Friday, February 25, 2011

Holy Land



This Christmas, I was fortunate enough to have been able to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with a number of my brother seminarians from the seminary. It was a retreat-like pilgrimage which centered around the more spiritually rewarding sights in the Holy Land, with much time for personal prayer and liturgy. We spent the first half of our trip in Galilee, near the sight of Peter’s primacy, Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes, and the sight of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes—all within walking distance from one another. The latter half of our trip was spent in Jerusalem. I had incredible experiences in both Galilee and Jerusalem, even though they are quite different, and I would like to share a few reflections on my time spent in each area of the pilgrimage.


The first thing that struck me about the region of Galilee is the peaceful tranquility that is present there. From the first day at the Church of the Primacy of Peter, I opened my Bible to the epilogue of St. John (21:1-19) and meditated along the Sea of Galilee. Nearby, there is a small waterfall which empties into the Sea of Galilee—it is here that the disciples would have washed their nets after a day of fishing, and it is probably the location where some of the disciples would have been called by the Lord. Day after day I returned to this sight, meditating on the Lord calling the disciples to Himself. I also meditated on how his call extends to me, and to each of us in one way or another. We spent a day on the Mount of Beatitudes, reading the Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of Matthew. We spent a day in Capernaum, where Jesus would have spent most of his time healing the sick, teaching in the synagogue, and preaching to his disciples. All this contributed to the peaceful, reflective environment that I experienced. Yet, for Christ, all this peace did not take away from his mission in Jerusalem—the Cross. He always had his face set toward Jerusalem. After spending a few days in the chaotic city of Jerusalem, I quickly realized how much I desired to return to the peace of Galilee. I scoured the city for a quiet place to pray, and found it in the basement of a local Catholic church which had the Blessed Sacrament exposed for adoration. Our Lord probably felt the same way at times—in fact, the garden of Gethsemane is one of the only reserved places in Jerusalem that offers a quiet environment. It’s no wonder it was the preferred place for Jesus to take his disciples while in Jerusalem.



The second realization I came to while in Jerusalem was how proud I am to be Catholic. Sadly, there is still much tension and violence between the major religions in the Holy Land. Christians are still being persecuted by Muslims in many areas of the Middle East, and even the various Christian denominations seem unable to live together peacefully. The word Catholic means universal, and this is the beauty of the Church. We are universal—breaking cultural barriers—yet, we believe in the Revelation that is given us in Scripture and Tradition. The creed we profess every Sunday contains the beautiful teaching that is given to us by Christ for our salvation. Let us be proud and stand up for our beliefs! If I learned anything from my time in the Holy Land, it is the need for Christians, especially Catholics, to be proud and firm in our religious beliefs, but to love and pray for all those who may not accept our faith.



Many people, myself included, try to find the Lord in the various sights and physical experiences they have in the Holy Land. It is a blessing to be able to gain a better understanding of the environment and culture that the Son of God made His dwelling. However, I quickly learned that in all my searching for the Lord in the places I visited, I never found Him in the way I wanted to. What was I missing? I neglected to recognize that the Lord is present in the tabernacle. He is fully present, body, blood, soul, and divinity in our Churches and Chapels. What's more, the Holy Spirit is present in each one of us. Through Baptism, we die with Christ and rise again with Him as a new person, marked indelibly with the Holy Spirit. God is present with us everywhere and at all times.