Day 14 - Mt. of Olives

Today was all downhill...s. We took a bus across the Kidron Valley to the top of the Mount of Olives. Father Kuss said mass at Dominus Flevit, where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. From the mount we had a perfect view Jerusalem, and we traced Jesus' steps during Holy Week.

Men praying at the stone of the agony

From there we walked down the slope to the Garden of Gethsemane. Knotted twisting olive trees still grow in outer courtyard of the basilica; some are over 2030 years old and would have been in the garden with Jesus that night. It was about noon when we entered, but inside the basilica it is always cool and dark. The ceiling is covered with stars and the pillars are brown like hulking olive trees. At the front of the dark church is an exposed stone platform where Jesus prayed during the Agony in the garden. We stayed there and prayed for a half an hour, many of us reflecting on our upcoming ordinations. Like Jesus we are preparing to give our lives for others, and this is impossible without the Father. We pray that, when we feel alone, Jesus would bring us back to Gethsemane.

We came back out into the sunshine and drove back up the steep hill called Jerusalem. Outside the city walls, archeological excavations have unearned parts of the city the from the very early stages of the city, including Hezekiah's tunnel. This ancient tunnel allowed the city to draw water from springs outside of the city, even in times of siege. We descended (downhill) under the city and we actually walked some of these ancient (slightly claustrophobic) passageways.

After a lot of hiking we are in for the evening and we're putting our feet up. Tomorrow... The Dead Sea!

Posted via Blogaway

Day 13 - The Holy Sepulchre and St. Peter in Gallicantu

Outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Praying in the tomb

Our first day in Jerusalem didn't disappoint.  We started with Mass at the tomb of Jesus at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  The emotion of our group was palpable;  we experienced the mystery of the Resurrection in a new way.

Later in the morning we saw the rest of the Church, including Golgotha, the place where Christ was crucified (the tomb and Golgotha are in the same maze-of-a-church that is the Holy Sepulchre).  It is difficult to describe this Church which contains the two holiest places, but it makes you realize the eternal impact of Christ's saving action. He is risen!

A look into the pit

The next stop was St. Peter in Gallicantu.  This is the location of Caiphas's house; the place where Jesus was first brought after he was arrested to be interrogated by the Jewish leaders (also the place where Peter denied Jesus). At this site is a pit believed to the prison where Christ was held the night before His death.  We prayed through Psalm 88, a psalm that Jesus might have prayed while He was imprisoned here.

A line from Psalm 88, addressing God, is "Will your love be told in the grave?" After seeing the tomb, we can answer YES.  His love was told in the grave, for His love dies not in the grave.  My prayer for all of you reading this is that you might have a new experience of God's love for you, the love that is stronger than death.

God bless!

Posted via Blogaway

Day 12 - Ajlun and Jerash

Rare visual evidence that we do in fact have a Carmelite with us on this trip

The group had our last day Jordan today. We drove a few hours up into the Gilead mountains to the city of Ajlun. A monastery once stood on the city's highest peak, but it was taken over and fortified into a castle to defend against the Christian crusaders. And as we marched up the steep slope it was easy to see why Richard the Lionheart failed to retake the city. At first I think we all felt a little out of place in anti-crusader fortress but before long we were having  a great time exploring forbidden passages, playing hacky-sack, and trying to find the highest point to reclaim the castle ourselves! We also had some incredible Arabic Coffee (not the same as Turkish coffee, we were instructed) at the end of our visit.

We left Ajlun and drove to Jerash, which was built on the ruins of the biblical town Geresa. These were by far the most impressive Roman ruins we've seen as the city still had two massive gates, two ancient temples, a piazza the size of the Vatican's and the most intact theater we've seen (and we've seen an awful lot of Roman theaters).

The maker of the amazing coffee

Then it was back across the boarder to Israel, and as I type these words our feet are standing within the gates of the Holy city of Jerusalem! Tomorrow morning we have mass at Jesus' tomb in the Holy Sepulchre. You'll all be in our prayers.

God bless!

Posted via Blogaway

Posted via Blogaway

Day 11 - Madaba and Mt. Nebo

Jerusalem on the mosaic map

Today was, thankfully, a light day.  We got to sleep in and enjoy a nice breakfast.  We then visited two churches in Madaba. The first was a Greek Orthodox church that is home to a mosaic map of the Holy Land that dates to the 6th century. Pilgrims would be able to see the geography of the land before they crossed the Jordan river into the Holy Land.

Brandon and the view Madaba

The second Church was a Catholic church, home to the local Catholic community.  Most of us "enjoyed" a precarious climb to the top of the bell tower for a 360 degree view of the city.   

We then took a short bus ride to Mt. Nebo;  this is the site where Moses gazed on the Promise Land without being able to enter.  After 40 years wandering in the desert, I can only imagine the heart break that Moses would have felt.  But for us, in 2016, it was a beautiful view.  Tomorrow will be our last day in Jordan and then it is on to Jerusalem!

God bless!

Posted via Blogaway

Day 10 - Bet She'an and the Jordan River

Tim checking out some ruins

We packed up our things and said goodbye to the Emmanuel community, who hosted us in Tiberius, but not before sharing Sunday Mass with them. We celebrated the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and loaded up the bus for our trip to Jordan.

Ancient Roman? No, just Nick.

Before crossing the border Dr. Martin took us to one last ruined city: Bet She'an. Again there were several layers including Ancient Israelite, and Egyptian. But the most impressive was the late Roman city, with a massive theater, bath houses (which included ancient indoor plumbing), and truly monumental pillars.

Then we crossed over the Jordan River into the country of Jordan. We've only been here a few hours and I think many of us are reeling from culture shock. You see, much of the Israel we have seen is a kind of mix between European and Middle Eastern culture, but Jordan is the Middle East. After just a few minutes of driving we felt the shift from the fertile crescent to the desert. And still the bible is coming alive in new ways.

Chris praying on Jordan's bank.

We saw several Bedouin tribes in tents, much like the wandering Israelites. Our bus had to stop at one point to let a shepherd boy, no more than 10, and his flock cross the road. And we visited a Baptism site on the Jordan River where we renewed our faith by praying the Creed.

We are settled in for the night in the town of Madaba. More from Jordan tomorrow!

God bless!

Posted via Blogaway

Day 9 - Tel Hazor, Tel Dan and Caesarea Philippi

Diocese of Sioux Falls men

Today was a day of ruined cities.  The first of which was Tel Hazor. Dr. Martin explained to us the complicated and fascinating history of this city that was once home to Israelites.

Listening attentively

We then moved to almost the northern most point in the country to a place called Tel Dan.  The scenery here was breathtaking. Tel Dan lies at the crossroads of Israel, Lebanon and Syria under the shadow of Mt. Hermon.  Tel Dan was where the first king of Israel in the divided kingdom built a golden calf, deviating from the worship of the true God.  Gazing on the ruins of this city was a good reminder of what happens when the leaders of the people fall into sin.

Caesarea Philippi

Next was Caesarea Philippi, the town where Peter gave his confession of faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Matt 16).  Peter's faith worked as a good counter example to the unfaithfulness of the Israelites we saw in Tel Dan.

Our day ended with a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. Tomorrow we leave Israel for two days to spend time in Jordan. 

God bless!

Posted via Blogaway

Day 8 - Megiddo

Matthew getting some prayer in before Mass

I woke up this morning to a thunder clap and realized, it's storming over the Sea of Galilee! We waterproofed as best we could and set out for Capernaum. We had mass at the Church over Peter's house and heard the gospel of the Bread of Life Discourse (John 6) which took place in the Synagogue next door. It was so incredible to receive Jesus in a place where he had preached about the bread of life, and where Christians since the first century had celebrated the sacrament we hope to one day celebrate.

Dr. Mario teaching us at Megiddo

Next we bussed to Megiddo, an ancient city. Well, 25 ancient cities actually. Megiddo sits on a large hill at the entrance of the Jezreel Valley which leads to the sea. So, anyone who wanted to conquer the fertile crescent (that's a very long list) had to control Megiddo. It is for this reason that John calls the final battlefield of Revelation: Armageddon. The hill today contains over 25 layers of destroyed and rebuilt cities. We met up with Dr. Mario, an archeologist and friend of the seminary, for a tour of the continuing excavation of Megiddo.

Learning about Archeology

However that same thunderstorm which was so cool in the morning turned on us and we saw a very soggy version of Megiddo. Many umbrellas perished and were added to the ruins of the city. We planned to go boating on the Sea of Galilee this evening but we canceled and tried to warm up instead.

God bless!

Posted via Blogaway