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We made it back to St. Paul safe and sound.  Our pilgrimage to the Holy Land was incredible and packed with many graces.

Thank you to all of you who read this blog and prayed for us.  The support means so much to us.

May God be praised and may His name always be great in Israel!

God bless!

Day 26 - Leaving Israel

With sadness mixed with excitement we left Jerusalem today.  We had one last stop before our late night departure for New York: Abu Gosh, another possible site for the Emmaus of Luke's Gospel (there are actually four possible sites).

The Ark of the Covenant also spent some time in this location, so we visited a Church that honored Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant.

In this land, where the presence of Jesus is so palpable, it is tempting to say with St. Peter on Mt. Tabor, "It is good that we are here, let us stay".  We know, however, that the Lord is calling us to encounter Him in the ordinariness of seminary life in St. Paul and in ministry to our dioceses.  No, we cannot stay in the Holy Land, but the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is more real and powerful than any of the places we have been in this land.  The beauty of the incarnation is that we can meet the Risen Lord in Israel or Minnesota, Jordan or South Dakota.  And we can praise Him for that!

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Day 25 - Last Full Day in Jerusalem

Today was our last full day in Jerusalem. It's still cold and rainy, verging on sleet, but that didn't stop up. We had a day off and most guys went out to pray at their favorite Churches and do some last minute shopping.

In the afternoon, we had an audience with an Auxiliary Bishop of Jerusalem. He spoke to us about the conflict in the Middle East. Over the course of this trip my perspectives have changed. I used to think Jerusalem was in conflict because of the three major religions that venerate it. The reality is that Christians in Israel and Palestine are a peaceful minority caught  between the two heavy hitters. This is sometimes hard for the local Christians, but it also gives them a unique position to be peacemakers in a turbulent time.

I can't help but see the roots of the small group of early Christians living in Jerusalem surrounded by their brother Jews and the Romans. The Bishop said that true peace can seem impossible, but he reminded us that "nothing will be impossible for God." (Lk 1:37)

Two weeks ago as we entered the city, we recited the beginning of Psalm 122: "I rejoiced when they said to me 'let us go to the house of the Lord.' And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem." Now as we prepare to leave we pray the end of Psalm 122: "For the peace of Jerusalem pray."

God bless!

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Day 24 - Free Day

Today was a day off.  Heavy rains and wind kept many of us inside playing games and reading.  Last night, however, twelve of us were able to spend time locked in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Seminarian Ryan Andrew has this to say about his experience:

One of the greatest blessings of my life was to pray in the Holy Sepulchre Church right above the tomb of the risen Jesus Christ.  I brought the prayer intentions of my family, friends and others close to Jesus at the very spot where the conquered sin, evil and death!

The opportunity to thank the Lord for His redemption which renewed the world will always remain a very dear memory to me.  Thank you to all those praying for us on our pilgrimage and thank you to all those made this pilgrimage possible. I hope to share the blessings I have received with those back home and with those I minister to as deacon and a priest.

God bless!

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Day 23 - Bethany and Jericho

Your two faithful bloggers will be spending the night in the Holy Sepulchre. We've affectionately named the groups who do this tombers. Tomorrow is a free day but we'll be sure to post some reflections from our tombers.

But what about today? Today we went to a different empty tomb. We bused to Bethany, the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. We had some prayer time in a Church near Lazarus' tomb. At the front of the Church were Jesus' words, bold and in gold: "I Am the Resurrection." (Jn 11)

We had Mass in Jericho, an important city in both the New and Old Testaments. Here Jesus healed the blind man Batimeaus and redeemed Zacchaeus. (Lk 18-19) These two have so much to teach us. Both wanted to see Jesus. As pilgrims in the holy land we have all been guilty of wanting to see Jesus. Maybe in a rock, or building, or even an empty tomb. But sight didn't change these two men, Jesus' words did: "Zacchaeus come down." "Your faith has saved you." The truth is the tomb we tombers are visiting tonight is empty. But during this trip, we have all encountered the master, and heard his voice.

Oh and we rode a Camel! That's right, a Camel!

God bless!

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Day 22 - The Way of the Cross

Friday gives the Church an opportunity to remember the sacrifice of Jesus.  Jesus gave all in a supreme act of love, and it can be easy to lose the sense of awe, gratitude and sorrow that the death of Jesus should evoke in us.

Sculpture of Jesus based on the Shroud

Today we had the chance to be led through an exhibit on the famous Shroud of Turin.  A consecrated woman gave us a powerful presentation of this extraordinary burial cloth.  She encouraged us to remember that Jesus took on the darkest of suffering during our most difficult moments as priests.

In the afternoon, we joined the Franciscans, and many other lay faithful, for their weekly stations of the Cross that follows the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem.  The stations ended outside the empty tomb in the Holy Sepulchre as we celebrated Jesus' victory over death and sin.

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Day 21 - Ascension and Emmaus

Chapel of the Ascension

We returned to the Mount of Olives this morning but this time we went to the peak. Far above the garden of Gethsemane lies the crusader Church of the Ascension. Today it's a mosque but originally it was a small church dedicated to Jesus' Ascension and it was built without a roof. I caught a lot of seminarians starring up into the sky. (For the record so did I but we should have read Acts 1:11.)

The Our Father in different languages

We had mass down the hill in a cave where the apostles may have slept while Jesus prayed. We also visited the cave of the Our Father. I think today we hit our cave limit. In fact the guys are currently having a "what is it about caves?!" conversation at the table next to me.

One of the many caves in the Holy Land

We ended the day traveling to Emmaus/Nicopolis, one of two possible locations for Jesus' appearance at Emmaus. We had a holy hour scheduled but the Church was locked so we spread out and prayed outside. Several guys prayed in a ruined crusader Church on the site.

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