Fr. Ben Wanner's Pilgrimage

    Merry Christmas! As an extended gift to our Titan Family, I would like to share my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to journey to the very places where Jesus himself walked on this earth! Since Jesus was fully a man who lived at the very center of human history and saved us at the very center of the known world at the culmination of ancient cultural, political, and religious power - yet became a tiny baby who was fully God, we still call it the Holy Land over 2,000 years after the Incarnation. 

    Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, where I went to school for priestly formation, offered to take me and my classmates on this 20-day pilgrimage since it was cancelled last year due to COVID. Now that I am going as a newly ordained priest, I will be able to celebrate mass at the holiest sites on earth! My two fantastic professors in Sacred Scripture will be leading us around all the major sites from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea to Jerusalem, teaching us Biblical Archeology along the way. I will plan on posting the highlights of the day along with pictures as we progress through the trip so that you can all see what we are doing as we experience it! The other Bismarck priests that are with me are Fr. Logan Obrigewitch, Fr. Paul Gardner, Fr. Greg Hilzendeger, as well as our seminarian Dcn. Dustin Johns.
    Finally, I have decided to take my awesome Pokémon Testudo along with me. My friend Testudo (Latin for "Squirtle") has been helping me teach Trinity North Elementary the ordinary musical parts of the mass in Latin such as the Agnus Dei, Sanctus, Mortem Tuam etc. Even though Testudo is a very experienced Pokémon (level 2,775 to be exact - the same level as the number of years since the founding of Rome), like the ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Biblical languages, Testudo never changes, he never "evolves." He always stays the same so that we never forget who we are or whence we came as a Universal Church. Since Testudo helps us enjoy all the spiritual riches of our Catholic heritage, it is fitting that I bring him along to help us enjoy the earthly and spiritual riches of the Holy Land that are meant for us in North Dakota as well. Know of my prayers for you all on my journey, and please pray for our safe travels! 

Check out the General Itinerary at the following link:

Fr. Ben Wanner's Itinerary

Day 1 - Traveling Across the World with Fr. Paul Gardner and Fr. Logan Obrigewitch
 

    I just met up with my friends and classmates Fr. Paul Gardner and Fr. Logan Obrigewitch in the Bismarck Airport! Fr. Paul is currently at Spirit of Life in Mandan and Fr. Logan is at Corpus Christi in Bismarck. Fortunately, we have the same flight schedule so that none of us have to travel alone. Please pray for us that we make it safely! Fr. Paul made fun of me for brining Testudo, but I was still able to trick him into getting a picture with us! 

Day 2 - Arriving in Tel Aviv and then the Sea of Galilee
 

    Fr. Paul, Logan, and I flew from Bismarck to Denver to Munich in Germany to Tel Aviv in Israel. On the transatlantic flight to Munich, I sat next to a very devout Catholic woman from Thailand who has seen all the Catholic sites from the Holy Land to the Pope! We shared a lot of grace-filled experiences from our previous pilgrimages. On our flight to Tel Aviv, I sat next to an Italian group who was also going on pilgrimage for the first time to the Holy Land. I was able to brush up on my Italian a bit since it has been 5 years since I studied in Rome for a semester in college seminary. I was happy that I finished grading my final exams before Christmas because Fr. Paul is still grading his papers for his St. Mary's Academy Middle School students in Bismarck...
    We were the first ones to arrive in Tel Aviv from our whole group. Once we found 206 Tours and finally put our weary bags on the bus, the three of us stayed at a coffee shop to wait for the others to arrive. The whole group then drove for 2 hours on a bus to the Sea of Galilee/Lake of Gennesaret. Beni (בני) our Local Catholic tour guide - who grew up and still lives in Jerusalem - shared with us some fresh, local dates which tasted fantastic! Fun fact - apparently, dates are one of the few foods that has the right mixture of nutrients so that one could live off dates alone for an extended period of time, and the Holy Land is full of date trees. After arriving at the German Pilgrim House called Pilgerhaus Tabgha just 2.5 miles west of Capernaum along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, we all checked in, celebrated mass together as the feast of the Holy Innocents, drank a glass of freshly-squeezed lemonade, and went to bed. It feels good to be with my old friends in such an ancient land to grow closer to the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ together once more! The first word Testudo taught us was שלום (Shalom) which means "hello/peace"! The second phrase was לילה טוב (Lilah Tov) which means "good night"!

Day 3 - Sea of Galilee, St. Peter's Primacy, Mt. Eremos, Ein Eyov Waterfall, and Caesarea Philippi
 

    I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise on the Sea of Galilee. This is the lake where Jesus did so much of his public ministry teaching off the shore, calming storms on boats, and even walking on top of this very water! After eating a cheesy breakfast sandwich and drinking some Hebrew tea, I introduced Testudo the larger group as we put on our tour guide headphones so that Fr. Charles Samson could speak while we walk from place to place. 
    After only a 15-minute walk along the shore northward, we stopped at a location filled with action. Next to the beach, we celebrated mass together at the place where Jesus appeared to Peter at breakfast around a charcoal fire, asking him three times, "Do you love me? Feed my Sheep" (Jn 21). I offered my mass for Bishop Kagan and Pope Francis, that they would love Jesus and feed his sheep. At that spot, there is a large, porous rock where Jesus ate breakfast according to ancient Christian pilgrims. Testudo reminded us that this rock is considered the Mensa Christi - the Table of Christ. I was able to place my Bible on the rock while I was kneeling in the church that was built over it. It was a very peaceful place for prayer.
    Just across the street inland was Mt. Eremos (more of a hill) where Jesus would often retreat “alone” (eremos in Greek) to pray to the Father (Mk 1:35). It is also the same place where Jesus did his Sermon on the Mount, teaching his disciples that he was the New Moses giving the New Law living in the spirit of the Beatitudes and teaching his disciples the Our Father etc. (Mt 5-7). 
    At the foot of Mt. Eremos is Ein Eyov Waterfall, the very place where Jesus called James and John to follow him (Mk 1:19-20). We know this from Testudo because the Greek word for "mending their nets" (καταρτίζω) implies that they were washing their nets with running water. The only source water running into the Sea of Galilee besides the Jordan River is Ein Eyon Waterfall, where 7 natural springs completely converge. Just beyond the waterfall, Fr. Paul tried to walk on water like Simon, but he ended getting his pants all wet! 
    After lunch, we drove a bus all the way to Caesarea Philippi, which was a northern (pagan) town filled with pagan temples near Mt. Hermon. The Romans carved little shrines into the large rock at Caesarea Philippi for their pagan gods, especially for the god Pan, who in a sense, represented all the gods (Testudo reminded us that pan is Greek for "all"). According to classical mythology, Pan would descend into the underworld through this very spring into the large hole at the base of this rock for winter and would cause spring again only when he came back out. It is in this context that Jesus definitively said to Simon, "you are Peter (πέτρος) and on this rock (πέτρα) I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Mt 16:18). Testudo pointed out that “Peter” and “rock” are the exact same word in Greek. According to the Romans, Peter literally would have been standing next to the gates of Hades at the large rock when Jesus would have said these words! Clearly, Jesus brought his apostles all the way north to Caesarea Philippi to intentionally and confidently establish Peter as our very first pope against all the religious powers of evil! Just for fun, I placed Testudo inside the ancient rocky shrine in place of Pan as if he were in his temple... Testudo was also sneaking inside of the sophisticated ancient Roman aqueduct technology! Our entire group of deacons and priests took a picture in front of the large rock of Peter, singing the hymn "Tu es Petrus" (Latin for "You are Peter"). After sleeping on the way back to our German Pilgerhaus, Fr. Samson gave us an introductory lecture on Biblical Archeology before an extended evening of food and fun!

Day 4 - Dalmanutha, Bethsaida, Gamla, and Kursi

    Today we went to Dalmanutha, the place where Jesus multiplied the fish and the loaves for his Jewish disciples (Mt 14). Just outside the Benedictine Monastery build over the site was a large millstone for crushing the oil out of olives. There was also a large stone baptismal font from the 4th century. Inside the monastery was a large ancient mosaic floor with an altar built over the candle-lit rock where Jesus did the miracle of the multiplication for his Jewish followers. When we celebrated mass during the Solemnity of the Holy Family, I offered my mass for my own family, that we may multiply God's graces in the world. 
    Next, we journeyed to Bethsaida, the hometown of the apostles Simon, Andrew, and Philip. There, archeologists have discovered a city gate that dates all the way back to the period of King David (c. 1,000 BC), which is very rare. This is important for Biblical History because it suggests that David's Kingdom stretched as far out as the Sea of Galilee. A little later, one of the "high places" mentioned in the Old Testament was unearthed, where people would do sinful religious sacrifices that were meant to be offered in the Jewish Jerusalem Temple alone. Testudo was proud that he could climb all the way to the top of this ancient "high place." Finally, a block of house foundations and walls were excavated that date back to the 1st century. In the surrounding soil, archaeologists have found a multitude of fish hooks, lead weights, and other fishing supplies, which confirms that fisherman like the apostles indeed lived there. 
    After climbing down the hill of Bethsaida, our bus climbed in elevation all the way to Gamla, which was a heavily fortified Jewish fortress in the 1st century. This was a stronghold for a Jewish group called the Zealots, who hoped that a powerful warrior and political leader messiah would come to liberate them from the pagan Roman Empire. However, just over a hundred years after Jesus (the real messiah) rose from the dead, the Romans destroyed their fortress with iron catapults that are still on the cliffside today. One of the 5 excavated ancient synagogues in the Holy Land is near the city wall where the Romans first broke in.
    After a picnic, we drove to Kursi on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee to visit the place where Jesus healed the Gerasene Demoniac in Mark 5. Significantly, the 10th legion of Rome - which conquered ancient Israel and turned it into a Roman Province named Palestine - had a boar as its legion symbol. Thus, when Jesus drove out the legion of demons into the pigs on the right-hand hillside of the city, Jesus was also sending a message against the pagan powers of the Roman Empire. Today, all that is left of the city is a Byzantine Basilica (after the 4^th century). Testudo found a couple more olive oil presses that the monks would use, as well as a mosaic floor with quails and mana from the Old Testament story of the Exodus. At the spot where Jesus cast legion out, there are now ruins of a chapel on the side of a hill where pilgrims used to pray. Finally, on our way out of Kursi, we saw a species of tree called spinum Christi by biologists. Testudo taught us that the species means "thorn of Christ" because it is the same tree from which the Romans made the crown of thorns to mock Jesus.
    This evening, my older brother named Br. Matthew arrived from Jerusalem! He is a religious brother in an order called the Dominicans who specialize in preaching and teaching. He is currently studying in Rome in a program designed to help us understand how the early Christians interpreted the Bible (Patristic exegesis). I convinced Br. Matthew to take his Christmas break in the Holy Land so that he could meet up with our group. He spent Christmas until today in Bethlehem and Jerusalem until he took a bus all the way down to Galilee. He will stay with us for the next few days until we travel back to Jerusalem. What a gift to be in the Holy Land with my religious older brother! We will be able to catch up and experience all these ancient holy sites together!

Day 5 - Beith She'an, Beith She'arim, and Tzipori
 

    After starting the day with Fr. Logan celebrating mass for us at Mt. Eremos where Jesus taught the Beatitudes, we traveled to Beth She'an where the body of King Saul was taken after his death on a nearby hill. There are many Roman ruins here including impressive marble columns, a large heated bathhouse, and an imposing theatre. Testudo found some Crusader graffiti of a cross inside of a niche. Since Greek was the common language of the Roman Empire for the first few centuries after Jesus, all the inscriptions here are in Greek.
    After singing some Latin Marian hymns in the theatre together, we took a trip to Beith She'arim to see some ancient Jewish tombs. To show off, Jews would chisel Hebrew inscriptions onto the outside of their tombs, whether the person in the tomb had known Hebrew or not. Jesus would have known that when he criticized the Pharisees, who were like whitewashed tombs, which only outwardly appear righteous (Mt 23:27).
    Next we journeyed to Tzipori, a Roman market-center where Joseph and Mary would have sold their carpentry goods. We walked on the original Roman roads on which the Holy Family would have walked. There was a very large floor mosaic depicting various Egyptian themes. Testudo taught us that ancient cultures were a lot more connected to each other than we might think, especially through the via maris (path of the sea) trade routes. Inside a wealthy Roman mansion was another impressive floor mosaic depicting many Roman mythological themes. In it is depicted the "Mona Lise of Tzipori," an impressively realistic mosaic image of a woman. 

Day 6 - Nazareth
 

    Today we visited one of the most important places in the world - the location where God became man at the Annunciation in Nazareth and the town in which Jesus spent the first thirty years of his life. There is currently a modern basilica that is built over the sight. The grounds around the basilica have been uncovered to reveal the original ground stones from the 1st century on which the Holy Family would have walked. On the mosaic floor of an earlier church within the basilica, we found the earliest Jerusalem Cross that has ever been uncovered. The Jerusalem cross has an even vertical and horizontal beam with four smaller crosses surrounding the central intersection. 
    Testudo noticed that at the heart of the altar in the niche of the sanctuary, they added a word to John 1:14. Instead of inscribing "the Word became flesh" it says "Verbum caro hic factum est" - "The Word become flesh here." 
    We celebrated mass in the Church of St. Joseph nearby, built over what might be his home and workshop. Just outside of the grounds was a large bronze statue of St. Joseph after a day of manual work. We can see that pilgrims have rubbed his rugged knees as they pray at the spot. The statue is surrounded by various depictions of Sacred Scripture that mention St. Joseph. In an underground chapel at the base of the Church of St. Joseph is an altar with a Latin inscription "hic erat subidtus illis," which Testudo translated as "here he was obedient to them," referring to Jesus' obedience to Mary and Joseph. 
    Finally, we climbed a large hill to the precipice cliff of Nazareth off of which the Nazareans tried to throw Jesus off to kill him (Lk 4). Indeed, it was a very large and scary drop off! I did not let Testudo near the edge of the cliff! Nazareth is next to the large Jezreel Valley, which is the most fertile valley in the Holy Land, and you can still tell today from a distance how much lusher and greener it is in comparison with the rest of the land! In addition, Mt. Tabor - the place where Jesus was transfigured - could be easily seen across the valley. Thus, the mountain where he was to be thrown off in shame was right next to the mountain on which he was lifted up in glory.

Day 7 - Capernaum and Cana
 

    Just 2.5 miles northeast of our Pilgerhaus, we visited Capernaum, which is a very significant town. When Jesus began his public ministry in Galilee, his home-base was in Capernaum, which is where Peter had a house. Perhaps Simon had a house both in Bethsaida and Capernaum or he moved to Capernaum later in life. Archaeologists have found a large mosaic of a peacock – a symbol of the resurrection Testudo reminds us - which was on the floor of Peter's house, which had been converted into an early house-Church for celebrating mass. As the early Christians expanded Peter's house for worship, they extended it into the shape of a concentric octagon, another symbol of the resurrection ("8th" day of the week = Sunday). They have also found the basalt rock foundations and walls on which other houses were built nearby. It is possible that one of these houses is the very place where the locals lowered the paralytic for Jesus to heal him. Finally, there a limestone synagogue built over the original basalt synagogue foundation that is impressively intact. This is the place where Jesus did his Bread of Life Discourse in John 6. 
    Finally, just under the surface of the water along the beach in front of Capernaum, archaeologists have found a small tax collector post foundation for fishing taxes. They know this because the ground was surrounded by ancient coins. This is likely the location where Jesus called St. Matthew the tax collector to be his disciple! 
    After a 30-minute bus trip to Cana, we arrived at a Church built upon the location where the wedding feast of Cana happened. We prayed for all married couples and saw a gigantic ancient stone jar that they discovered in that location, similar to the ones in which Jesus would have transformed water into wine! Don't worry, I did not let Testudo take any money that was inside the jar!

Day 8 - Sea of Galilee Boat Tour, Magdala, and Mt. Tabor
 

    We decided to change things up a bit today. Instead of starting by sitting on a bus or walking to a destination, we all funneled into a large pirate-ship looking boat for a sea tour. It was a warm, clear day with a slight breeze, making it a very gentle and prayerful experience. These are the very waters where Jesus called the disciples, crossed the sea, calmed the storm, and walked on water (Lk 5, Jn 6, Mk 4, and Mk 6). One day when the level of the Sea of Galilee was down, archeologists found preserved in the mud a small boat that dated all the way back to the 1^st century. The fascinating thing was that exactly 13 people could fit on that boat, another practical reason why Jesus only called 12 original disciples!
    After harboring in Capernaum, we took a short journey to Magdala, which was popular for processing fish. Jesus would have seen them salting fish in Magdala for the fish merchants traveling all over the Empire (even all the way to Rome) from Mt. Eremos when he said "you are the salt of the earth" (Mt 5:13). Archaeologists have recently uncovered one of the five 1^st century synagogues that can still be found in the Holy Land. We know for sure that Jesus would have preached at this very synagogue, and it is still so intact that you can see the very place where he would have preached and the very stone on which he would have placed the Hebrew scrolls. Also, the stone ambo that Jesus would have used (now encased in glass) has the earliest known depiction of the 2^nd Temple, including its menorah! Testudo was so excited about it that he jumped on top of the ambo! 
    Next door was a church dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene and all the women mentioned in the gospel who were so indispensable for Jesus' ministry. Various women followed Jesus, supported Jesus, and brought others to Jesus throughout his public ministry all the way to the crucifixion and resurrection. In fact, Mary Magdalene is considered the "apostle to the apostles" because she was the one who told the apostles about the empty tomb on Easter Sunday. 
    In the basement of the Church is another chapel built in the form of an ancient Jewish synagogue. In fact, the rock foundation is the very same path on which Mary Magdalene would have walked going to and from the water. Just outside the church is a large, impressive mosaic map of the Holy Land. My Dominican brother Br. Matthew and I found Magdala, the very spot upon which we were standing! We then ate at a Russian Orthodox restaurant, where I had the Tilapia fish, the same kind of fish that St. Peter caught to pull a Shekel from its mouth to pay the temple tax. I told Testudo that he could not eat any of the 100 shekels in my pocket!
    Finally, we drove all the way up the winding switchback roads to the top of Mt. Tabor, where Jesus brought Peter, James, and John. Jesus was transfigured before them with Moses and Elijah. At the base of this mountain is the part of the Jezreel Valley that Revelation calls Armageddon, where the end of the world is said to take place! The basilica of the transfiguration there is a very beautiful place to pray. Once we went down the mountain, we found an authentic Italian pizzeria where we all enjoyed the evening!

Day 9 - Mt. Carmel, Caesarea Maritime, and the Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery
 

    Branching out toward the Mediterranean Sea, we ascended Mt. Carmel to the  מוחרקה (Muhraqa), which Testudo translated as the place of "the sacrifice." This is where Elijah engaged in spiritual battle with the 450 prophets of the false god Ba'al, winning in an epic competition of burnt offerings (1 Kings 18). People have been living around this mountain for thousands of years, so there is a lot of history! We celebrated mass there, which fittingly had a large stone altar like Elijah had made. There were also three beautiful stone reliefs depicting the event inside. From the roof, we could see many different significant mountains as well as the Mediterranean Sea, where so many ships have sailed between Europe and Africa for millennia. That is the direction from which Elijah would have seen the cloud that looked like a hand, signaling God's power to end the drought (as opposed to Ba'al).
    We then made our way to the Mediterranean Sea, stopping by a Roman aqueduct built in 1 BC that ran fresh water from the spring flowing out from Mt. Carmel (Wadi Muhraqa). We had lunch on the beach next to the aqueduct, where I captured some great pictures. Like in Beith She'an, the city there named Caesarea Maritime had a theatre that is for the most part still intact. Herod the Great built-up Caesarea Maritime into the largest port in the world and made several breakthroughs in engineering such as underwater concrete. Little did Herod know that he was building a port from which a multitude of Christian missionaries would be sent out to spread the good news to the ends of the world! Significantly, archaeologists recently uncovered an ancient stone that has a reference to Pontius Pilate, the only reference ever found outside of the Bible. This is also the place where St. Paul was put on trial, appealing to Caesar in Acts 23-25 so that he could be martyred before everyone in the capital of the most powerful empire on earth. 
    We finished the day at the place where the Carmelite Order was founded. Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, giving him the Scapular. The Carmelites are the first order founded in the Holy Land. There is also a cave where Elijah prayed, now surrounded by a large Carmelite Basilica.

Day 10 - Qasr el Yahud, Jericho, and the Dead Sea

    After an early breakfast, we departed the Sea of Galilee at last and drove south along the Jordan River. Just outside of Jericho, we stopped at Qasr el Yahud, which is the place where Jesus was likely baptized by John the Baptist. After renewing our Baptismal Promises, some of my classmates ended up getting into the water! The Jordan was not a large, clear river like the Missouri but more of a muddy creek. Jesus was so humble in the fact that he was willing to let such a muddy stream be the font of spiritual rebirth for the human race through the baptism of Jesus! 
    Next, we went to the oldest city in the entire world as well as the lowest place on earth: Jericho. People have been living in this spot continuously since the 3^rd millennium BC. In addition to falling to the Israelites in Joshua 6 (who saved Rahab, who lived inside of the walls), Jericho is where Jesus healed the blind man Bartimaeus (Mk 10) and mercifully promised salvation to Zacchaeus, who had climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus. While we were celebrating mass at Good Shepherd parish, a Mosque started blasting its Islamic Arabic chants throughout the city in the midst of our Latin chants for mass. You could feel the tension of spiritual warfare in the air! Testudo was not able to translate the Arabic. Once we got to the spring which Elisha purified (2 Kings 2), Fr. Greg decided to take a ride on a camel! In the distance, you could see the mountain on which Jesus was tempted by the devil in the desert. Archaeologists have also excavated a number of layers of city walls. Some of these stone walls can be dated as far back as the 8^th millennium BC!
    From Jericho, we headed to the Dead Sea, which is now about 11 miles in diameter. For a number of years, the Dead Sea has actually been shrinking rapidly, so much so that if it continues to shrink at this rate, it will be gone by 2050! The Dead Sea is very unique because it is the lowest place on earth at 1,400 ft. below sea level. The Dead Sea is land-locked, and the Jordan River is the only water source that flows into it with no river flowing out of it. Therefore, the water’s evaporation from the sun is the only way out, leaving all the salt and minerals to stay in the Dead Sea. As a result, it is almost ten times saltier than the ocean itself! It is so salty, in fact, that you can easily float on top of the water. However, swimmers can only stay in the water for about 15 minutes so that one’s body does not absorb too much of the salt! That is why Testudo was not able to go down for this one - he only likes fresh water. Also, one has to be very very careful not to get any water into one’s ears, mouth, or eyes, or it will burn a lot! One of my classmates from Omaha cut his toe on a rock. Let’s just say that “spreading salt on the wound” was an understatement for him…
    On our way up to Jerusalem, we saw the rugged rocky desert terrain at its finest. Jerusalem is the highest point in the Holy Land, so whether you are traveling North, East, South, or West to Jerusalem, everyone has to go “up” to Jerusalem to Mt. Zion. The name Jerusalem can mean both a “holy” and “peaceful” city, according to Testudo. Now we are safe and sound at the Notre Dame Center, where we will be staying for the rest of our trip. It only takes a few minutes to walk to the Old City of Jerusalem where all the Biblical action took place.
 

Day 11 – Jerusalem: Mount of Olives, Pater Noster Church, Dominus Flevit Church, Golden Gate, Garden of Gethsemane, Dormition Abbey, St. Joachim & Ann, Bethzatha Pool, and the Ecole Biblique et Archeologique

    We finally made it to Jerusalem! Like the ancient Jews, we sang some psalms that were meant to be sung on the way up to Jerusalem, psalms of ascent toward Mt. Zion and the Temple where God’s dwelling place was. Of course, now God dwells everywhere there is a tabernacle with the Eucharist reserved, but the Old Testament city of Jerusalem can still greatly help us understand the meaning of heaven on earth. 
    We began on the Mount of Olives just East of the City, where Jesus also taught the Our Father as well as delivered his eschatological discourse (Mt 24). We celebrated mass at the spot where the Lord wept (Dominus Flevit) for humanity in Lk 19. From the Mount of Olives, you are able to see the entire city of Jerusalem as well as thousands upon thousands of Jewish tombs that are placed at the surface of the Mount of Olives, still waiting for the Messiah to come there. At the base of the mountain, we saw the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prepared for his passion with the disciples. The same species of olive trees that were there 2,000 years ago are still present. A basilica was built over the rock upon which Jesus wept with tears, sweat, and even blood. The basilica is intentionally kept dimly lit, just as it was dark the night before Jesus went before Pilate. 
    There is a tradition that Mary died (or “fell asleep”) and was placed in a Jerusalem tomb before she was assumed into heaven. We are not sure how true that is, but it is still cool to see the sight. After walking around the Old City of Jerusalem, we stopped by St. Joachim & Ann where Mary may have been born and surely where Mary would have grown up in Jerusalem. Today the structure of the Crusader Church is still intact over the spot. Next door is the Bethzatha Pool where Jesus healed a crippled man (Jn 5). You can see today where the pools and their arches used to be as well as the layers of Churches on the site that were built by Christians and destroyed by non-Christians. I prayed inside the ruins of the crusader church there with my brother Br. Matthew O.P. 
    Finally, I visited the Dominican place where my brother was staying. St. Stephen was likely martyred underneath the Church’s sanctuary (Acts 6-7). There at the Ecole Biblique et Archeologique (founded by the French according to Testudo), I met some other Dominican Scripture Scholars, and we had a wonderful conversation about studying Sacred Scripture!
 

Day 12 – Jerusalem: Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Mt. Zion, Upper Room, and the Armenian Cathedral 

    We began the day at the holiest archeological site on earth: the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This is the exact location where Jesus was crucified, where his body was prepared for burial, and where he was buried and thus rose from the dead, unleashing his infinite divine power against the powers of death and darkness (Jn 19-20)! Since it was so holy and foundational for the entire Christian religion, a massive Basilica was constructed in the 4^th century on the sight, bigger than a football stadium. However, non-Christians have destroyed it throughout history while Christians have tried to rebuilt it. To this day, only a fraction of the original Church is present and functional – fortunately the part with Calvary and the tomb! It is a complicated place, split by Catholic and Orthodox leaders as well as influence from other religions and countries. 
    Our group of priests and seminarians had the privilege of being able to celebrate mass on top of Calvary, where Mary would have stood beside the cross. Another altar has been built over the place where the cross was stationed, and pilgrims can reach their hand through a brass opening to touch the very rocks of Golgotha. The entire shrine is completely filled with the highest quality of mosaics, icons, lamps, and other religious articles. Calvary is simultaneously the darkest and the lightest place in the Holy Sepulcher. While there is very little light in the chapel itself, the art is so golden that it still constantly beams with a powerful ancient luster.
    Immediately underneath the spot where Jesus was crucified is Adam’s Chapel, where you can see a large fissure in the rock from the earthquake immediately after Christ died. Symbolically, the precious blood of Jesus flowed from the top of the mountain all the way down “to the bones of Adam,” reversing the curse of Original Sin and opening the gates to the ultimate paradise of heaven. 
    At the base of the peak of Calvary is the spot where they would have laid Jesus to prepare him for burial, wrapping Jesus in a large linen shroud. Today, you can find a large marble slab on the spot, which the monks lather every morning with the various spices and aromatic ointments that they would have used for Jesus’ body. Although many people think that it was the very stone on which the body of Jesus was laid, the stone itself only dates to the 18^th century… Thus, it is important to know the authenticity of some of these holy sites before venerating them!
    Finally, just thirty feet away from the base of Mt. Calvary is a large, richly adorned marble tomb that encases the tomb of Jesus. It is full of spiral fluted columns, gigantic easter candles, lamps, and rich images of the resurrection. During the day, the tomb is so packed with hundreds of pilgrims that it takes hours to stand in line to go inside. It is so small inside that only three people at a time can go in to touch and pray at the spot where Jesus laid for Holy Saturday. There are a few other side chapels and sights to see, but Calvary and the tomb are by far the most important. A few other highlights are crusader crosses etched into the walls all over the various passageways as well as a large mosaic of Jesus Christ the Pantocrator (“ruler of all” in Greek according to Testudo) at the top of the inside dome. 
    After visiting the Holy Sepulcher, we walked to the cenacle where Jesus hosted the Last Supper and the upper room where the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost. The cenacle was in a. part of town with a number of Essenes, which I will describe more when I visit their ruins at Qumran on Day 15. Unfortunately, the cenacle we see today is not the original, which is below the current walkable level. Just across the street is the mother church of Zion, a Jewish synagogue that was immediately converted into the very first Christian Church on earth. On the way back, we passed the Zion Gate, which has a multitude of bullet hole around the gate from the 20^th century. It is a reminder that Jerusalem still has yet to experience a lasting peace.
    My religious brother and I that afternoon visited the Armenian Cathedral and listed to them praying Vespers (Evening Prayer). Their Armenian seminary is close by, so there were various seminarians and priests praying together, surrounded by a multitude of Armenian rugs, lamps, paintings, and other precious adornments. They have a side chapel where the apostle St. James the Greater who was beheaded is kept. They reverence his altar with kisses and signs of the cross every time they pass by. One of the Armenian priests yelled at me for putting my hands in my pocket while praying. I guess the gesture is irreverent for them in their cathedral! 
    In the evening, Br. Matthew had to prepare to leave Jerusalem back to Rome for his spring semester of studying the early Church Fathers (Patristic Exegesis). Since I have been spending more time with my brother lately, I have been a little slow in updating my journey, but I will catch up soon!
 

Day 13 – Bethlehem: Shepherds’ Fields, Basilica of the Nativity, Grotto and Tomb of Jerome, Milk Grotto, and a Night Vigil in the Holy Sepulcher 

    Today we took a short trip south to Bethlehem. We started by walking through the shepherds’ fields just outside the town to see where shepherds would have pastured their sheep, awaiting the angel’s message (Lk 2). A church with stunning mosaics was built there as well as a beautiful shepherd’s fountain, which Testudo enjoyed. Just beyond some ancient ruins, you could see green yet rocky hills in the distance. A cave/stable area was carved out nearby to show us what the nativity seen most likely looked like. These little caves for animals were easy to dig out because there were deposits of soft chalky rock underneath layers of hard, darker rock in the area.
    We then celebrated mass in town at the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was born. There is a huge statue of St. George upon entering. In the sanctuary of the main Church, there is a huge golden iconostasis with very ornate art. This is where the Patriarch of Jerusalem celebrates Christmas. In the nave are the ancient remains of some recovered mosaics as well as various saints on the colonnades. 
    At the end of his life, St. Jerome wanted to be close to the spot where Jesus was born. He was buried underneath the Church where he finished translating the entire Bible into Latin from the ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek manuscripts so that the whole world could read the Bible more easily at the time. His Latin translation is called the Vulgate, which the Council of Trent in the 16^th century declared had no doctrinal errors. Thus, our lectionary today is still based upon St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate for use in the Sacred Liturgy. After purchasing a hand-carved olive wood statue of the Sacred Heart, I made my way to the lower level of the Church, which is where Jesus was born. I was able to pray there and touch my Bethlehem statue to the spot with Testudo. 
    Finally, we visited the Milk Grotto. These grotto caverns are the places where Mary would have initially nursed baby Jesus. They are the only white caves in the entire area. According to legend, a drop of Mary’s breastmilk dripped onto the ground, turning the entire grotto white. Many couples who struggle with infertility make a pilgrimage here to ask Mary for the grace of fertility, and many of their prayers are answered.
    Afterwards, I had a privileged opportunity to stay in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher all through the night. Only about a dozen people can stay at a time. At about 7:00pm, a Muslim keykeeper gets permission from the head Catholic and Orthodox priests to close the gigantic iron-fortified wooden doors. Once they are closed with a loud clash, they are sealed all night long! No phones, no speaking, no sleeping – nothing except praying all night long is allowed. You cannot even cross your legs! I was able to spend hours inside and outside of Jesus’ tomb, hours on calvary, and hours prayerfully walking around all the contours of the ancient church. During that time, I was able to prayerfully read a third of all four gospels, starting when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday all the way through his Paschal Mystery. It was so cool now having a concrete imaginative vision of everything Jesus said and did in Jerusalem while standing at the food of the cross and at the side of the grave! Once the huge doors opened again at 4:00am, I took a brisk walk back to the Pontifical Notre Dame Center where my bedroom was and caught a few hours of sleep before the next round! It was such a holy experience that Testudo didn’t have any words to describe it. Only, one of the heavy-set orthodox pilgrims that stayed the night with us accidentally fell asleep on Calvary and started snoring so loudly that it remined Testudo of a Snorlax… 
 

Day 14 – St. Peter in Gallicantu, City of David: Mt. Zion, King David’s Palace, King Hezekiah’s Tunnel, and the Western Wall

    Jerusalem has changed a lot in the past 4,000 years! In about 1,000 BC, when King David drove out the pagan Canaanites, he settled his city on Mt. Zion. The City of David is only a tiny part of Jerusalem today, which was expanded by later kings and later political leaders. Just opposite the City of David is St. Peter in Gallicantu where a lot of important things happened. It was very likely the house of the high priest Caiaphas, where they would have accused Jesus before bringing him to Pontius Pilate. Immediately beneath his house was a series of caves that were carved out for prisoners. One of these caves was carved into a large cistern-shaped hole in the ground about 30 feet deep and 10 feet wide with only a hole 4 feet in diameter as an entry from above. In-between beatings, the Sanhedrin would strap prisoners with ropes by the shoulders and throw them into this pit to hang in the air. The prisoners would not have been able to see or even touch anything as their blood would just keep dripping into a seemingly bottomless pit. This is likely the very pit where Jesus spent the night on Holy Thursday awaiting his crucifixion all alone, which was also about a stone’s throw away from the cistern that the prophet Jeremiah was likely thrown into over 600 years before. As we reverently went down into the prison cistern, we noticed blood stains on the ancient wall, and we prayed Psalm 88 together to contemplate the lonely darkness that Jesus would have experienced hanging there. 
    Just outside the house of Caiaphas would have been the charcoal fire around which Peter denied Jesus 3 times. Testudo reminded us that the Latin name of the place (Gallicantu) refers to where the rooster crowed. I had the privilege of celebrating mass for the group, so I was able to preach on the occasion. I said that like Jesus’ relationship with Judas and Peter, we all encounter weakness and selfishness of others on a daily basis. However, while the contemplation of Judas stopped at his weakness and sin, Peter allowed his selfishness to come in contact with Jesus’ selflessness, which became the source of his healing. Remember, Jesus allowed Peter to make reparation for his threefold denial on the beach of the Sea of Galilee to the risen Christ with the threefold affirmation of love, which we saw on Day 3 at Peter’s Primacy. 
    Standing at the top of St. Peter in Gallicantu, to the left one can see the temple mount with the City of David flowing down beneath it. Straight ahead, one can see the Mount of Olives covered in Jewish tombs with the Kidron Valley below. To the right, one can see where the Kidron Valley winds into the Gehenna Valley, which was filled with tombs, burning garbage, and even the smell of burning flesh. Yes, even at the time of Jesus, there were human and even child sacrifices to the pagan god Molech in that valley, and Peter may have been able to smell the messiness of mankind from Gehenna depending on the direction of the wind…  
    Just outside of St. Peter in Gallicantu is a wonderful map of Jerusalem from the Byzantine period (after the 4^th century when the capital of the Roman Empire was moved from Rome to Byzantium/Constantinople). There was also an excavated long set of stone steps, which are the only steps in the area that date back to the first century. Thus, we know for a fact that Jesus would have walked up and down those very stones! 
    Walking down to the City of David, we saw a large set of supporting walls that date back to the 10^thcentury BC, which means that these were the very stones that supported the palace of King David himself. From the top of the palace, one could see the rooftops of the entire City of David, making it very easy for David to see someone like Bathsheba bathing on the roof. Archaeologists even excavated a pillar that dates back to the time of David that had patterns we already saw at Bethsaida on Day 4, suggesting the large size of the Davidic Kingdom.
    At the base of Mt. Zion near the bottom of the Kidron Valley is the Gihon Spring. Testudo taught us that Gihon means “sputtering” in Hebrew because it is not a constant stream but “sputters” on and off in a gurgling fashion. Inside the mountain next to the Gihon Spring is a very large and narrow vertical shaft that David climbed to sneak into the city, taking it over from the Canaanites (2 Sam 5:8). Later on, the good King Hezekiah dug a massive tunnel a third of a mile long underneath this shaft to channel water from the Gihon Spring into the city. It was a massive mining project where two teams starting chiseling rock toward each other from each end, meeting in the middle. They miraculously only missed each other by 4 centimeters at the heart of the mountain, where they gave a loud shout when meeting in the middle. To memorialize the success of the project, they inscribed their success story at the spot in the tunnel where they met. The fascinating thing is that it was inscribed in Hebrew with paleo-Hebraic letters. Testudo reminded us that this is what Hebrew looked like before they wrote with the fancier Aramaic letters that they learned later when they were in the Babylonian Exile. This means that the paleo-Hebraic writing is certainly before 657 BC, which lines up with the timing of the reign of Hezekiah. Archeology and Philology keep on proving the historicity of the Bible over and over! 
    Even to this day, the Gihon Spring sputters water through King Hezekiah’s tunnel. In about 20 minutes, my friends and I all hiked up our pants and walked through the tunnel! The water was warm, coming out at a constant 67 degrees. I was able to stand up for most of the tunnel, but at some stretches I had to bend over. They must have periodically given the pickax to a shorter guy! At the end of the tunnel, the Gihon Spring feeds into the Pool of Siloam where Jesus healed a blind man with clay (Jn 9). Unfortunately, I was not able to get any picture of King Hezekiah’s tunnel because it was dark and I did not want to get my phone all wet!
    Making our way to the temple mount, we went through Jewish security to get to the Western Wall. Since the Jews do not believe that Jesus was the messiah, they still think that the ancient temple site (which is still destroyed and is currently turned into a Mosque) is the holiest place on earth. The closest you can get to the ancient temple is this wall that was fortified by Herod the Great just before the birth of Jesus. Many Jews from around the world go there to pray with the Old Testament in Hebrew. The men pray on the left and the women pray on the right. I was able to go up to the wall and prayerfully touch it! Of course, Jesus' Body is the new temple, which means that the same hands that touched the old temple also touch the new temple every time I celebrate mass!
 

Day 15 – Qumran, Masada, and the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve

    This morning started with a field trip back to the Dead Sea. My ears kept popping as we left the highest point of Israel and zoomed down to the lowest place on earth. I was able to catch a few photos of the Dead Sea from a distance since I didn’t have many the last time we went since I only took my swimming suit! Once we approached Qumran, we were clearly in a large rocky desert with absolutely no vegetation to be seen anywhere! Testudo was afraid that he would not find any water, but I told him that I brought 4 water bottles in my pack for all the desert hiking. This is the place where the Essene Jewish community lived. There were some priests who saw the corruption of the Sadducees temple priests who did too much business with the Romans, so they decided to flee Jerusalem to the desert here. They lived a lot like ascetic religious do today. They were likely only celibate men who took their Jewish faith very seriously, spending their time in study and contemplation in simplicity. The main problem was that they tended to be elitists, thinking that their way of life was living in the light while the rest of the world lived in darkness. John the Baptist was likely influenced by them, except instead of being exclusive, he pointed to the light of the world in Jesus and tried to prepare everyone to receive Jesus. It is interesting that even though there were a multitude of Essenes who lived at the time of Jesus and even had influence in Jerusalem, Jesus does not mention them – only the Pharisees and Sadducees. 
    After the 2^nd temple in Jerusalem was utterly destroyed by the Romans in 70, the Essenes hid their ancient scrolls in the desert caves nearby. In 1947, a little shepherd boy was wandering in the area with his goats. One of his goats climbed into a cave (Cave #4), and so the boy started throwing rocks at it to get it to come back down. However, he heard one of his rocks shattering what sounded like a large clay jar in the cave. After Archeologists excavated that cave and many other surrounding it, they discovered what we now call the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are the most ancient Hebrew manuscripts ever found. Before the Dead Sea Scrolls, the most ancient Hebrew text we had access to was from the 11^th century. These scrolls date all the way back to the 3^rd century BC, which is about a thousand years older! The fascinating thing was that in addition to having so much of the Old Testament as we have it today, we realize that we can have a lot of faith in the textual transmission of the Bible, for it lined up with astonishing accuracy with manuscripts a thousand years later. Thus, we can be very confident that the Bible we read today is the same Bible that faithful people have been praying with for millennia through oral and written tradition guided by the Holy Spirit. The story was so fascinating that Testudo wanted me to buy a replica jar with a scroll inside at the gift shop! Fun fact - the scroll of Isaiah found was about 25 feet long when fully rolled out!
    We then traveled to a place called Masada, where Herod the Great built his fortress. It was a very impressive feat, building such a palace on the top of this huge desert plateau. He had to have used a multitude of slaves to build it, fortify it, and to maintain it with food and water in the wasteland next to the Dead Sea. Fortunately, we recently built a large cable car so that we do not have to painstakingly walk all the way to the top. The views from the plateau are absolutely stunning! Not only did it display Herod’s power and tenacity, but there is also an interesting history with the place. The Zealots – Jews who awaited a politically strong Messiah and who actively fought against the Roman Empire (Like at Gamla on Day 4) – took over Masada in the 1^st century. However, the 10^th Legion of Rome encamped below and spent months building a massive ramp of loose rock so that they could siege the Zealots with their battering ram, which they did successfully. It shows the power and tenacity not only of Herod the Great, but also the dread of the Roman Empire in general in the 1^st century. The Romans were basically willing to build their own mountain to take over another mountain in the desert!
   In the excavated Synagogue built on the top of Masada, Testudo decided that he wanted to sit on Moses’ seat, which was always next to the entrance of the synagogue. Moses’ seat was basically the VIP seat in the synagogue where a rabbi would sit. It seemed to be just the right size for Testudo to stand between the armrests! 
    We finished the day with a 2-hour long hike in the desert to Ein Gedi, which is a spring in the desert mountains. Past a rough rocky path were a lot of astonishing views of the desert terrain. In the midst of it all was Ein Gedi spring, where David dwelt for a time (1 Sam 23:29) and which the Song of Songs 1:14 references: “My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Ein Gedi.” Sirach 24:14 also mentions the tall palm trees of Ein Gedi. At the foot of the desert mountains, we saw a flock of Ibex! We also saw a few Hyraxes on the rocks on our way up, which were also present in the time of Jesus. It really felt like I was walking on earth at the time of Jesus, for the desert seemed mysteriously untouched.

Day 16 – Emmaus, Kidron Valley, Gehenna

    We are not certain where Biblical Emmaus is located. There are a few different candidates, since we know that Emmaus was about 7 miles away from Jerusalem. The 2 that we visited today were Abu Ghosh and Latrun. We celebrated mass at Abu Ghosh in a medieval Church, which was built on a spring. In Latron, we visited an old friend of Fr. Samson who became a Trappist monk! He silently let us enter the monastery to take a few pictures and to say a few prayers. Other than that, today was a pretty light day compared to previous ones, which was actually a relief.
    Since my afternoon was free, I decided to take the afternoon to walk around the old city of Jerusalem. In addition, I walked down the Kidron Valley, passing the places where Melchizedek offered bread and wine and where King David fled from his son Absalom. At the end of the Kidron Valley was a very poor area that I had to pass through to get to the Pool of Siloam. It was very messy and smelly, and then I reached the valley of Gehenna, which has always been notorious for being a gross, smelly place for trash, tombs, fire, and even pagan sacrifices of rotting flesh. Although it was not the cleanest, it was actually pretty green, although it felt weird that they tried to turn this nasty valley into a park. The Bible uses the Kidron Valley as an image of final judgement where all the nations will gather underneath the Temple on Mt. Zion. The Bible uses Gehenna as an image of Hell. Thus, I can say that in one day, I went to the final judgement all the way to Hell and back to heaven at the Temple mount!
    As I was walking past the Lion’s Gate just opposite of the Mount of Olives, I imagined Jesus coming into that very gate on his donkey for Palm Sunday. Since the Jews still expect the messiah to come through that gate, the Arabic Muslims sealed the gate in stone and surrounded the grounds all around the gate with Arabic tombs, blocking the messiah with unclean territory… It is another place of spiritual warfare that I recited my rosary around as I was walking by.

Day 17 – Free Day

    After celebrating mass at the Latin Patriarchate, where the Latin Catholic bishop of Jerusalem is, we had a free day. I spent the day walking around Jerusalem, praying, and purchasing a few items to take home. Testudo also spend the day resting from all the traveling! 

Day 18 – Beersheba

   We began this morning by celebrating mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at the altar just to the side of the tomb of Jesus, where Mary Magdalene met the risen Christ (Jn 20). We then hopped on a bus for an hour and a half all the way south to Beersheba, which takes us all the way back to Genesis. Abraham founded Beersheba when he made a famous treaty with the ancient Philistines in Genesis 21. After defending and securing a well, Abraham’s son Isaac built an altar here in memory of God’s covenantal promises from Abraham now bestowed upon him (Gen 26). Jacob here received the vision that encouraged him to take his entire family to Egypt at the end of the Joseph Cycle (Gen 46). In 1 Samuel 14, King David fortified Beersheba so that it would protect his kingdom from the south. However, Pharaoh Shishak destroyed it shortly after in 925 BC. At Beersheba, archaeologists have found a great horned altar that was torn down by good King Hezekiah during his religious reforms to purify the kingdom of paganism. Testudo somehow managed to climb on top of the reconstructed replica of these 4 horned ancient altars to see the view. Beersheba was for the most part a store city for water and food. A large well over 250 feet deep is still there. What a great opportunity to witness the historicity of the narrative of Sacred Scripture for our patriarchs that lived up to 4,000 years ago!

Day 19 – Ein Karem, Herodion, and the Israel Museum.

   Today we drove to Ein Karem, a town near Jerusalem where Mary would have gone to visit Elizabeth. Walking up the hill country, you can see the spring around which this town was built. Since Mary stayed there for 3 months, we are certain that she would have come down to this spring to fetch water for Elizabeth. We then went to a very nice church commemorating the visitation, which had all sorts of wonderful Marian art. Since this is the place where Mary sang her Magnificat, her prayer lines the outside walls in various languages. In the chapel is kept a large rock, which – according to documents outside of the Bible – protected Elizabeth and John the Baptist from Herod when he ordered the death of the Holy Innocents. After celebrating mass there, we walked across town to another Church which claims to contain the spot in which St. John the Baptist was born. An altar has been built over the spot surrounded by an ornate painting and intricate marble reliefs of John the Baptist.
    After visiting the peaceful Ein Karem, we headed toward the dreaded Herodion, which was one of Herod the Great’s most ambitious building projects. He literally built this fortress from the ground up, including the rocky mound on which his palace, fortress, capital, and tomb is built. We were able to go inside the tunnels, which Jewish Zealots took over after overthrowing the Romans in the area. Herodion was also right next to Bethlehem, which means that the holy family had to pass next to it as they were fleeing to Egypt. Thus, the pride of worldly power and terror represented by Herod was in sharp contrast to the divine power of a poor and humble family with the Word made flesh wrapped in swaddling clothes.
    We then attended the Israel Museum, which had a vast array of information and exabits about history and culture within and around Biblical times and places. Outside is a wonderful large stone model of the city of Jerusalem as it would have looked at the time of Jesus. You could see a nicely reconstructed Temple Mount with Mt. Calvery just outside, as well as the Bethsaida and Siloam pools for purification on the north and south side of the city. The concentric walls outlined the city of David as well as Hezekiah’s expansion outward with Herod’s fortifications. Being so small, Testudo was excited to have an arial view of Jerusalem for once! Going inside the museum were many significant artifacts. A few highlights are that we got to see some fragments of the Dead Sea scrolls from Qumran. In addition, we saw an ancient stone Canaanite sanctuary or “high place” that the Israelites were supposed to destroy. Finally, there were various Akkadian and Cuneiform tablets that depict some of the most ancient human writing that we have on earth!

Day 20 – Final Day in Jerusalem

   After celebrating mass a final time in the Holy Sepulcher, I walked one last time around the old city of Jerusalem – this time on top of the rampart walls. Although the city has so much history, glory, and theology surrounding her walls, it is still by no means perfect. It is human at its best and at its worst. While Jerusalem has some of the holiest spots in the world because of Jesus’ historical presence there, Jesus also died there and definitively left his tomb, giving us the Sacraments to stay intimately connected with him through space and time all around the world through human hearts. While the city of stone is still sturdy and rich today, many parts of it are painfully chipped, ruddy, and polluted. Alas, we still have a lot of work to do on earth saving people and sanctifying them so that everyone can be ready for the perfect heavenly Jerusalem to come down from heaven: “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away… And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Revelation 21)
    I am now beginning to pack up so that I can fly back home. Please pray for another safe journey back! My trip to the Holy Land with Testudo has been fun yet challenging and restful yet tiring as we tried to behold the divine mysteries of light and darkness of our Catholic faith here where they actually happened - those mysteries that are always ever ancient, yet ever new.