Look mom, we're playing with mud!

 Today was a short day, in comparison to the past days. Today we went to three main places, a beauty product production plant and store, Masada, and the Dead Sea.

Let me start off by saying, it was not my idea to go to Ahava, a place where they sell refined Dead Sea mud for cosmetic purposes. I went there because that is just where the tour led us. However, I did pick up something for the two amazing secretaries back home. You've got some real good hand moisturizing mud coming your way!

Next, we visited Masada. Let me explain Masada by way of a short history lesson. Masada is a large fortified city built on the top of a butte right next to the Dead Sea. Herod the Great, who was paranoid that the people would revolt against him, built it in order that he might have a place to escape to. It had recreation areas, a large cistern to catch water, a pool and bath-house, a huge food storage area - you name it, he had it - expect for a plasma screen TV (come on, it was the 1st century BC).

Well, his paranoid expectations never came to fruition. Instead, he simply died and never used Masada. But around 66 AD, when Zealot Jews revolted, their last stand was made here at Masada. Think of it like the Alamo. Well, the Romans laid siege for around three years and after building a wall and camps around the base, building a giant ramp up to the city walls, and also using siege towers, they broke through the gates. After breaking through, they decided to to get some sleep before invading the fortress and punishing the Jews within.

That night, the leader of the revolt, rallied the men and decided on a course of action. They saw only two choices, die or be made into slaves, with the women and children being abused and maltreated. So instead of slavery, they chose suicide. Everyone was killed except for a few women and children.

After this revolt, Masada was used for a short while by some Byzantine monks.

The site is presented as the place of a courageous final stand. I would agree to a certain extent. Yes they were courageous in defying the Romans and fighting back to retain their religious freedom. But I disagree with their final course of action. I would say there were three choices - slavery, death by self-inflicted wounds, and die in a final charge against the Romans.

Now while I was not presented with the same predicament as these people, I, as a Catholic believe that suicide is not an option. Rather, like William Wallace on Braveheart  I would hope that  I would say, "They can take my life, but they can never take my freedom."

OK. After that long rant we need something a bit more fun and that is exactly what you are going to get. Once we descended Masada, we ate some food at the mini food court below and made our way to a beach on the Dead Sea.

Here we had some real fun. Not only did we swim and sit in an sea that you can't help but float in but we also smeared ourselves in mud. Yes, you read correctly, we smeared mud all over our bodies. You don't believe me? Look below and see for yourself.

My ohhh my that mud felt good on my skin. Can you recognize me? 

Some others on the beach enjoying themselves .

OK, yes the mud has rejuvenating effects and is good for you. But I know that my mom would not have approved of this. And mom, if you are reading this, don't worry, this stuff really is good for you. I wouldn't lie (especially not now that I am a priest).

Once all this was done, we made our way back to Jerusalem to take a shower, to clean the mud out of my ears (that was really stupid of me), and to get some rest.

Tomorrow is will entail an optional tour to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum, The Israeli museum - place where some of the dead sea scrolls are kept, as well as a visit to the Samaritan motel.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

What a day! After returning from walking around the city, I can say first it is a city full of holy sites, and second, I still need to lose a few pounds. We began today on the Mount of Olives, first with a beautiful overlook of the city.

After that we walked downhill to the Church known as Dominus Flevit which translates "The Lord wept." At this site we recalled Jesus' weeping on the way to Jerusalem. It is recalled in Luke 13:34 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling!" Within the Church, there is a window with a perfect view of the city and you will also see, built into the altar, a picture of Jesus the hen.

At the bottom of the Mount of Olives is the Church of All Nations, also known as the Church of Gethsemane. This is where Jesus went through his agony before meeting Judas and the soldiers who would take him away to be judged and crucified. Here it is where Jesus sweat blood and said those words of fear and abandonment, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done." Luke 22:42 At this place you can find the actual stone where Jesus went apart to pray.

The Original Garden with ancient olive trees

The Rock of Agony

The Mosaic on the Outside

From here we took a bus ride across the Kidron Valley (where some of the prophets were buried) to the Upper Room and the Tomb of David. Here, in a Muslim controlled building, is where Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Last Supper, he instituted the Eucharist, and instituted the priesthood. While this building was made in the time of the Crusades, the location is where the Last Supper was held.

Right next to the Upper Room is the tomb of David, the King of Ancient Israel, and God's beloved.

Down the hill a little ways, we arrived at St. Peter Gallicantu which is built over both the High Priest's home and the place where Peter wept after denying the Lord three times before the cock crowed. Underneath the church were prison cells were they believed Jesus stayed after he was condemned and next to the Church is a 1st century road that most likely Jesus, would have walked on.

A cistern they may have thrown Jesus into during his short imprisonment.

On our way to lunch we passed by Potter's field, where Judas Isacariot committed suicide and Gahenna, the ancient location of human pagan sacrifice outside the city walls.

Down below is Potter's field

Gehenna - doesn't look very hellish, does it?

As the afternoon began, we also began our walking tour of Jerusalem. We entered the city and first visited the Western Wall, the holiest site on earth for Judaism. We then were going to begin walking on the Via Dolorosa or the Way of the Cross but our way was barred due to difficulties in the Muslim quarter. We weren't told what was happening, just that we couldn't go there. So moving backwards we began at the 7th Station, Jesus's second fall and then back to 6, Veronica wipes the face of Jesus. We then went onward through the city, seeing each successive station until we reached Holy Sepulchre.

The Western Wall

If you reach down in that hole, you can touch Golgatha, the ancient hill on which Jesus was crucified. 

I am going to get back to you soon with both pictures and details about the Holy Sepulchre, but until then, I need a nap.

Luke Chapters 1 and 2

Today, our excursion took us to a Garden Tomb (this is not included in today's title), Ein Karem, and Bethlehem. The garden tomb itself was... nice. But it felt like a farse. One of my trusty guide books gave me this information. 

This tomb in a quiet garden is venerated by many as the tomb of Christ: it conforms to the expectations of simple piety and it is outside the walled city. It is much easier to pray here than in the Holy Sepulchre. Unfortunately there is no possibility that it is in fact the place where Christ was buried.

Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome (2008-02-28). The Holy Land:An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 (Oxford Archaeological Guides) (Kindle Locations 3044-3046). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.

He goes on in the guide to talk about the fact that there is no archaeological evidence but you can check it out if you are interested. The only reason I say this is because there is already a Church of the Holy Sepulchre that has been in existence since the 3rd century and before that was venerated as the site. No offense, I just will stick with the original.

After our time at the "garden tomb" we took a short trip to Ein Karem - which means "spring of the vineyard." Here we visited the site where St. John the Baptist was born as well as where Mary visited Elisabeth. You can see the exact site they believe John was born at as well as the beautiful chapel of the Visitation. 

Hic praecursor dominus natus est - Here the forerunner of the Lord was born 

Mosaic on the facade of the Visitation Church

The Church of the Visitation was the site in where Mary proclaimed the greatness of the Lord

From Ein Karem, we had a major shift. Instead of our tour guide Tal, we made a switch and met George, a Christian, as we passed into the West Bank, where Bethlehem is located. We did a lot. But you know you can't do a lot on a empty stomach so we first got a small dose of Americana with pizza, chicken sandwiches, and hamburgers. Ahh... it's good to get a taste of home.

Shepherd's field was the next place we went. There we looked at the caves the shepherds would have lived in and the chapel built over the place where the angels announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds.

Last of all, we visited the Church of the Nativity. Some cool facts about this Church: it is the oldest surviving Church in the Holy Land - the reason is that the Persians, when they invaded and conquered the land were destroying all the buildings with images. However, when they came to the Church of the Nativity, they saw the three wise men in an image on the outside and they recognized one of them as Persian. Because of this they spared the Church. Inside the Church is split into Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Catholic sections. We were blessed to be able to celebrate Mass in the Chapel of St. Jerome where tradition says Jerome translated the bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin which was to become the Vulgate, the official bible of the Church.

The Original Church

The Gate of Humility - names so because you have to duck low to enter - and made small to keep rampaging hordes from coming in and sacking the Church. 

The Iconostates at the front of the Church, over the site of the birth. 

The site where Christ was born!

Me, Fr. Kristopher, celebrating Mass. 

Bethlehem Square

Once we had seen the holy sites of Bethlehem, we then moved on to shopping and did what we could to supporting the Christians by our purchases. This might sound a bit odd but from everything I have seen, the Christians in the Holy Land are not doing well. They are struggling. The reason for this is manifold and would take more explanation than I am willing to put here. Simply put though, the Christians in Bethlehem are lumped in with the Muslims in Bethlehem and all of them are looked at suspiciously, almost as if they may be terrorists like the Muslim Jihaadists. I know now that more than ever we need to pray for them. Otherwise their presence will disappear, and we will lose the holy sites we have fought so much for. With that in mind, take a look at the wall separating them from Israel - which many of them may never cross again.

All Around the Sea of Galilee

We stayed at Kibbutz Lavi the evening of Tuesday the 5^th and were on our way that morning to the Sea of Galilee after some slight delays. Once we reached the sea, we went on a boat ride, looking around and enjoying the sights. We also had Mass while on the water. If you get sea sick easily, don’t celebrate Mass on the water. Luckily I didn't get sick. By the way, Mass was offered for Mary Ann for a Happy Birthday. Don't ask how old she is today, that would not be polite. 

The next stop was only about 5 minutes away, where Christ multiplied the loaves and fish to feed 5,000 men and women not counting children (Mark 6:30-44). In the floor at this place, popularly known as Tabga, there is a mosaic on the floor which depicts the five loaves and two fish that is highly popular for souvenirs.  

From there it was on to the Mount of the Beatitudes, where Christ preached the Sermon on the Mount; see Matthew 5-7. Here we read through the beatitudes and enjoyed the beautiful Church and gardens surrounding. 

A short jaunt later and we were at the Church of Peter’s Primacy, where he reaffirmed his love three times after his threefold denial. See John 21. This was a great place to reaffirm our love of Christ whenever we denied him through sin. 

On to Capernaum we went. This was where Peter lived and Jesus base of operations was during his time in Galilee. Here he did a lot: he healed Peter’s mother-in-law, healed many others including exorcised demons and forgave a paralytic’s sins, taught in the synagogue, choose Peter, Andrew, James, and John as his disciples, singled out Matthew at the tax collector’s post, and much more… The pictures below show the foundation of the synagogue where Jesus probably went and taught, and a picture of Simon Peter’s home.

The last major stop of the day was Bet She’an which was an ancient city and cross roads in the Decapolis (this was after we at Peter’s fish at lunch). We saw here another theater, streets, pagan temples, bath-houses, and a nice cut out of Dionysus, the pagan goddess of wine. 

After all this traveling around the Sea of Galilee, we traveled to Jerusalem, but not without a stop at a restroom where members of our group enjoyed a camel ride. Fun ride, poor camel. It’s not that they were heavy or anything because they weren’t, it’s just that… never mind. Tomorrow, we will give you news of our time in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ein Karem, and more…