To Be a Pilgrim in the Holy Land

Hey, Church fans! As many of you know, I am in the Holy Land on the parish pilgrimage. Stay tuned for the next couple of weeks as I will take you along to some of the holy sites. I believe every Christian should come to the Holy Land at least once in his or her lifetime. There are two reason, among many. One is spiritual. The other is practical. First, you will never read the Sacred Scriptures the same way again. Second, it is important to come here to understand the political situation and especially how it negatively affects the life of Christians in the Holy Land. Coming on pilgrimage helps to support the Christians who have managed to remain here, despite the economic and political challenges. It is important that we help them remain so that the holy sites can continue to have vibrant worshiping communities and not become museums.

Day 1 – Mt. Carmel and the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel – Home of the Brown Scapular.

After 27 hours in transit, we arrived in Tel Aviv on Saturday morning. We met our hosts, Friar Page and Friar Anthony, both Franciscan priests. Once on the bus, we were whisked up to the port city of Haifa located at the top of the Carmel Mountains. You will recall that it was from here that the prophet Elijah had the showdown with the 450 prophets of the false god Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah and then ended the three and a half year drought (1Kings18:1-46). In the 4th century, Christian monks have been here in the spirit of Elijah. From this tradition, the Brown Scapular has grown. The Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel sit on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We had Mass there in a side chapel. I picked up some scapulars in the gift shop.

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Day 2 – Basilica of the Annunciation and Mt. Tabor

We arrived in Nazareth last night. The Friars have been here for over eight centuries and boy, can they pick real estate. Their guest house, the “Casa Nova”, is right across the street from the Basilica of the Annunciation. So why is it so called? Quite simply, because it is built over the site where the Incarnation actually took place. No kidding.

There are two types of sites in the Holy Land, those that are commemorative and those where the biblical events actually took place. There are seven criteria or seven “arrows” that point to a site to determine which type it is. These include the scriptures, various types of archeological evidence, and the historical documentation. A “seven arrow” site means that all seven criteria are pointing to a site as the authentic place where the biblical event actually happened. In this case we are talking about Luke 1:26-38 where the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced to her that she would conceive through the Holy Spirit and bear the Messiah. The modern Basilica was completed in 1969. It is build around the house that Mary was raised in Nazareth. The description “Verbum caro hic factum est” translates “Here, the Word was made flesh.”

We had Mass in the friars’ chapel off to the side since the parish was having their regular Sunday morning Mass. Then I went back and said a rosary for you.

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Mt. Tabor – the place of the Transfiguration

Jesus took the Peter James and John up a high mountain and there he was transfigured before them. (Matthew 17:1-8; Mk 9:2–8; Lk 9:28–36. ) This is a four or five arrow site. It’s pretty certain that the Transfiguration happened here, but we don’t know exactly where on the mountain. Archeological evidence under the basilica indicates that sacrifices were offered on this spot long before even the Hebrews arrived. Present basilica was built in the early 20th century. “Lord, it is good that we are here.”