Christmas in the Holy Land

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and you have many blessings in 2015!!

WARNING: Reading this post could inspire you to make a pilgrimage!

As many of you know, this past Christmas break I spent almost two weeks in the Holy Land visiting the sites of many of the Gospel accounts as well as walking in the footsteps of Our Lord. The pilgrimage was an incredibly blessed experience, and I am beyond grateful that the NAC is committed to having a faculty member lead this trip each year, as they realize how beneficial a pilgrimage to the Holy Land is to priestly formation and the spiritual life.

The pilgrimage in the footsteps of Christ is definitely going to have an impact on how I read and pray with the Scriptures, as it already has, and the graces from the different Holy sites will be unpacked for a while to come, both in my personal prayer time as well as with my Spiritual Director.


I've been contemplating the best way to blog about the pilgrimage---and what I've decided is that I will post some pictures and give a few explanations. I won't recount the whole of the pilgrimage on the blog, because I am excited about the possibility of leading my own pilgrimage there one day after my ordination to the priesthood, and I don't want to take away someone else's opportunity to approach the Holy Land for the first time and "take it all in" for themselves...

So without further ado... here we go!

Lectoring at Peter's Primacy, Galilee

"Simon, do you love me?" (Jn 19)

And HERE, the Word was made flesh! (Lk 1)

 Our first full day (Monday 12/22) began at Peter's Primacy with Mass, at which I had the role of lector. This is the location in the Gospel of John (Ch 19)...Peter jumps out of the boat after John recognizes Jesus on the shore and swims in to greet Him. The Lord asks Peter three times "Simon, do you love me?"

View from Mt. Beatitude (Matthew 5-7)

Pilgrims from my hallway at NAC

The site of Peter's Primacy was a great location to pray and reflect on that question of our Lord, replacing the name "Simon" with my own name. 

As one preparing for priestly ministry, it struck me imagining Christ saying to me "Kevin, feed my sheep..." It hit me that one day, God willing, I will be entrusted a parish, and He will give me the great responsibility of leading them to Him!! 

On Tuesday we went down to Nazareth to the Basilica of the Annunciation, where the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and announced God's plan of salvation for His people. Mary's fiat, her confident "yes" to God's plan changed the course of history. 

After Mass we prayed the Angelus, a traditional Catholic prayer recalling the annunciation and Mary's fiat. However, there was one slight alteration in our prayer...because we were in Nazareth, at the Grotto of the Annunciation, when we came to the last invocation, we prayed "and HERE the Word was made Flesh"!!!! It was a powerful moment, because I looked down into the Grotto and thought "WOW...this is where Jesus became incarnate of the Virgin Mary...this is where my Lord was conceived...this is...unbelievable!!"

Wednesday (Christmas Eve) we made our way to Mount of Beatitudes, which is where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, which includes The Beatitudes. After Mass, we had a few free hours to remain on the Mount, and walk down back to the retreat center. It was beautiful walking the trail contemplating how many times Jesus Himself ascended and descended that very hill. Sitting on a rock atop the Mount, reading the Gospel of Matthew, and imagining the Lord saying to all those gathered "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." was another powerful moment of prayer.

Later that evening, after a bunch of us sat out on the patio area singing Christmas carols, we had a social. I must admit, although I am an outgoing person, sometimes at large gatherings I find myself slipping into a corner and "taking it all in." That night looking around at my brother seminarians, I couldn't help but pause and thank God for the awesome friendships He's blessed me with in Rome, the NAC Community as a whole, and the growth I can see in myself over the past year. This was my first Christmas abroad as you'll recall that I unexpectedly returned to the States last Christmas for my Grandmother Leaver's funeral. However, all things work for the good of those who love Him, and this Christmas was an example of why we sometimes say over here "It's not home, but it's much!".

Christmas day we had a late morning Mass with the Benedictine Community at the Monastery of Fishes and Loaves (site of the miracle of the multiplication). After Mass we were free for the day to return to Peter's Primacy, Mt. Beatitude, the Eremos Cave (on the way up the Mount), swim in the Sea, etc. I ended up going for a great Rosary walk up Mt. Beatitudes with Mark, one of my classmates and closest friends in Rome. After we were finished praying we chatted a bit about the pilgrimage thus far, things that had been powerful to us etc, and then we went our separate ways so we could spend time in personal prayer.

Me and my buddy Mark on Christmas day

Early on Saturday morning, we had a sunrise Mass on the shore of Galilee and then departed for Jerusalem, stopping along the way at the Jordan River and Qumran.

We renewed our Baptismal promises on the shore of the Jordan River, and quickly stepped into it before we had to go.

At Qumran we visited a bit of the site, had lunch, then a couple hours free time to hike the mountain if we wanted to.


One of the highlights of the day was when we went swimming (...rather, floating!) in the Dead Sea. We then began our ascent up to Jerusalem, where we stayed for the remainder of the trip...

Mike, me and Mark in the Jordan

Climbing Qumran

After floating in the Dead Sea

Jerusalem, although not as quiet at the shores of Galilee, was an incredible city to take in. No matter where we went, there was something of importance to our faith close by, whether distinctly Christian or from our Jewish roots (e.g. King David's Tomb, the Western Wall, Schindler's Grave, etc)

Although there were many graces in Jerusalem, I want to share my New Year's Eve experience, which was amazing, and a great way to ring in 2015!! (Although I did miss you all at #LeaverNYE wedding!) A group of 7 of us (4 of my classmates and 3 third year guys) signed up to be locked inside the Holy Sepulcher from 7pm-4am. The spots are very limited, and on our night I'd say less than 18 people were there. We arrived shortly before the Church closes (and is locked from the outside!). After the tomb area is cleaned, the candles changed etc, it is open until 11:30 pm for prayer. (It can fit about 4 people at a time inside)...The Greek liturgy begins at 12 midnight at the tomb, so atop Calvary at the site of the Crucifixion becomes the main place to pray until 4 am when the door is unlocked and opened for the remainder of that day. Praying the Resurrection account in the tomb where it took place is an experience I will always carry with me!

When we signed up, they never explicitly told us we would be locked in until 4 am. In fact, the guys who had been locked in Monday as well as Tuesday nights recounted how the doors were unlocked between 11:30 pm-midnight and then left open for those coming in to participate in the Greek liturgy. SOOOO I psychologically prepared myself to leave shortly after midnight, figuring that 5+ hours in the Holy Sepulcher was great prayer time, and that I'd still get a decent night sleep before Thursday in Bethlehem. Other guys had prepared themselves for that as well...12 came and the door was still locked. 1 am came---still locked..2 am...still locked. A friend asked a sacristan when the doors would open and...

"4 am." Figures! Wednesday was the night the kept the door locked until 4 am. It was then, at 2 am, that I realized my steam was gone. I lost count of how many Rosaries/Divine Mercy Chaplets I had prayed...I had read and re-read the Crucifixion and Resurrection accounts...I had done imaginative prayer...I had journaled...I apologized to Jesus and told Him I had nothing. The only thing I could do was just sat there and listen. And wouldn't you know it... those final two hours ended up being the most powerful even though I didn't do anything!

As I stated earlier, I want to leave some things a mystery in case you have the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land some day. (WHICH btw---I strongly encourage!) So some of the sites in and around Jerusalem that we visited and at which we prayed were:

• Garden of Gethsemane (Mt. 26:36-46)
• Mt. of Olives (includes Chapel of the Ascension)
• Church of Dominus Flevit, where Jesus wept over Jerusalem
• Church of the Cenacle, where Jesus instituted the Eucharist and the priesthood 
• St. Peter in Gallicantu, the traditional site where Jesus would have been held from His arrest until it was time for His trial in the praetorium.
• Holy Sepulcher, the site of the Crucifixion, death (Calvary) and the Resurrection (empty tomb) of Jesus Christ
• Pools of Bethesda (John 5)
• Various sites having to deal with the Blessed Mother
• Ein Karem, the village outside of Jerusalem where St. John the Baptist was born, and the site of the Visitation, when the Blessed Mother visited her cousin Elizabeth (Lk 1:39-56)
• Bethlehem--the birthplace of our Lord and the site of St. Jerome's Cave 

 

I wrote at the beginning of the entry that the graces from this pilgrimage will be unpacked in personal prayer as well as with my Spiritual Director for the next several months. This past week of being back in Rome, I've said to God a few times "Ok, let's go back to the Holy Land. Take me somewhere you think I need to reflect more on..." and it has been fruitful to spend a Holy Hour (or two...or three!) going back to one of the sites I visited on pilgrimage and reflecting more upon it.

ה אִם-אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם-- תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי.(If I forget Thee Jerusalem, may my right hand wither!) Ps. 137:5

Praised be Jesus Christ...

--kpl