And the Word Became Flesh Here!

With a good night sleep and a big breakfast, we were off to Cana, Nazareth, Megiddo, and last of all, a baptismal sight on the Jordan river - at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee. 
Sad to say, we didn't get the chance to stop at Cana, we just drove through and saw the steeples of the Catholic and Orthodox churches in the small town. But then on we drove to Nazareth. 
The first site in Nazareth was the well of Nazareth where Jesus and Mary were sure to have come since it was the only source of water in the town. 

Mary's Well

 Then we were off to the Basilica of the Annunciation and the Chapel of St. Joseph. The shrine of St. Joseph is over his workshop and the Basilica is over the house of Mary where the Annunciation took place - and therefore the place of the incarnation. We also had Mass at the Chapel of St. Joseph with special prayers offered up for the Sioux Falls Diocese whose patron is St. Joseph and for our school, St. Joseph's.

The altar of St. Joseph's Chapel. 

The Crypt under the chapel. 

Some random Italian asking for a blessing after Mass

The Basilica of the Annunciation 

St. Joseph, patron of a Holy Death, pray for us. 

The dome of the basilica is meant to look like a lily. 

Down below, in that small opening is what was originally Mary's house with numerous Church foundations surrounding the base - all from different periods 

Verbo Caro Hic Factum Est - the word was made flesh here. 

After our time in Nazareth, it was off the Megiddo, site of nearly 25 continuous civilizations as well as where the final battle is to take place - Revelation 16:16.

Having some fun on the chariot. 

A Canaanite altar for offering animal sacrifice.

A water system meant to give Megiddo's residence water even in the midst of war. 

Down, down, down. 

On the way down to the spring. 

And then we were off to the sea of Galilee. Here are beautiful pictures of a picturesque lake. 

Donnie Joe

Dennis and Joyce

 One of our group (a non-Catholic woman) asked to be baptized again at the Jordan river after she renewed her baptismal vows. She said the water was quite cold.

  And last, before going to our motel for the night, we visited a museum with remains of a 2 millenia old fishing boat, one Jesus might of used. There were some good replicas as well of what it looked like.

At the Speed of Light Part 2

On to the Baha'i temple. Haifa is the location of the shrine to the founder of the Baha'a religion. Never heard of it? Well, that is OK. There is supposed to be about 6 million followers of the Baha'i religion. It began with a man who wanted to make the Muslim religion more tolerant. In the process, Muslims killed him because he watered down the faith too much. Well, his followers - 18 in all at the time - built this shrine and spread his teaching. To give you a comparison of what the Baha'i faith is like, think of what Unitarian Universalist's say about Christianity (everyone is saved, don't worry about salvation) and you have about what the Baha'i believers  say about the Muslim faith.

The Bah'ai' gardens. Meticulously taken care of. 

After Baha'i' it was off for lunch - falafel - fried chick peas in a pita - good stuff. From there we went to Muraqa where Elijah slew the prophets of Baal and Asheroth. See 1 Kings 18-19 - yes, both chapters. Here we celebrated mass in a beautiful Discalced Carmelite Church. Here we also had a beautiful view of the Jezreel Valley. 

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid - Elijah is filled with Zeal for God

Nice View!

Down below is where Elijah actually slew the prophets of Ball after winning the contest. 

And last of all, we went to Acko, Acco, Acre, well - it was one of those. (It actually goes by all those names.) It was a crusader city. 

During our time in these Crusader halls, Tal destroyed some people's romantic views that all Crusaders were chivalrous Knights by helping us to see that they were detestable criminals, thieves, murderers, mercenaries - basically the worst of the worst - who were no longer in the streets of France, England, Spain, or Italy but for sure didn't make the Holy Land a more holy place! Down below is evidence that they had restrooms in ancient times - even terrible crusaders had a little bit of sanitation.

Tomorrow - Megiddo, Nazareth, Cana, and more...

At the Speed of LIght

Today, we got off to an early start. Up by 6:00 am and on the road with a stomach full of breakfast at 7:30. We went to Caesarea on the sea first. This the port city that Peter visited to baptize a Roman soldier. The city was made in honor of Caesar Augustus by Herod the Great (who tried to kill Jesus as a baby). The ruins were very impressive. The entire tour was quick, not quite at the speed of light but close.

The Hippodrome - for chariot races - with the port in the background 

Tal explaining the difference between a theater and an amphitheater

While this looks big, it used to be two rows higher - earthquakes - aren't they annoying

If you look close enough at the second row, you can see Piilatus - Pontius Pilate's name - this is the only
evidence that he really was in the Governor of the Romans in Judea

Where Pilate would have lived

Close up of the Port

Part of Pilate's home, washed away into the sea

In the background, the apse of a Christian church 

Tal points to a point over the top of the ruins which was a pagan temple, a Christian Church, a temple, a Church, a Mosque, a Church, ... you get the point 

It is possible that St. Paul might have stayed in an arched room like the one you see in the background when he was brought to Caesarea for sentencing before he went to Rome. 

Meeting Our Tour Guide

Tonight, we finally met our tour guide who will be with us throughout the course of the pilgrimage. His name is Tal. He seems not only to be nice but also very knowledgeable. I don't have a picture of him for you yet but it will be forthcoming.
We also met up with the rest of our group, which includes another 18 persons from throughout the United States. Everyone seems outgoing and ready to experience all that Israel has to offer.
This afternoon, while I was resting, a bunch of the group went out and experienced what Tel Aviv had to offer: gelato, a flea market, walks on the sand of the Mediterranean, and more gelato. Tomorrow, we rise early to depart for the Crusader and Roman ruins of Acko as well as Megiddo and Carmel. Stay tuned...

Our First Full Day in Israel

Ahhh sleep... what a wonderful thing. 
While some may prefer it like this:

                                         











I am glad to have one of these:


We all had a good night of sleep with occasional late night waking - due to jet lag.
Our first full day in Israel began with a full breakfast. And by full, I mean that the buffet was about 50 yds long. I have never had so many choices for breakfast.
After breakfast, all of us met up at 10:00 am Israeli time (midnight stateside in SD) to go to Mass at a local parish, St. Peter's, in Jaffa. It was about a 20 minute jaunt along the Mediterranean coast to arrive in the ancient port city.
This Church and area had a lot of history. You can find it referenced in Acts 10:9-47. A Fransciscan brother allowed us to have Mass in a crusader chapel found in their monastery since the main Church of St. Peter's was being used by an Italian tour group.
It was a beautiful mass and the chapel had great acoustics for singing.
Afterwards we wandered around and took a look at the local parks, spoke with an Jaffa Fisherman, and then made our way back. We are now enjoying a little time of R&R before meeting our official tour guide.

In the crusader chapel after mass. 

Picture of St. Peter's from a distance. 

Our Pilgrimage Group in front of St. Peter's.