LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE 5TH GOSPEL

The other night 17 of us who had spent 12 days on the ground in Israel got together for socializing and exchange of ideas. The priest who had accompanied us was there and asked us to communicate the most impressive part of our experience in the homeland of Our Saviour. It turns out that it was a good time to do this since it has been about six weeks since our return. Believe it or not, a couple of people have had the time to express themselves by creating very artistic scrap books of the entire pilgrimage. It is impossible to recreate them here, but we do have a collage of testimony here that is quite touching and very spiritual.

The priest went first. He had been to Israel before but it was a whirlwind, two and one half day, touch and go visit. This time he was there as a pilgrim. He was asked to preside over the Sacrifice of the Mass every day, as of course, provide the other pilgrims with food for reflection and meditation. He has been forever touched by the fact that he was able to celebrate the Mass at some very sacred places. The altar in the grotto of St.Jerome in Bethlehem where St. Jerome translated the Bible from Greek to Latin; the altar at the Calvary in the Holy Sepulcher Church; the altar in the church that marks the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus; an outside altar on the mount where Jesus delivered the sermon with the Beatitudes as the introduction; the church which marks the place of the home of Zecariah and Elizabeth and their son John as well as the altar in the church that marks the place of the Transfiguration. There were more, but you get the picture. Just as so many others stated on this fine evening, he never thought that despite the fact that this had been a life-long dream of his, it would ever come to pass.

Another striking theme is the renewal of faith and spirituality that the pilgrims experienced. So many repeated the experience of having a much deeper faith and connection with God now that they have touched the ground where Jesus lived. One even said that while there, it was difficult to pray because there were so many different stimuli affecting her every moment. But now, prayer is better, deeper and more sincere because "I get lost in the memories of the pilgrimage. I guess I didn't realize it, but I was meeting Jesus there every day. Now, I meet him in my prayer, every day. When I read my Bible, I pay attention because I know where I am."
As this person said about the Bible, so did others. "The readings in church mean more now because I can see the place where they happened. I didn't read the Bible much before, but now, it means more to me and I always find something interesting and spiritually challenging in my reading."

Some of the pilgrims had their moment of spiritual awakening in Bethlehem, at the grotto of the birth of Jesus. Others had it on the Via Dolorosa (The Way of the Cross). There we had a plain wooden cross to carry as we commemorated the stations of the cross as we have them in our churches. It was difficult for some to bring themselves to participate because of a feeling of inadequacy, or humility. It was too much of an honor for them to be the helper of Jesus to carry the cross. The sentiment stays with them until now and they don't think that it will ever go away. The Way of the Cross in Jerusalem is not easy. It is a rough, narrow road lined on both sides with shops that are owned and operated by cynical vendors, just as they were back in the time of Jesus. Our pilgrims came to know the physical and emotional difficulty that Jesus had to endure on His way to Calvary.

There were some pilgrims who had (have) physical limitations, mostly with their legs, knees and ankles. There were a couple places that made them wonder if they were going to be able to render homage to the sacred places because of their physical problems. The worst place of all is the one on the way up a vicious stairwell that leads to Mt. Calvary. Of all the difficulties this is the one that they HAD to negotiate. They did, up and down, and were none the worse for wear. They are all convinced that these moments when they conquered their handicaps are miracles.

No one cried as they were rendering their testimony this time, but one said, "every time I tell the story of my pilgrimage, I'm so happy, I cry." Others had the same experience.

Finally, a sentiment that rang a bell with everyone was, "When I go to church now and see one or two of you, it means a lot to me."

Finally, I have two personal sentiments to put before you.I had invited my Jewish cousin to come with us. I somehow knew that he had never been to Israel. He accepted the invitation because he know that I wasn't going to try to convert him. God took care of that. The day that he went to the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) will live with him forever. He told me so. God bless you, Les.
Finally, the second morning that we were in Tiberias on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, I woke up and looked out the window as I always do when I am there. What I saw in the gray pre-sunrise light was a community of Southern California Pilgrims waiting to praise God as His sun rose over the hilltops in a blaze of glory and reflected His grace on the Holy Water upon which He had walked. This was not orchestrated by anyone. God had moved them all to be there.

Since we still had about thirty more minutes, we got ready and went down to the deck to join our fellow pilgrims. I, for one, will never forget that moment.