Where Jesus Walked - Day 2

Waking up with a view over the Sea of Galilee was amazing. My father and I walked around the hotel while we were patiently waiting for the rest of the group so we could have breakfast.

We headed out from Tiberias to Nazareth. Our first stop was at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation. This church is build over what is believed to be the well where the women of Nazareth would have come to get water. The spot is outside the walls of the ancient town of Nazareth and about a ten minute walk from the village center.

painting over the well of the Annunciation

I say village because George explained that the Nazareth that Jesus grew up in only would have had around 200 residents.
From here we walked through the streets of modern day Nazareth, a predominantly Muslim city with 80,000 people living there. Our final destination on our walk was the Basilica of the Annunciation. The current building was constructed during the 1950's and 1960's over the ancient church which was constructed around the 4th century.

 This is a minor basilica that is run by the Franciscans. We were blessed to be able to celebrate mass here and then tour the grounds a bit. The lowest level is where the grotto of Mary is found. This is believed to be the cave/house where Mary grew up.

The 4th century church was built around this, and parts of its floor, columns and walls are still visible.

The main floor is where we celebrated mass. There were beautiful paintings and mosaics all over.
Outside there are mosaics of Mary from different countries, so Mary is represented differently in all of them.

Ireland

Back on the bus we made an unscheduled stop at Mount Precipice. This is where it is believed the people of Nazareth tried to push Jesus off a cliff after they rejected him being the Messiah.

On the bus driving back toward Tiberias we stopped at Cana. Still a small town, but bigger than it was 2000 years ago. The town is still famous for its wine. At the Church of the Wedding Feast those that were married in our group got to renew their wedding vows. They also blessed those of us that are single.

Underneath the church there are ruins of buildings, so they are fairly certain this is the spot where they would have had the wedding feast. And this wasn't just a day long feast, this would have been a three day event. Two centuries ago, when they had a party, they had a party.

Back to Tiberias and a huge dinner.

Peace all

The Holy Land, where Jesus Walked - Day 1

I was very blessed to be able to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land recently. It was an amazing experience and I'm excited to be able to share those experiences here.

Day 1

We touched down in Israel around 4:00 in the afternoon Israeli time. I'd never flown into another country before, so going through customs and having my passport checked was a new experience. The first tell tale sign we were in Israel came while we were waiting for our group to gather. Along an eastern wall a group of Jewish men gathered. Dressed in mostly black with their payot (curled sideburns essentially) hanging down, each prayed on their own, facing Jerusalem. Being in Tel Aviv, they all faced east.  I appreciated this because it helped me get my bearings.
We loaded onto our bus and met our guide, George. He is a native to Jerusalem, with multiple college degrees and an incredible memory.
Our first stop was in Ramlah, a town south east of Tel Aviv. We celebrated mass at the Church of Joseph and Nicodemus. Named after Joseph of Arimathea who asked Pilate for the body of Jesus and Nicodemus who we hear about three separate times in John's Gospel.  Both it is believed came from this area of Israel. Two Franciscan friars and two Franciscan nuns live at and take care of the Church. One of them shared with us that during the Crusade times, it was this church that the pilgrims would start out at.

From Ramlah, we headed north to Tiberias. It took us almost two hours and it was dark, but we were definitely in a foreign country. Arriving at our hotel in Tiberias we immediately went in and had our first taste of what our meals were going to be like during our pilgrimage. Lots of pita bread, humus and other dips, fish and of course, wine.

Church High Not Needed

I love hearing conversion stories. This might not be the proper way to say it, but I feel a sense of pride in my Church when I hear how people have joined the flock.
The greatest and most common piece that brings people in, from what I have experienced, is the Eucharist. How awesome is that!
Over the last weekend I got to hear another conversion story. This gentleman and his wife were both Protestant ministers. They went through all the training and each had their own congregations that they were in charge of. Somewhere along the line they were encouraged to read up on the Church Fathers. This lead to a deeper understanding of the celebration of communion. In there denomination they were only permitted to celebrate the breaking of the bread 21 times a year... but they wanted more.  A deep desire to celebrate the breaking of the bread lead to diving in deeper into its theology and eventually lead them to the Catholic Church.
That was great to hear, but the rounding out of the story is what got me.  With the understanding that the bread and wine become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, this gentleman shared that attending mass became easy. Easy in a sense that there was no stress involved, no worries about the celebration, and no wondering whether God would be present or a spiritual high attained.
Having been a Protestant minister his job every weekend was to give the people a church high. He had to provide a sense of the divine for his congregation. All the wait of that was on him and the words that he chose.  But in the Catholic celebration of the mass, there is no need for a church high. There is no need to give the congregation just the right words to make them feel good. God is present at every Catholic mass and that is the most important thing that needs to be understood. No matter what a person feels and thinks, God is there, and the priest does not have to provide proof with his words and agonize over what he will say to give the people what they need.
We all need God, and at the celebration of the mass God is always present.
Many Catholics fail to understand this and that frustrates me. If Catholics fully understand the miracle that happens at the mass, it does not matter what priest is the celebrant.
God is present. His full body, blood, soul and divinity are there and that is all we need.

Peace all

I Would Crap My Pants

Admittedly, this title is simply there to draw people in, as I am sure it will do.
This post though, is all about Mary, the Mother of God.
We honor Mary, the Theotokos, on January 1st. She's the Mother of God so it only makes sense to show her some special appreciation. When we honor Mary, we are also honoring her son, Jesus Christ.
Mary is amazing when you really think about all she went through.
Imagine if you were sitting in your house and all of a sudden an Angel appeared in front of you and started talking to you. I don't know about you, but I would crap my pants. But what did Mary do? She listened and even asked questions. Her courage and faith was so strong that she glorified God with her Magnificat after her encounter with Gabriel.
Also, think about how close Mary was to her son Jesus. Mary had over 30 years with Jesus compared his disciples and apostles who only had 3 years with Jesus. During those early years Mary would have most likely been Jesus' closest friend. Remember, King Harod had all the young boys around Jesus' age killed. Growing up with almost no boys your age around would have been tough but I'm sure led to Jesus being very close to Mary.
Mary's courage and her relationship with Jesus can never be emulated. Still, we need to look to Mary as an example for every situation in life.
In 2015, I pray that I can have courage like Mary's, trust like Mary's in God, and a relationship even just a fraction as great as Mary's with Jesus.

Peace all and Happy New Year!

What To Do If You Get Pulled Over

After being a little over-zealous and just all around not thinking about what speed I was going, those flashing lights pulled up behind me on the way out of town to go skiing.
Being my first time having been pulled over, I was prepared and calm. Luckily, a few things I learned back in high school flooded into my mind.

Here is the basics of what you should do if you get pulled over.
1- keep your hands on the steering wheel where they can be seen and don't move them
2- don't move until the officer speaks to you
3- when he asks you for your license and registration, ask him if you can move your hands to get them
4- when he takes them back to his/her vehicle, keep your hands on the steering until he/she gets back

I was lucky and only got a warning.  But the officer also thanked me for keeping my hands where he could see them.
When we were taught this in high school, it did not make sense until the teacher explained some things.
One of the most dangerous things an officer can do is pull someone over. When they do, they are essentially walking up to the vehicle blind, not knowing what could happen. The simple act of keeping your hands on the steering wheel can give the officer a great deal of ease as they approach the unknown of your vehicle. The worst thing you can do is start moving around and rummaging through things.
If I were a cop, the scene from "Fargo" where they officer is shot when he is standing at the drivers window would run through my mind every time I approached a pulled over vehicle.

So, put the officer at easy, don't be stupid and maybe you to will get off with just a warning.

Peace all

Mountain Biking is an Addiction Cured Only by Poverty

Or in my case, a trip to the Holy Land.

This quote is from my favorite mountain biking website which pretty much sums up what mountain biking and bike building has done to me.
For some only poverty can stop the buying and upgrading of a mountain bike. For me, it's the realization that I will be traveling over seas and it would be nice to have some money for that trip and also for the upcoming gifts I will be buying.
So, for a while, I'm not buying any bike stuff. And as I have read many times on my favorite mountain biking website, I'm not the only person with this kind of problem.

And here is a glimpse of the bike build that is currently on hold.

Peace all

Ghosting

No one that I know of has ever flat out called me an asshole, still there are many moments in life where I feel like I have been one.

If you live in the state of Montana on-line dating is pretty much pointless... especially on the Catholic dating sites. There are about a grand total of 5 women that live in Montana on these sights. If I were to say live in California or anywhere on the east coast it might be worth the time.

Yet, there are a lot of women out there looking for a relationship and, unfortunately I've been one of those guys. A ghoster.

Not responding to e-mails from interested people or flat out stopping to respond after a few e-mails is kind of an asshole move. It shows a lack of maturity.

I've been ghosted and it really doesn't bother me that much, but I know I'm not like most people, especially ladies. 

I'm sorry for all those times I failed to be a mature adult.

Peace all