Goodbye Holy Land

The sun set for the final time on our pilgrimage, as I enjoyed the fellowship with my traveling companions at our farewell dinner today. 

Sunset over the Mediterranean Sea!

It's hard to believe a mere ten days ago, I was preparing for the trip of a lifetime. In some ways, it feels like the Holy Land has been my home for weeks on end. And yet in other ways, I feel as though I have only just arrived. When we prayed our novena, prior to our trip, there was a line that read something to the extent may I never be the same after going to the Holy Land. The Lord has answered this prayer and so many others in the last ten days. I went to the Holy Land as a person in love with the Lord, and I have left the Holy Land with an ever-deeper love of the Lord, gratitude for His gift of life and sacrifice, and a deeper understanding of my Catholic Christian faith. I have been renewed in my zeal to live a life that strives for sainthood (holiness) through daily prayer. I desire to share the blessings of this pilgrimage with family and friends, as well as students and strangers. You see, the Lord touched my heart in a profound way over the past ten days, as many of the pilgrims in my group experienced. When you trace the footsteps of Christ, receive His gift of the Eucharist where he died and rose, and reflect on His saving works, how can you not be changed? I know it will take me days, weeks, even months to process the experience I had in the Holy Land. My prayer is that it will lead to a lifetime of gratitude and evangelization. 

Friends to share the journey with! 

Our final day in the Holy Land threw us a few curve balls, but it was a good day! We were scheduled to go to the site of the Transfiguration, Mt. Tabor. Unfortunately, the shuttles needed to access the site were not running today for some reason. As a result, we were not able to go to this holy site. So, we got back on the bus and continued driving south towards Mt. Carmel. Here, in the third largest city in Israel, Haifa, we had lunch that can with a magnificent view of the Mediterranean Sea. The typical Mediterranean fare capped off ten days of family style meals, served in three courses. We have definitely had our fair share of hummus, pita bread, salads, and chicken. :) After lunch, we drove a short way to the church we were going to use for celebrating Mass, since we were unable to do so on Mt Tabor. 

Lunch with friends that have become family this week! 

A side note here of explanation...The Catholic Church is comprised of a variety of rites. For example, there is the Latin Rite (Roman Catholics), the Byzantine Rite, the Maronite Rite, etc. Each of these rites have a very different way of celebrating the liturgy, but they are all Catholic. In Israel, the most common rite is the Byzantine Rite. The Melkite Catholic Churches are in the Byzantine Rite. Byzantines, unlike Roman Catholics, do not use unleavened bread for communion. The Byzantine Rite however uses leavened bread. Because this church was a Melkite Catholic Church, they did not have hosts for us to use. Luckily, the priest traveling with us is a biritual priest. This means he has the faculties (permission from the bishop) to say both theRoman  Catholic Mass and the Byzantine Divine Liturgy. Therefore, he celebrated Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite. It was an interesting experience. This was my second time attending Byzantine Divine Liturgy. It is very different from the Roman Catholic Mass I am used to, and I had no ideas what was going on or what I was supposed to do. However, it is beautiful to be exposed to other rites within our church and experience how they pray and celebrate Liturgy. 

After Mass, we headed to Caesarea, an ancient town from the time of King Herod. This town, today, is a combination of past and present. On the shore of the Mediterranean Sea lies the ruins of a past once filled with chariot horse races, Roman theater, and a beautiful palace for the king. It is also the place where St Paul was imprisoned after his second mission trip for two years, before being sent to Rome to be tried. Here, we reflected on how sharing the faith can lead to persecution, martyrdom, awkwardness, and vulnerability. But, once the faith is shared, it takes the evangelizer to a place where only Jesus can fill their heart, and this is all that is needed to overcome the fear that may be a result of sharing the faith. We were challenged to keep our resolution to spend time in prayer, to remain open and say yes to the Lord, and to help make our churches and schools unstoppable, as the first church was in the time of the Acts of the Apostles. 

Ruins of Caesarea! 

Ruins of the palace of King Herrod.

As I journey home Lord, and in the days and weeks to come, I pray for the grace to continue to reap and live the blessings of this pilgrimage. Strengthen me in my resolve to live a life of prayer, a life devoted to sharing Your light and love with all I meet. Equip me with what I need to share about You and Your saving work. Jesus, thank you- thank you for this experience and for the gift of You, my Savior, my Lord, my redeemer, my friend, my all in all. Amen

Smoy friends with our guide (Jack) and bus drive (Yassir)! 

Blessings, 

Julie