biblical sites made this the great opus of his life.

The facade of thge basilica of the Transfirguration on Mt Tabor. The design is based on Peter's desire to build three "booths" there to commemorate the event of Jesus's Transfiguration.

The main nave and the high altar. There is a crypt altar below the rail visible at the bottom of the photo. That is where we celebrated Mass among some of the most beautiful mosaics we have seen.

The byzantine style mosaic, (gold background) with Jesus flanked by Moses and Elijah who appeared. Stanind alone to the left is Peter, to the right is James and John.  

Fr. Anthony Nyugen at the offertory of the Mass. Notice the mosaic in the background. This is one of four mosaics in this chapel showing the revelation of Christ to the world. The three angels remind us of the three angels who appeared to Abraham to establish the covenant. Here, it is the Eucharist; the central angel is holding the chalice and the host.

Our group celebrating Mass in the grotto.

Final prayer at Mass.

The revelation of Jesus at the Incarnation.

The revelation of Jesus in the Eucharist.

The revelation of Jesus in the Resurrection.

Jesus revealed as the Lamb of God

In the base of the each tower is a small chapel, this one dedicated to Moses.

The chapel dedicated to Elijah who offers sacrifice.

From Mount Tabor, we drove back towards the Sea of Galilee to lunch. Following lunch we went for a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. It was the opportunity to reflect on the gospel passages refering the Jesus on the Sea of Galilee; the calming of the waves, and walking on the water. We were all Americans on the boat, so they hoisted the American flag as well as the Israeli flag.

Old Glory waving over the Sea of Galilee.

Sailing on the Sea of Galilee.

View back to shore from the middle of the lake.

Our next stop was the Church of the Multiplication of loaves and fishes. This site has always been recognized as the place where Jesus fed the 5000. The oral tradition of the early Christians persisted for many years. A church existed here and was destroyed by the Persians. This was not a site rebuilt by the crusaders. It remained a desolate place for centuries. The land was given to agriculture. In the late 19th century, a mosaic was discovered which astonished the biblical world. A 3rd century mosaic showing a basket of bread and fish. A small church was built on the spot. In the 1930's German Benedictines acquired the place and built the beautifully simple church we see today.

The cortile and narthex of the the church of the Multiplication of loaves and fishes.

The 3rd century "loaves and fishes" mosaic unearthed has now been placed back in the floor of the new basilica.

The altar with its beautiful light hanging over the altar. It reminded me of our advent wreath.

We returned to the center for the night. We gathered in the chapel for night prayer and then dinner. All the priests are gathered in the next room and making lots of noise. So I am going to join them. It is up at 6AM tomorrow morning because we are "going up to Jerusalem"

Hosanna.