2018 Holy Land Pilgrimage Recap - Day #5

Today our pilgrimage takes us to Mount Tabor - Bethlehem - Jerusalem.  At Mount Tabor we had to disembark the large bus and transfer to smaller vans in order to reach the top of the mountain as the road was too narrow and winding for the larger bus. It was at Mount Tabor where Jesus was Transfigured.

 Church of  the Transfiguration 

 Church of Transfiguration 

Above Altar 

 View From Top of Mount Tabor 

Next stop - Shepherds Field where the Angels appeared to shepherds  tending their flocks

 Entrance to Shepherds Field

Courtyard 

 Holy Mass in the Cave 

 Ceiling in Church Nearby

 Church at Shepherds Field

Having heard the proclamation that a special child had been born - like the shepherds - we headed to Bethlehem to view the birthplace for ourselves.  Once at the Church of the Nativity we had to crouch down in order to enter.  The original entrance - which was large - had been walled in to restrict entrance by only humans - thus preventing soldiers on horse back from entering this Holy Place. 

 Watch Your Head - Even Short People Have To Bow Low 

Since we were visiting at the "High Season" there was a huge crowd inside.  We had to wait in a circular line for almost two hours before entering the lower crypt. In the meantime an Orthodox couple entered the church for their wedding along with priest and entire wedding party.  The wedding was over before we had progressed even half way to the entrance.

 Priest with wedding party

Finally - after a very long wait - we came to the entrance down a steep set of small stairs leading to the Star of Jesus. 

 Asian Pilgrims Entering Before Our Group 

Because this was High Season - we could not linger at this site.  We had just enough time for each individual to reverence the spot where Jesus was born - indicated by the large bronze star surrounding the opening to the rock below.  Pilgrims will reverence by bowing and kneeling - some touching the Star - some kissing - some placing their hand inside the opening. All forms very acceptable. 

Reverencing the Star of Jesus

Reverencing the Star of Jesus

 Crypt Area - Star of Jesus on Left - Location of Manger Under the Gold Banner

By the time we had all had a chance to view and reverence the Star of Jesus it was dark and the end of another fruitful day of pilgrimage. 

Returning to pilgrimage hotel - time to relax and eat

Many people think that a pilgrimage is a simple bus trip to different locations - to view places and articles of interest.  It is more than that - Morning Prayer - Rosaries Prayed - Divine Mercy Chaplets shared - Daily Holy Mass - waiting in line patiently while others do the same as you.  At the end of each day - very rewarding.

Praying Our Way Through Israel 

Deacon Dale 

2018 Holy Land Pilgrimage Recap - Day #4

While on pilgrimage - one of the things we do every morning is to share Morning Prayer - once on the bus - while traveling to the morning's first site. On this pilgrimage we elected to use the Holy Land Companion by Magnificat - Morning Prayer based on the first site that we would be visiting.  Led by Father Matt and Deacon Dale - the entire bus - singing - chanting the various psalms and prayers of the day.  A great way to begin each day.  Our first stop today - the Mount of Beatitudes - along the Sea of Galilee - Holy Mass.

 Holy Mass

 Holy Mass 

 Church at Mount of Beatitudes

 Peaceful Setting on Sea of Galilee

 Sea of Galilee

Continuing on we next came to Tabgha - the site of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes - built to commemorate the feeding of the five thousand

 Cistern

 Grinding Wheel

 Site of the Multiplication

Moving on we next came to the Church of the Primacy of Peter where Our Lord appeared to the apostles after His Resurrection

Apostles Meet Jesus

Right next to the Primacy of Peter is the site of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus called Peter to walk on the water...

Attempting to Walk on the Water

Our journey next brought us to Capernaum to see the temple that Jesus worshiped at and close by the church built over the house of Peter's mother-in-law's home

 Capernaum Temple 

 Temple Ruins

Church over Peter's Mother-in-law's Home

Lunchtime brought us to a local kibbutz where many shared in the famous St. Peter's Fish

 St. Peter's Fish

 Remains after eating with surgical precision by our pilgrim physician

Lunch was followed by a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee where - once in the middle of the sea - the engine was stopped and Arlene shared a meditation with everyone

 Sea of Galilee Boat Experience

 Sea of Galilee Shoreline 

Our final stop for this day was the Jordan River and the Yardenit Baptismal Site.  Here our pilgrims were given the opportunity to renew their baptismal vows either by full immersion or by sprinkling for the less adventurous.

 Jordan River Baptism Site

Deacon Dale & Arlene Getting Ready for Immersion

 Father Matt Sprinkling Annette & George - His Parents

Toweling off and drying themselves - the group boarded the bus to return to the hotel for dinner and the end of a very full day.

Praying Our Way Through Israel
Deacon Dale 

2018 Holy Land Pilgrimage Recap - Day #3

Today began our first official day of visiting Holy sites in Israel.  Leaving Tel Aviv - we headed to the ancient port city of Jaffa - visiting St. Peter's Church - traveling to the walled city and Roman ruins of Caesarea - where St Peter converted the first pagan - Centurion Cornelius - to become Christian - where St. Paul was imprisoned for two years.

St. Peter's Church

St. Peter's Church

Caesarea

Amphitheatre at Caesarea

High Winds on the Mediterranean

The next stop - Acre - an ancient crusader city and UNESCO World Heritage site.

 Courtyard

Crusaders Hall

Continuing on to Nazareth - visiting the Church of the Annunciation - celebrating Holy Mass - viewing the images of St. Mary provided by artists and countries from around the world.

Nazareth Church of Annuciation

 Image of Mary

 Images of Mary 

 Image of Mary from USA

 Main Altar Upper Church 

Mary in the Courtyard

 Holy Mass in Lower Chapel

Final site - the Wedding Church at Cana where Father Matt blessed and renewed the vows of all our couples.

 Divine Mercy Chapel at Cana

 Wedding Church at Cana

Main Altar at Cana

 Final stop today the hotel in Tiberias - along the Sea of Galilee - for a two night stay.

Amazing sites today all located at the Sea of Galilee - connecting the dots

Praying Our Way Through Israel
Deacon Dale 

2018 Holy Land Pilgrimage Recap - Days #1 & #2

The first day of any pilgrimage is all about travel - gathering the group together - bus to the airport - flights to the destination - meeting the tour guide - checking into your first hotel.  Depending on the destination - anywhere from half a day or more.  In the case of our group traveling from our home parish near Chicago to Tel Aviv in Israel - approximately twenty-two hours.  Travel was uneventful - everyone met on time - after attending an impromptu Holy Mass with Father Matt - receiving a Pilgrims Blessing from Father Gabriel - no delays in flights or with bus travel.  We arrived in Tel Aviv - tired but excited - to meet up with additional pilgrims who had been added to our group.  Our first evening activity - a simple welcome dinner - meeting the other pilgrims and tour guide - time for relaxation and sleep.

 Holy Mass Deacon Doug - Deacon Dale - Father Matt

 Pilgrims Blessing on Bus - Father Gabriel

Surprise Seatmate for Hector (left) - Matthew Faraci (right) 

The only out of the ordinary experience on our first day was meeting Hector's seatmate for the international flight.  Matthew Faraci - Host of Frankly Faraci  (on Dove Channel) - Executive Producer of The Chosen - a new project focusing on the Life of Jesus.  For complete information on this very interesting project click this link.  The Chosen

Personally I do not believe this was a coincidence that Matthew was seated next to one of our pilgrims - rather a God incident.

Arriving in Tiberias - Safe and Sound - 37 Pilgrims

Holy Mass - Mass of Thanksgiving and Sending

Welcome Dinner

Pilgrimage - Day #1 & #2 - Meeting New People - Interesting Meetup

Praying Our Way Through Israel

Deacon Dale 

Each One Reach One

As long as we are discussing pilgrimages - in general - what is the point - in the first place?  Contrary to popular opinion - it is not about travel - not about vacations - not about exotic locations.  The goal of all pilgrimages - local - national - international - is making an attempt to help others take the very short journey of twelve inches from their mind to their heart.  All pilgrimages are designed to help individuals become aware of how much God loves them - cares for them - wants them to share the Good News - with all they meet.  

Recently I did a bit of math - with some rough figures - estimated the number of people that have directly or indirectly been touched through the various ministries that my wife and I have been involved in.  Through our ministries as chaplain - deacon - in hospital visits - baptisms - weddings - wakes - funerals - preaching - teaching - numerous presentations - youth ministry - pilgrimages - evenings of reflections - retreats - over the course of some forty years - together we have had an influence - impact - affect - on the lives of no less than 500,000 individuals - if those people each in turned shared their experience with just one other person - that estimate jumps to one million individuals. I share these numbers not to pat ourselves on the back - rather to show what one couple - committed to sharing their faith - can accomplish in their lifetimes. So often - when we ask people to become involved in sharing their faith - the common response - what affect can I have as a single individual.  As shown by the numbers above - our individual impact is much more than any of us would have guessed. As a group of committed Christians - freely sharing our faith experiences - we can reach hundreds of millions.  We can - do - have a much greater impact on people around us - than we would ever realize. 

Standing in the Sea of Galilee

Each of us - as a result of our baptisms - has been called to share in the ministry of Christ - to be priest - prophet - king - of our own domains - to proclaim the Gospel message to all whom we  come in contact with - each one reaching one.  When an individual says who are they - what effect can they expect - only has to look at the numbers above to see what possibilities really exist.  Each of us walks a journey - camino - pilgrimage - seeking to draw closer to God.  On that path we need to invite others to travel with us. 

Deacon Dale 

Pilgrimages Don't Just Happen

Pilgrimages do not just happen - there is a lot of work that goes into planning and arranging one.  Once the final arrangements have been finalized - air carrier - flights - bus transportation - hotels - meals - itinerary - tour guide - and more - then and only then can the pilgrimage be advertised and people recruited to participate.  All said and done - the ones who participate - the pilgrims - are the one and only reason a pilgrimage happens.  Without pilgrims - there is no pilgrimage.  It doesn't matter if it is a one day event - overnight - week long - people are the fuel that makes a pilgrimage come alive.  Those who participate in a pilgrimage come from all walks of life - all ethnicities - all faiths.  On every Catholic based pilgrimage that my wife and I have organized - we have always had non-Catholics who participate. Our most recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land in Israel completely showed that.

In the photos below - taken from our October 24 - November 2, 2018 pilgrimage - you can clearly see the physical makeup of the group.  What none of these photos can reveal - is the spirituality of each person - the basic religion practiced.  This specific group represented Roman Catholics - Pentecostal - Palestinian Christian - Muslim - faiths - all blended together in a single effort to draw each person closer to God. 

 2018 Pilgrimage Group at Holy Sepulcher Church in Jerusalem

 2018 Group at Mount Tabor in Lower Galilee

2018 Pilgrimage Group in the Upper Room at David's Tomb Compound in Jerusalem

Pilgrimage is always a blessing to those who participate - many blessings - in many different forms - always a gift from God - drawing each individual closer to their personal relationship with their Lord.

Deacon Dale 

Israel - Awesome Pilgrimage

We are back!  It has been a few days since our return from our pilgrimage to Israel and we are still readjusting our internal clocks and trying to get back to our normal schedules.  Waking at 3:00 AM is not what most of us would call normal - but it is what it is.

Quickly - in a nutshell - the entire pilgrimage far exceeded our expectations.  Our original group numbered twenty-six people and prior to departure we were informed that a smaller group of six would meet us in Tel Aviv.  I was very surprised - on arrival - to learn that number had increased to eleven.  Larger groups are great to work with - especially when you have advance notice - unfortunately - the addition of five extra people meant that the extra supplies I had purchased were not enough and some ended up having to share.  That is no big deal - but at DeaconTravel/CaminoWakers Ministries we are known for being all inclusive and well prepared - this did not help to sustain our reputation.  In spite of this - we did manage to pull a  few rabbits out of the hat and hopefully - helped to remove that error on the part of our travel partner.  As my friend George always says - it will be alright - and as usual - it was.  Our tour guide was over the top and provided us with excellent information and local color which helped us to experience so much more than expected.  

Our 2018 Group of Pilgrims Outside Holy Sepulcher Church

Over the course of the next week I intend on doing a complete review of our ten day pilgrimage and share more of the 2000 photos I took.  Until then - remember Jesus - God - the Holy Spirit - is with you wherever you are.

Deacon Dale