Today was a beautiful day in many ways. It was a spectcular day for weather, for learning, for prayer and worship, and reflection.
Take a look at first thing Sunday morning - prayer beside the Sea of Galilee.
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| Sunday morning looking over the Sea of Galilee. |
Our first destination after breakfast was Capernaum. The Gospel says Jesus went home to Capernaum as he traveled through the country preaching and teaching. Capernaum is the location of Peter's mother-in-law's house, where Jesus healed her fever. It has been 25 years since I went to this place. The excavations were done then but now there is a wonderful modern church built over the site of the diggings. Take a look
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| The modern church over St. Peter's house at Capernaum. The church is octagonal which copies the shape of the church that was built on the site in the 6th century, and expanded in the 7th century. These octagonal churhes were the prefered style by the Byszantine builders afterthe fall of the western roman empire. This church was destroyed in the 8th century and the site lay in ruins until the 20th century when excavation started. This modern church stands on 8 pilings which supports the entire church several feet above the excavations. In the center of the church, there is a glass floor which allows people to see directly into the digging site. This was never possible before because one could only see the diggings from eye level. |
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| The glass floor in the Capernaum church of St Peter's. The view is looking down into the octagonal Byzantine church which was built in the 6th century. |
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| A view of the interior of St. Peter's Church in Capernaum. The glass floor is in the space in the railing in the center. |
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| Preparing to celebrate Sunday morning Mass in Capernaum. |
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| Prigrimage priests on sabbatical with me approaching the altar to receive Holy Communion. |
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| Another view of the Capernaum church built over the excavations. |
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| In the 4th century synagogue in Capernaum. This building was constructed on the foundations of the previous synagogue which Jesus taught in. The Gospel says Jesus came to Capernaum and the scroll of Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and read the passage, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me." "Today this passage is fulfilled in your hearing." These are not the same stones but the location is the very one. That is indisputable. |
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| A corinthian style capital from the synagogue. Notice the menorah in the top left hand edge of the carving. This would only have been used in an important Jewish building, and that is the synagogue. |
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| A well-preserved olive oil mill dug up at Capernaum. Daily life in the village comes back to life when objects like this are found. The cones visible in the distance are grain mills. |
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| Another glance at the Sea of Galilee as we prepared to move on to our next destination. We will spend three days on the shores of the largest and most important lake in Israel. |
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| Posing next to signs may be the most tourist thing there is. But I couldn't help it. The bus over so we could walk across the Jordan River. Fr. Dan Carter of San Francisco, originally from Oklahoma started a rousing chorus of the old spiritual "Walking Over Jordan". |
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| The Jordan River as it flows into the north end of the Sea of Galilee in another mile. The major source of water is the melting snow on the summit of Mount Hermon. The Jordan also flows out of the Sea of Galilee to the south until it reaches the Dead Sea. By the was, the Sea of Galilee is 695 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea in 2600 feet below sea level. |
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| The view north to Mount Hermon, the highest peak in Israel. This peak is always snow covered at nearly 8000 feet above sea level. |
We continued our drive north towards the Isreali/Lebanese border to visit two important historical sites. In the north is the site of Caeserea Philipi, a city built Herod's son. This city was built in the Roman style and was the site of temples dedicated to the god Pan, the son of Hermes. Pan is the god of nature. These were built by the Jewish ruler. It was in Ceasarea Philipi that Jesus asks his disciples the question, "Who do people say that I am?" Ultimately Peter answers, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Caesarea Philipi is important because it has natural springs which are one of the sources of the Jordan River. They have been supplying water for all of recorded history and before.
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| The cave visible in the photo is one source of water and part of the ceremonial cult of Pan. There is a deep water source and flows up sometimes, and other times flows down. Sacrifices were thrown into the water. If they sank, the people belived that the god accepted the offering. If it floated back to the surface, the god rejected the offering. |
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| More of the springs of cold clear water that eventually feed the Jordan River. |
Today also included some great walks in the woods. Seeing the natural features of the Israeli country leaves no question why Jesus went into the mountains to pray. These streams come together to form the waterfalls that you see in the next photo.
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| The waterfalls on the River Dan. It is another stream that feeds the Jordan River. |
Remeber the passage when Jesus says, "Why do you worry about the clothes you wear, or the food you eat. Look at the lilies of the field....Not even Solomon was arrayed like one of these.
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| Wild rosemary in bloom. |
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| Wild Narcissus |
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| Wild Poppy |
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| Wild Mustard |
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| Unidentified, but beautiful anyway. |
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| Fennel growing wild through the woods. |
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| A third stream in the woods that feeds the Jordan. |
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| Excvations at another "tel" , the Dan Tel. This is a view of the main gate to the city. The rooms that are visible would have housed soldiers who were charged with the duty of watching the gate. This gate dates back to the 9th century BC |
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| Fr. Wensing explained to us another process that took place at the gate of the city. A panel of Judges made of the elders of the community would sit in judgement at the gates of the city to decide who could enter, or who could pass through the region's roads. Entrance taxes or passsage tolls would be paid, (or bribes received). We had some fun by seating the four elder priests on the bench to make a decision. Would we take the long trail, or the short trail to the summit of the tel? Making the the decision are the 4 elders of our group, from left to right, Bishop Donald Kettler of Fairbanks Alaska, Msgr, Ron Howland of Washington DC, Msgr Jim Dixon of Miama FL, and Msgr Bob Lawrence of Harrisburg PA. They decided on the long trail. |
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| Not far from the Dan Tel's new gate is another amazing archaelogical dig. This gate to the Dan site predates the newer gate just shown by at least a 1000 years which makes it over 4000 years old. It is believed that Moses had to pass by this way as he went to the the rescue of the Israelites in Egypt. This city controled the major and the easiest route to Egypt from the north of Palestine. It only makes sense that he would pass this way. If that assumption is true, then Moses passed through this mud brick gate to negotiate his passage through the region. |
Leaving the northern region of Israel, we traveled south back to the Sea of Galilee to another site where St. Peter figures prominently. Just near the center where we are staying by the Sea of Galilee is the site of the Primacy of Peter. The tradition says that this in the beach where Jesus appeared to the disciples after the resurrection. Peter and his companions had been out fishing all night and Jesus appeared to them on the shore and prepared breakfast for them. This is the moment when Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you love me?" and three times Peter answered, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you." and three times Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." Bishop Kettler lead us in prayers and offered a brief reflection as we read that passage from the Gospel of John.
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| Bishop Donald Kettler of Fairbanks, Alaska, proclaiming the Gospel of John at the site of the "primacy of Peter". Bishop Kettler is a friend of Msgr Mike Wensing, the director of ICTE. They were both priests and colleagues of the Diocese of Fargo, ND. |
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| My day ended as it began - in prayer by the Sea of Galilee. |
Good night everyone.
