Wednesday 15 August -- Holy Land 2018 Day 3: Around the Sea of Galilee

Ignore the time/distance tag

This, our first full day in the Holy Land, was the Feast of the Annunciation -- a Holy Day of Obligation commemorating the Assumption of Our Lady into heaven at the end of her earthly life. Preserved free from Original and Actual Sin by the prevenient graces of her Son, it was only right that her body should not know corruption any more than that of her Son. Such has been believed since time immemorial although it was only declared a dogma of the Catholic Church in 1950. We will be going to the Church of the Dormition on Mt. Zion later during this pilgrimage – one of the reputed sites from which Our Lady was taken up bodily into heaven – and had our schedule not changed for reasons unknown to me, it would have been very fitting for our Mass for this holy day to take place at the site of another great event associated with Mary – Cana, where Jesus worked his first miracle at her urging. But Cana would have to wait for tomorrow. Instead, Mass was at a site central to her son's mission in Galilee, with a message central to his very identity....

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A phone call woke me up at 07:30, but longer time getting ready due to my impaired left arm made me a little late to breakfast. It was a magnificent spread, though! We found out that we are already departing from our published schedule, flip-flopping the next two days, today staying in the environs of the Sea of Galilee.

We began with a bus trip around the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. In the daylight the rugged nature of the landscape was even more impressive than what I saw from the bus last night. During that first drive we met our guide, named Anton or just "Tony," an Israeli Christian (Melkite Catholic) born and with deep roots in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem. He didn't join us last night because he did not arrive back from a period of service in the Israeli Defense Force until too late to join on that ride. He is great! -- a Biblical archaeologist, he has worked on at least one of the sites we are going to be seeing! He knows his stuff -- both historically and religiously. I (and everyone else) immediately liked him. (See Note at bottom of page.)

Capernaum – “CAPHARNAUM THE TOWN OF JESUS” as the sign declares – was Jesus’ home and base of operations for most of his period of ministry as described in the Gospels. It was also the home of half of the disciples, including the fishermen among the group – Peter and Andrew, James and John – as well as of Matthew the tax collector. Not inhabited for over a thousand years, the town is now important for its archaeological sites, including a synagogue that has been dated mostly to the AD 4th c. (the white part) atop a 1st c. foundation (the black part), as well as a church built over the ruins of what is said to have been St. Peter’s house, where Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law.

As a “church” it’s dreadfully modern in its construction – in the round, open and airy. But it might be excused because, in truth, its primary function is not as a church at all, but rather as a showcase for the archaeology. In the center, below a glass floor surrounded by rails – you can’t walk on it! – can be seen the excavated remains of Peter’s house. You can also see those same remains from the side, underneath the church, which is specifically built so as to leave the site undisturbed and protected from the elements.

Padre said our first Mass here in the Holy Land, with a homily emphasizing how it was here, in this place -- at Capernaum, in the Galilee, in Israel in general -- that the Son of God came into history and changed everything. It was here, in this place would figure in Padre's every homily and much of Tony's exposition throughout the week.

Afterward, Tony described the archaeology of the site, as well as the adjacent ruins of the Jewish Synagogue -- the one where Jesus preached.

(Apologies for poor audio quality
in this and other videos.)

     And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. (Mark 1: 21-22)

According to John’s Gospel – in the long Bread of Life Discourse in chapter 6 – Jesus scandalized the people and many of his own followers by declaring:

     "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever." This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. (John 6: 53b-59).

We drove only a short distance -- none of our drives were long today -- to Tabgha, the site of the Miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes. The name comes from the Greek Heptapegon, "Seven Springs."

Photo from Wikipedia

     Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." And he said, "Bring them here to me." Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matt. 14: 13-21).

The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes is another good example of our -- or at least my -- false expectation of incredibly ancient churches. Most we are seeing turn out not to be that old. They are fairly modern, although they have ancient elements. And overall they are, I am afraid, relatively bland as far as decor goes – nothing like the spectacular churches of Italy or even more so Mexico. I think there may be a reason for both of these “oddities.” First, most of the churches are of fairly recent construction, for one reason or another. The historical violence of this part of the world has a lot to do with it; most of the earliest churches from the Byzantine era (taking that to basically be from the legalization of Christianity in the early 4th century) were destroyed by the Persians in 614; at various times afterward, the Muslims including the so-called "Chivalrous Muslim" Saladin, wiped out most of the churches or converted them to mosques. Secondly, I imagine that, even when a particular church might be overseen by a particular Christian group or denomination, the fact is that pilgrims from every denomination imaginable come to Israel and worship at these sites, so that the relative blandness is ecumenical in origin. But ultimately, if the reconstruction is Post-Vatican II Catholic, well … quid plura?

Each church does, nonetheless, have their own special aura, if only from knowing the significance of what they are commemorating if not exactly how they do it. In the Church of the Multiplication there is, beneath the altar (a post-Vatican II free-standing altar, naturally), a famous mosaic of two fish flanking a basket of bread like a set of parentheses. Oddly, the basket has only four loaves ... "oddly" until the symbolism is explained -- Jesus Himself is "the fifth loaf."

We then drove a short distance to the Church of Peter’s Primacy, right on the shore of the Sea. The story is told basically as the last chapter of John’s Gospel: 

     After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat; but that night they caught nothing. 
     Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and sprang into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. 

     When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 
     When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go." (This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God.) And after this he said to him, "Follow me." 
     Peter turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had lain close to his breast at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" The saying spread abroad among the brethren that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" 
     This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true. 
     But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (John 21: 1-25)

The large rock upon which was the “charcoal fire” in which Jesus had grilled some fish and baked some bread is called the Mensa Christi, the “Table of Christ.” There, by his threefold affirmation of love for Christ, Peter atoned for his earlier threefold betrayal (by a charcoal fire) during the Passion. There, Jesus commissioned specifically him, Peter, to feed and tend his sheep – but also foretold Peter’s own ultimate end in martyrdom.


As might be expected given the story, there was easy access via a beach straight down from the church to the shore; several went down there but I did not. At some point this morning, however, I did get a chance to chat a bit with Brother Miguel about his religious status. He was introduced to us as a "consecrated layman" of the same order that Padre Emilio belongs to, the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, founded by a layman in Peru in the 1970s. Specifically, I wondered if his status was anything like a Benedictine Oblate such as I am myself. It is not. As I understand it, his is more akin to a monk or a friar, including the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Wikipedia has a good summary of the order here [LINK] (unfortunately including accusations of scandal -- financial, sexual, and political -- that have plagued the order and ultimately led to a Papal take-over earlier this year. I only just discovered those, although they have been widely reported in both the Catholic and the secular press, and the subject never came up on this pilgrimage. I would not expect it to, and frankly, in this day and age of ubiquitous "fake news" I don't know what to believe about it -- except to say that from what I witnessed in a week with Fr. Emilio and Brother Miguel, I have no doubt that they are in no way involved in anything of the sort.)

Photo by Kathie

Lunch was at the nearby Tanureen Galilee Restaurant (another Steve Ray site, I believe), where I had the full St. Peter's Fish, with the head left on it. I didn't do it justice in eating it (especially the head, especially the eyes!) -- I got it that way, I said, mainly for "bragging rights." Of course, the fish is really tilapia -- but I had it full on, on the Sea of Galilee! ... I just picked at it around the many bones; Brother Miguel, on the other hand, demolished it.

Incidentally, the proprietors at Tanureen are Lebanese Christians; throughout our pilgrimage, Tony would steer us whenever possible to Christian establishments for reasons that would become clear. Also, although our breakfasts and dinners were included in the pilgrimage package overall, our lunches were not; nevertheless, quite wisely, rather than letting us scatter on our own for lunch Tony generally set up our plans all together and told us how much it would be (generally ten to twenty dollars) ... so we all ate together, which is, I repeat, best -- I can't imagine the difficulty of trying to gather us back in after lunch to head out on our next jaunt were we not already together!

Photo by Kristal

After lunch, it was time for the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, departing from the Kibbutz Ginosar. The boat was a replica of the 1st-c. boat discovered fairly recently, almost miraculously preserved. Ours was auspiciously named "Noah." As we motored out (that's actually one big difference!), after they ran up the American flag and played the Star Spangled Banner, Tony gave a really good talk about the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee as an image of the Life of Christ, as well as describing the surrounding terrain. Near the end, the boat captain invited everyone to learn to dance the Hava Nagilla, the traditional Jewish celebration dance. I begged off since I cannot extend my left arm -- instead I took the following video:

We did not go into the exhibit of the actual 1st-c. Galilean boat there at the kibbutz, but instead mounted back up for the ride to the Mount of the Beatitudes, during which we had time to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. 

Of course, the Beatitudes are just the opening of the long Sermon on the Mount, but they are the most familiar part to almost everyone. They are perhaps the best exposition of Jesus' preaching of the Kingdom of Heaven and the blessings that are ours for following him. 

  Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
     "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
     "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 
     "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 
     "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 
     "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 
     "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 

At first glance I misread this,
"Blessed are the pacemakers...."
Works for me!

     "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 
     "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
     "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.’ …
      And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (Matt. 5: 1-7: 29). 


Padre led a few of us inside the church in praying the Beatitudes. There was also, open on display, a chant manuscript of the Beatitudes. I so wanted to stand there and take the time to learn and intone them properly! -- in Latin!

  

Next, we did an unplanned excursion to a newly excavated and just being developed site at what is the true town of Magdala -- near, but not identical to, a site long misidentified as the town of Jesus most famous female disciple (after the Blessed Mother, of course). 
The nature of the town itself, as revealed by the excavations, seems to finally explain exactly what Mary Magdalene's unspecified "sin" was, if not adultery which scholars do not believe it was. In the shadows of rock-hewn tombs which rendered the site unclean for observant Jews, it seems that Magdala was a town specifically settled by the unclean -- including sinners and lepers, whose descendants such as Mary would then be saddled with the stigma of being identified with such a place. Perhaps ironically, therefore, the excavations at Magdala have uncovered the first intact reading platform in the ruins of the town's synagogue.

Just adjacent, we went into a new development, the "Chapel of the Boat," overlooking the sea. There we actually met a young lady from the States, Colorado to be specific, who is volunteering at this new chapel which is dedicated to the women of the Bible, as evidenced by the columns bearing the names of many of them.

From there, we traveled back to the Ron Beach Hotel. Along the way, Tony pointed out shrubbery along the road which he identified as the very same "thorns" of which would be woven the "Crown of Thorns" which was imposed onto Our Savior's Sacred Head during his Passion. Unlike the huge knitting-needle like thorns we usually envision, these were much smaller -- but ended in something akin to fishhooks that would dig into the flesh when pushed down on his head in the form not of a ring-like "crown" but more of a full-head "cap" as scholars now believe was done. 

Back at the hotel, we had about an hour or so to rest and refresh before dinner. Some went to the pool, others went down to the beach itself. I got my computer online and started finalizing the previous blog posts.

Supper was at 19:30; when I headed down to the restaurant, I passed Kristal in the stairwell just headed back from the pool. Supper was, like all our meals there at the Ron Beach, a substantial buffet on several tables -- salad, main courses, desserts. I got a little from each spread, and it was all good.

When we were driving back to the hotel earlier, Tony had offered anyone who wanted to accompany him a trip walking up the street to another hotel which has in its old wine cellar a wine-tasting bar he likes. Kristal and I and several others took him up on the offer, meeting him out by the pool and setting out. There was a, thankfully in the bigger scheme of things although we could not know it then, minor mishap along the way. I was walking along chatting with one of the ladies from Alexandria when she missed her footing and took a fall, twisting her ankle in the process. Her ankle started swelling immediately, although the consensus was that it was not broken; it was very painful, however. One of our number sprinted like The Flash back up toward the hotel to arrange for a wheelchair and ice to be put on it. Meanwhile, we flagged a cab down and Tony proceeded to pick the injured lady  up under one arm and put her in the cab -- as if she were a child; it was a sight to behold that unfortunately no one got a picture of! (Nonetheless, the next day when she was in a wheelchair, whenever there was something a wheelchair would not handle, she got the same service, e.g. the this picture...)

Photo by Kristal

The rest of us proceeded on up to the Scots Hotel and down into its wine cellar where a gentleman named Omri gave us a lesson in the history of oenology in Israel and wine-tasting in general, with six samples -- three white and three red -- all of which were good. One of the whites, if I recall, was from a strain of grape just recovered through DNA analysis of seeds from ancient tombs dating from the time of Jesus [LINK]. My preference being red, however, one of those struck my fancy and I ended up buying a bottle to take home. It was a very interesting experience.

Our return walk to the hotel was without mishap, thankfully. We arrived after 22:00 and I ended up working on this blog until midnight -- far too long!

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Note: I found the following interesting articles including comments and information about Tony Azraq. All are from 2015 and seem to be related to an Archdiocesan Pilgrimage from Indianapolis that Tony served as guide for... 

Nancy Hoefer, "A land of calm and chaos: ‘There’s a militarized wall around Bethlehem?’ and other Holy Land pilgrimage observations," Archdiocese of Indianapolis: The Criterion Online Edition, 13 March 2015 [LINK]

Nancy Hoefer, "Life for Catholics in Holy Land involves persecution and economic hardship," Archdiocese of Indianapolis: The Criterion Online Edition, 20 March 2015 [LINK]

Nancy Hoefer, "Tour guide gives cultural, historical and archaeological insight," Diocese of Oakland: The Catholic Voice Online Edition, 18 May 2015 [LINK]

Also interesting considering some of the things Tony would tell us over the course of our time together -- Nancy Hoefer, "How Catholics in central and southern Indiana can help keep a Christian presence in the Holy Land," Archdiocese of Indianapolis: The Criterion Online Edition, 13 March 2015 [LINK]