There were still a few other places our group visited, but I will leave these blog reveries with a final four, Capernaum, the Home Town of Jesus, The Mount of the Beatitudes, the Church of Peter's Primacy, and Magdala, the home town of Mary the Magdalene, which has only relatively recently (20 years) been unearthed. They are the places of the miracles of Christ's ministry, before the people abandoned Him and then mocked and killed Him.
Capernaum was a fishing village, the home of St. Peter, the remains of which still stands, where Jesus healed Peter's mother in law. There is a Synagogue not far from the home, and it is surely a place where Jesus taught. It is thought, also, that this is where the man on a palette was lowered down into Peter's home, the only way of entry as the place was packed inside and out to see the Lord, and the people wanted the man's healing. It might also be the town in which the daughter of Jairus was raised. "Little Girl, get up."
This day had begun with a bit of rain, but by the time we had crossed the water, and begun visiting the surrounding area of the Galilee, it had become mild and sunny and effused life.
The site of the Lord's utterance of the Beatitudes was full of peace, and well manicured plants and flowers.
It was not hard to imagine this place on that day on which the multitude listened to His words, as they reclined on the soft ground.
I realize that I say to myself, "Oh, this was a favorite place!" Is it possible for there to be degrees of favorites? Well, then I guess this next place was another "favorite". It is called the Church of Peter's Primacy. It is smack on the shore of the Galilee, which I particularly liked.
In the story, Jesus has been resurrected. Some of the apostles are fishing, when they see a man, offshore. They do not at first recognize Him, but seeing they are not catching anything, He tells them where to cast their nets. They do and make a whopping catch. Peter recognizes it is Jesus and is overjoyed in coming to him from the shallows to the shore. Jesus is cooking for them. It is there that Jesus assures that Peter is the leader of this rag tag group, these fallible men, who each in their way (except John, the one He loved) betrayed Him as He went to His death on Calvary. Three times Peter, watching Jesus be taken away, at a safe distance, had denied Him before the cock crowed three times. But he had repented and now Jesus asked Him three times, "Do you love Me?" Perhaps Peter did not realize that this episode was a kind of counteraction. But with his typical near impatience Peter says, "Lord, You know I love You."
Yes, this was a favorite place for me.
And then, finally, there is Magdala. I loved seeing that there were obvious archaelogical digs as we walked around, little blue tarps above a section that was, on work days (the day I visited was not, it was, I think Sunday) a current site of discovery. Not only was there this amazing first century synagogue, but also a Church, that seems to go by the name Duc in Altum, meaning "launch out into the deep", which Jesus did in calling to the apostles to be fishers of men, in calling even us skeptical moderns.
I don't generally like modern churches, but this one wowed me, with incredible mosaics representing the preaching life of Jesus, and an altar in the shape of a first century fishing boat. In fact, the first century boat that was discovered in about 1986, or actually a part thereof, was found near Magdala. That was something I didn't get to see this trip.
There was also an amazing piece of art in one of the main chapels. It referenced the woman who had suffered from hemorrhaghes for years. Christ was walking in a large crowd, and she knew that if she was able to touch the hem of His tunic, she would be healed. All you see in this piece are the legs and feet of Jesus and the crowd and this woman's hand reaching for His hem. It is powerful beyond words. Magdala is relatively new in the world of pilgrimage because though the mountain near it was known, the town's discovery is relatively new. It's worth the visit. But then, everything in the Holy Land is worth the visit!
And what would a trip to the Galilee be without a fish to eat! They don't fish in the Galilee, as I may have noted, because they are trying to build it up, but I figured, it was close enough.
A full fish would not ordinarily be my choice, and frankly, not knowing how to filet, I probably gave this creature a second death, but boy, was it tasty! Surely something to bring a smile, as was everything that I saw and did during this trip.
Today, as I was sitting in a front pew participating with many others in the Good Friday service at St. Victor in West Hollywood, I had along with me my little journal, in which I was recording the short homilies by Fr. Brennan on the last seven words of Christ. I remembered that this was the journal I had begun when I was in Israel, and went back to my quick notes (I never had time for more) of the various sites. Just a word sparked a memory, and I found myself near tears that I had been in many of the places where the history of salvation unfolded, only a few months ago. If I close my eyes, now, I am on that shore by the Church of Peter's Primacy. I hear the bells. I can almost see Jesus on the shore waving at His friends, waving a me, one of the many He has saved if only I say "Yes, Lord, I come to do Your Will."
Fr. Brennan said something along these lines, if I wrote it down right, "We are subjects (of God), endowed with the Gift of Freedom, asked to share His Life." We choose whether we want the immortality He offers. And we need constant Grace to make the choice for immortality He has restored to us.
I hope, I pray, I obtained an abundance of Grace on my trip to the Holy Land. I don't know yet if it has changed me. But I feel a little something percolating within my soul.
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