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…