Nothing lasts forever but God. All the gift that we have been given are to be shared. These two thoughts were circulating in my mind as I was walking early in the morning today to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the last time. I was pushing my time as much as I could to stay there though deep in my heart I knew I will never have enough of this place. I realize how blessed I have been to spend two months in the Holy Land. Most of Catholics will never have an opportunity to come here and even those who do come here do that in a week or so. I have lived here long enough to fall in love with the country but it was also long enough to realize that I will never satisfy my thirst to “drink” the spirit of the Land that has been marked by the events of Salvation we read in the Scriptures. If I am given again a chance to come here I will do two projects: I will stay a couple of weeks in Nazareth as it is the place where Jesus was conceived in the Immaculate womb of Our Lady and where He spend most of his human life. It is such a great and rich mystery that I would like to give myself sufficient time to contemplate it like Blessed Charles de Foucauld, living in poverty and silence as what one can do being faced with the mystery of God becoming man and living an ordinary human life unknown to others. The  second project will be spending a couple of weeks around the Sea of Galilee.  The area is “soaked” with the saving words of Jesus who preached, cured and  shared daily life with his disciples around the Sea. To me the Sea of Galilee is like a church without roof and wall because in the end of the day we need to ask ourselves: Can any space be big enough to contain or close the Word of God. The Word of God will always overflow in abundance as Jesus isn’t stingy but He gives all he has in his Heart. Well at least I am leaving with some dreams and hopes and with unsatisfied taste for more. I think that it is the miracle Jesus has performed for me or better to say in me. I want more……
After saying a goodbye to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion and to my classmate I had to leave earlier than the rest of the group in order to catch my flight to Rome to be able to begin my next course tonight. I was prepared for all sorts of interrogations at the airport but to my surprise there were none. I was processed very smoothly and quickly and in no time I was enjoying my last KFC and coke in Izrael.
I bless you Lord for the time of walking in your footsteps that have marked this country so much that it is called the Holy Land but from now on for me it will be simply home.

No more classes! No more lectures! Should I be happy or sad? Overall I feel sad as tomorrow I am leaving the Land of my Lord. Our last activity was the visit to the Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh which is considered as the Biblical Emmaus where Jesus walked with the two disciples after his Resurrection. Of course it is impossible to prove it today but it was an uplifting visit. The church was built by Crusaders and survived to this day though it bears damages done by the Muslims who erased the face of the saints on the walls of the church. However the beauty of the church isn’t just in its old age but in the spirit that is cultivated by contemplative monks and nuns who live, pray and work here. We had a beautiful, long Mass but the singing of the monks and nuns made the time fly. There was no rush but all parts of the Mass were celebrated with great reverence and dignity. I loved the way they sing psalms and hymns: one verse is sung by nuns then the next one is sung by the monks. It makes the whole celebration so unique. As we were driving back to Jerusalem it was explained to us that the town is the place where Jews and Palestinians live in friendly manner. We prayed that it can spread to the other parts of the Land as well.

I thought that I have experienced most of the uniqueness and depth of the Holy Land. How wrong was I! I didn’t expect that I was to be overwhelmed by the final days of my time here. The last of the Masses I booked some weeks ago was to be in the Tomb of Jesus. I have visited the Tomb many times. In fact nearly every day I went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to pray and to embrace the mystery of our salvation won for us by Our Lord who was crucified, died and rose from the death here. I believe that it was one of the greatest graces of my time in Jerusalem. I have been made familiar with this most important church so much. Lots of pilgrims coming to the Holy Land pay only  one or sometimes two visits to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, very often queuing up for a long time to enter the space that once witnessed the Resurrection of Christ. I have seen the queues and I have also been touched by Christians of different denominations: Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants waiting together in one line to enter the Tomb. I have always found it a powerful image of our need to be included, to be part of what happened in this Tomb early morning on the First Easter Sunday 2000 years ago. That’s why I admired those Christians who spend long hours to be for a few seconds in the Tomb. As I live in the convent that is located so close to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher I can walk there most of the days. It doesn’t take me longer than 10 minutes to get there. Very quickly I learned that the best time to visit the Church was after dinner when most of the pilgrims go to their hotels and the place gets very quiet before it is closed around 9pm. That’s why every day I would “disappear” after the evening meal to spend the hour before closing of the church at prayer and reflection. I also realized that so many people would love to have this opportunity so I was visiting the Calvary, the Stone of Unction and the Tomb with the thought of doing it in the name of those who are unable to do so. Those precious moments have deeply sunk into my mind and heart. I did feel that I belong here because I do need the Redemption Jesus has gained for us here. Visiting the place in the evening I didn’t feel guilty of making the other
  pilgrims wait as it is usually very quiet. The Tomb where Jesus was buried and later rose from the dead was hewn in a rock as we read in the Gospel. However when Christians were granted freedom to practice their faith they cut the section of the Tomb out of the rock and removed the remaining rock. In this way what used to be like a cave now is like a free standing structure. Later the structure was covered with marble to protect the rock and that what pilgrims can see today. The Tomb itself is made of two chambers. The bigger one leads to the actual place where Jesus was laid.

As I mentioned many times I have made my way to the small chamber however I didn’t expect that celebrating Mass there is going to be such a moving experience. The altar is prepared just above the stone where Jesus body once laid. As it is a very small chamber at Mass only a few priests concelebrating can stay there while the rest of the congregation attends the Mass standing in the first, bigger chamber. When the moment of consecration came and I said the words of Jesus changing bread and wine into his Body and Blood I could barely remain standing as I realized that it is exactly what happened here when He rose from the dead. His Risen Body was among us, his people. When I moved to the first chamber where the people gathered to show them Jesus’ Body and Blood I felt that I was given the privilege of the angels who were at the Resurrection of Jesus. Holding up his Body and Blood I felt like watching Jesus leave his Tomb to go to his disciples. As the door from one chamber to the other is very small I had a bit of struggle not to fall over but I was also moved by the participants from our course who were kneeling or sitting on the ground in order to see what was happening in the actual room. To me it expressed an eagerness to be part of Jesus’ Resurrection. I thought about the women and the Apostles coming to the same Tomb 2000 years ago to find it empty. The Gospel says they went in and believed. At the Mass we prayed for the same faith for us who came to the very Tomb of the Lord.
Christ is risen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Alleluia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He has truly risen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Alleluia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today we celebrated Mass in the Franciscan Convent at Zion where according to Christian Tradition the Last Supper and the Pentecost happened. Unfortunately at the moment Catholics aren’t allowed to celebrate Mass in the actual Upper Room but the close by Francisca Chapel is a good substitute. Originally Mt Zion was where the Jerusalem Temple was erected. However after the Day of Pentecost Christians would gather in the current area for their special  services. Later when the Temple was destroyed by Romans they started calling the new area Mt Zion to say that God doesn’t dwell in the Temple as it was leveled to ground but he dwells among the followers of his Son Jesus Christ. Today everybody calls this area Mt Zion, even Jews. The design of the Franciscan shrine of the Last Supper and the Pentecost tells us some message. At the altar one can see the scene of Jesus shaving a meal with his disciples. The heart of Jesus is the Tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament. All the disciples are drawn to Jesus except of Judas who is pulling himself from the Lord. However the most powerful part of the message for me is that the face of Judas is the face of the architect who designed this church. In his humbleness he gave Judas his own face. I think that if we are humble we can see ourselves there as well.
The upper room also recalls Jesus' visits to is disciples after his resurrection.

Our wondering took us to the place where Jesus went after his Baptism. As the Bible says he went there to be tested by Satan. The site is believed to
be near Jericho where an orthodox monastery is built. The church there preserve the stone of temptations where Jesus had a conversation with the Tempter. The hostile environment is tempered a bit by luxury of civilization like a coffee shop etc. but it still give a taste what a challenge it was to spend long days there in the sun, thirsty and yet
looking down at the comfort of Jericho where water and other recourses are available. Somewhere there I got very excited as I found a picture of my patron saint: the Prophet Daniel in the den of lions.

There was a man travelling from Jericho to Jerusalem and got attached by bandits who left him half dead…. As we know he was helped by a Good Samaritan. This time I didn’t need to walk the path that connects both cities as our coach took right down to the Jordan Valley. Jericho is an oasis 14 kilometers northwest of the Dead Sea. At 258 meters below sea level it is lower than any other city on earth. Jericho was a stage to more than just a parable Jesus told. The site is the oldest continually inhabited city in the world. There are evidences that people lived here around 9000-8700 BC. From the Bible perspective we learn that it was the first of the cities conquered by the Israelites after crossing the Jordan. Jericho is also associated with the Prophet Elisha who was told by locals that they were suffering from the shortage of water as the only spring had poisonous water. The story goes on saying that Elisha prayed and the water became good. The spring has contributed greatly to the expansion of the city. There have been some excavations where it was discovered that at some stage the spring was gushing at the level where the soil is poisonous so the water was flowing through this soil and was becoming poisonous itself. However at some stage the spring dropped and the water found another way to get out omitting the poisonous section. This dropping of the spring is connected to the miracle of Elisha. There are some other events from the Old Testament that happened here but I would like to focus on what is associated with Jesus.

Here Jesus cured a blind man sitting by roadside (Mark 10:46-53; Luke 18:35-43). In Jericho we also meet a short man whose name was Zaccheus who climbed a sycamore to get a better look at Jesus. The people in the town
point out the tree which Zaccheus used as an outlook. There is no doubt  that it was a great sign of his determination to see Jesus.We also remember that Jericho was the work place for Matthew the tax collector who was called here to be the disciple of Jesus. When King Herod was made a king by Romans Jericho
belonged to Cleopatra. It was given to her by her lover Mark Aurelius. Of course Herod couldn’t bear the fact that this crucial place didn’t belong to him so he bought it from Cleopatra. After the purchase he thought: “I’ve done a fervor to the townsfolk. They should be grateful that now they are my subjects.” He was so sure of their gratitude that he thought that the people should pay off what he paid for Jericho and he put some extra taxes on them to get his money back. That’s where we meet Matthew. He was one of the clerks collecting the tax imposed by Herod. You can imagine how popular he was among the people of the city. However after meeting Jesus he immediately followed him. The big function he put on was an acknowledgment of this new life he got from Jesus. At the beginning I mentioned the man who was attached on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem and was helped by the Good Samaritan. To understand the challenge of the story to the contemporary listeners of Jesus we need to ask ourselves why he was travelling that way. The people from Galilee on their way to Jerusalem had two options to cross the region of Samaria (it was an easy way) or to go down to the Jordan Valley and to travel along the Dead sea until they got to Jericho where they would climb the hills to go the capital (it was a long and difficult way). They would choose the more difficult road to avoid going through Samaria. They had reason for that. They disliked Samaritans and it was a mutual feelings. They are records of Samaritans killing Jews from Galilee going to Jerusalem. Jesus travelled the Jericho road many times but he also would choose the way through Samaria like when he met the woman at the well where he asked her for water to drink. In the parable where he puts a Samaritan as an example of mercy he challenged the way of thinking of Jews who would hate Samaritans so much that they would chose a longer and more difficult road toJerusalem in order not to put their food on the Samaritan soil.

As we were getting up early in the morning we were cheered up by the distinct sound of the muslin from the next door mosque. Some of my classmates say that it wakes them up every morning (really early). However I must confess that I don’t hear it even with my window overlooking the mosque. Anyway today I did hear it as I was getting ready for our trip to Hebron. The city doesn’t enjoy good publicity as there is a constant tension between Palestinians and Israelis there. Some people may still remember the killing of some worshippers in the mosque and big riots that followed. Currently the city is the flashpoint in Israeli-Palestinian relationship. One may wonder what is so special about Hebron. Well, people have lived there for 4000 years. But the most important thing is that the place is associated with Abraham. Genesis 13:18 says: “”Abraham moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which  are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.” Here it is believed  that Abraham had a visit from some tree mysterious men. The Scriptures say that it was the Lord appearing to Abraham. First he was told that his old wife Sarah  would have a son. Then there is the famous bargaining when the Lord revealed to Abraham that he would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of the inhabitants. Abraham was trying to save a city by appealing for the sake of the righteous living there. However as we read we read Genesis we learn that there weren’t even ten righteous people in the city and it was destroyed.Hebron is also known for its special shrine called the Cave of Machpelah. When Abraham’s wife Sarah died he bought the cave from one of the inhabitants to bury her. In the same cave Abraham was also buried. Here also Abraham’s son Isaac and his wife Rebekah and Abraham’s grandson Jacob and his wife Leah were also buried. That’s why the place is called the Tomb of Patriarchs and Matriarchs.
Hebron was also the capital of King David who ruled here for seven years after the death of Soul. Here the tribes of Israel came to ask David to be their King. Later King Herod the Great (the same who tried killed the Baby Jesus) built a monumental structure over the cave of Machpelah. The structure built by Herod remains almost intact and gives the visitor a hint of what the temple area in Jerusalem must have looked like before it was destroyed by Romans in A.D. 70.
Today the city is predominantly Arab with a small population of 400 Jews. These 400 Jews however have 500 soldiers protecting them here. The main tension comes from the fact that both Jews and Muslims regard Abraham and other Patriarchs as Holy Men and claim that the site should belong to them. The building over the cave with the Tombs of Patriarchs and Matriarchs is divided at the moment a section belongs to Muslims and a section belongs to Jews. After the
fatal shooting I mentioned before it is forbidden for Jews to enter the Muslim
section and for Muslims to enter the Jewish section. As I was standing there reflecting on the faith of Abraham who is buried here and whose trust in God influenced us so much I prayed so the day may come very soon when what happened after the death of the Patriarch may happen again. The Bible says that his sons: Ishmael whose mother was Hagar, a slave girl and Isaac born of Sarah were at conflict with each other but when Abraham died they came to bury him and were reconciled. I prayed in Hebron that the descendants of Ishmael: the Arabs and the descendants of Isaac: the Jews may come to reconciliation at this site which saw the reconciliation of their forefathers.

I can’t believe how much Jesus s spoiling me during this time in the Holy Land. It’s been such a great experience to be here, to learn about  Jesus and to travel where he traveled. Today I got another sign from heaven.  Some weeks ago I made booking to celebrate Mass in the Church of the Nativity in  Bethlehem. As it is a hectic time at the moment the only day that it was  available was 22 of June. A few day ago I realized that it is my Anniversary of  Ordination. I was so overwhelmed when I stood in the grotto of St Joseph that is just adjacent to the Grotto of Nativity. As I took Jesus’ Body and Blood into my  hands my thoughts went to those hands of Mary who nursed him here. 11 years ago  when I was ordained it was Saturday too and the Mass was at the same time after  11 years I was given a privilege to go to the ground zero where Mary shared  Jesus with the shepherds and the Wise Men in order I could share the same Jesus  with those at Mass. The day I started in Bethlehem I finished in the Church of  the Holy Sepulcher where I spend a couple of hours praying at Golgotha and at the Tomb of Jesus. What else could I dream about?
On the way to Bethlehem we visited a Carmelite Monastery established by the
  Blessed Mariam of Jesus Crucified. Blessed Mariam Baouardy child of Galilee,
  Palestine. Her family originated in Damascus, Syria. They were Christians of
the Melkite Greek-Catholic Rite. Mariam’s parents had 12 sons; none survived
their infancy. That’s  why they traveled to Bethlehem to beseech the Mother of God for a girl-child.  They did so. At the Grotto of the Nativity of Jesus they poured out their request in prayer. On January 5, 1846, the eve of the Epiphany, an infant daughter was born. Ten days later in the local Melkite Church she received  Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. She was named after the Virgin and called, Mariam. Two years later a baby boy was born. He was named Boulos (Paul).  The tiny family had a short time together. Both mother and father died within a few days of each other. A maternal aunt from took tiny Paul into her home; Mariam was adopted by a paternal uncle in Ibillin. Mariam dwelled in the comfortable home of her uncle receiving all proper care and attention. One incident from the time of her childhood revealed significant insight into her forming character. It took place in her uncle’s orchard. She kept a small cage filled with small birds, a gift given to her. One day she desired to give them a bath. Her child-like well-intentioned efforts caused their death from drowning. Their death broke her small heart. Grief-stricken she began to bury them when deep inside she heard a clear voice, “This is how everything passes. If you will give me your heart, I shall always remain with you.”
When Mariam was eight years old her uncle left Palestine with the entire family and settled in Alexandria, Egypt. She was not to see her beloved Ibillin till shortly before her death in 1878.
According to oriental custom, Mariam, then age 13, was promised  in marriage. Her adoptive uncle reacted with wild rage when he saw that Mariam would not marry. Nothing would change her determination. He then resorted to treating her as a hired domestic, giving her the most difficult kitchen tasks and subjecting her to a position lower than his hired help. In her isolation she turned to a Muslim domestic for some assistance. The young man encouraged Mariam to reveal her personal troubles. He became outraged at her uncle’s treatment of her and played upon the mind and feelings of the young girl. He introduced conversion to Islam as a remedy to Mariam’s problems. His words and actions focused young Mariam directly upon her Christianity. She denied his advances and loudly proclaimed her faith in the Church of Jesus. “Never! I am a daughter of the Catholic Apostolic Church, and I hope by the grace of God to persevere until death in my religion, which is the only true one.
Her so-called protector, furious at being rejected by this little Christian became violent. He kicked her to the floor and then drew his sword and slashed her throat. Thinking her dead he dumped her bloody body in a nearby dark alley. It was 8 September 1858. What followed was a strange and beautifully moving story, told years later by Mariam to her Mistress of Novices at Marseilles, France. “A nun dressed in blue picked me up and stitched my  throat wound. This happened in a grotto somewhere. I found myself in heaven with the Blessed Virgin, the angels and the saints. They treated me with great, kindness. In their company were my parents. I saw the brilliant throne of the Most Holy Trinity and Jesus Christ in His humanity. There was no sun, no lamp, but everything was bright with light. Someone spoke to me. They said that I was a virgin, but that my book was not finished. When my wound was healed I had to
leave the grotto and the Lady took me to the Church of St. Catherine served by
the Franciscan Friars. When I left, the Lady in Blue had disappeared.” An Arab Christian family, the Najjar, hired her to work for them. Some years ago she went to France. Mariam entered Carmel at age 21. She took the name of Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified. Little Mariam Baouardy, now known as Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified, was professed on 21 November 1871 as a Carmelite Religious. Prior to that action she was subjected to severe supernatural adversities. One of the most terrible was diabolic possession for a period of 40 days. She persevered in her simple child-like faith in God the Son and His Holy Mother Mary. Her rewards were those reserved for the most privileged of humans. She was fixed with the stigmata of her crucified Savior, experienced levitations, knowledge of hearts, prophecies, possession by the Good Angel, and facial radiance. Again and again she would say, “Everything passes here on earth. What are we? Nothing but dust, nothingness, and God is so great, so beautiful, so lovable and He is not loved.” Sister Mariam of Jesus Crucified had an intense devotion to the Holy Spirit, Possessor of the Truth without error or division. Her prayer was: “Holy Spirit, inspire me. Love of God consume me. Along the true road, lead me. Mary, my good mother, look down upon me. With Jesus, bless me. From all evil, all illusion, all danger, preserve me.” This simple prayer has gone around the world. Sister Mariam was instrumental in the founding of a missionary Carmel in Mangalore, India, in 1871, and in Bethlehem of Palestine. On 5 January 1878, Sister Mariam entered her 33rd year of life. One day in August she fell while working in the convent injuring herself severely. Gangrene set in quickly and spread the infection to her respiratory tract. She never recovered from this trauma. On 26 August 1878, she suffered a life-threatening suffocation attack. She died soon after murmuring, “My Jesus, mercy.” It was ten minutes past five in the morning. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II.

As we reflected, studied, prayed and visited various places around the Sea of Galilee we also remembered that it was the place where Jesus sent his disciples after his resurrection: “After I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.” When we think about
the Resurrection of Jesus our thoughts go to the empty tomb in Jerusalem but the Resurrection is all about Jesus showing himself to his disciples. As I travelled around the Sea I was thinking about those precious moment the Apostles had with him here after the Easter Sunday. It came to my mind that Galilee is a shrine of  the Risen Lord. A powerful moment I had was when I celebrated Mass by the Sea of Galilee. When I spoke the Words of Consecration over bread and wine that make them Jesus’ Body and Blood I felt that I am included in the group of those to whom Jesus appeared. As I was looking at the stone altar with Jesus Body and Blood I was telling myself the word St John said to St Peter that day when they were fishing together and the Lord stood on the shore: “It is the Lord.” As I looked over the water it reminded me the Sefton Church where I was blessed to have a couple of years. Behind the altar there is a lake picture. Now I can see why Fr George Ryan put it there. The lake is like the Sea of Galilee, the shrine of the Risen Lord.
A few minutes from the pilgrim house there is also the church of the Primacy of Peter. The Church commemorates the meeting the Apostles had with Jesus after his Resurrection. There three times Jesus asked Peter: “Do you love me?” There he also cooked breakfast for them.

St Mark says that after the debate in Nazareth Jesus sent his disciples in pairs to bring the good news into the Galilean villages (Mk 6:7).Their work was, in the first place to bring good news to their own people. The effect of their preaching drew lots of people to Jesus. They came to listen to him and as we know they had nothing to eat. When we listen to the story we imagine that it happened somewhere in the middle of the desert and that the crowd would die if they didn’t have food straight away. Visiting the area one can see that the like Capernaum, Chorozain and other weren’t far away. People could easily go to buy food for themselves. What Jesus did was more a free gift of his kindness, not the result of necessity. Two fish and five loves were brought. The people sat down on the grass in groups of hundreds and fifties as their forefathers were uses to doing on their journey through the desert. The old Jewish-Christian tradition of Tabgha (the place where it happened) recounts that the Lord placed the five loves and two fish on a piece of rock which is visible today beneath the altar of the Church of the Multiplication. Everything in this report: the site (inhabited by Jewish population), the placing of the groups an in particular the number of the twelve baskets points towards the fact that this feeding was meant for the twelve tribes of Israel. As I wrote before the disciples were sent to the Galilean Jews on the West and North shore of the Sea of Galilee. Today in the church of the Multiplication one can see an old mosaic of two fish and FOUR loaves. If you paid attention you noticed that one loaf is missing. In fact it is not missing as the fifth loaf is the Bread of the Eucharist placed on the altar during the Mass.
The second feeding of the crowd happened on the East Shore of the Sea of Galilee which was called Decapolis. It was the area of gentiles, non-Jews. This time the crowds were really far away from towns and villages. St Mark says that they came a long distance which also indicates their spiritual journey, they came from paganism. Here was a real emergency. Again Jesus blesses the bread and fish and gives them out. Everyone ate as much as they wanted and  this time seven baskets full were collected. It doesn’t mean that the crowd here was hungrier than the previous one as less food was left over but there is some spiritual meaning to that. As the number 12 in the first feeding pointed to the twelve Tribes of Israel, so now the number seven was to indicated seven heathen nations who had once inhabited the Holy Land but after the Israelites conquest had gradually disappeared or been driven out (Hittites, Girgashities,
  Amorities, Canaanities, Perizzities, Hivites and Jebusities). Note that Girgashities used to live in the area where the Lord fed the crowd. The second  feeding means that the gates giving entry to God’s people now stood open to all nations.