Walking and sailing with Jesus in Galilee

This is going to be a relatively skeletal blog today as we had a late evening tonight (we shared some fellowship down by the water after dinner under the beautiful crescent moon) and we have a very early start in the morning.

This morning we began our day with a celebration of the Eucharist on the lawn above the beach of the Sea of Galilee. Fr. Frank Kirkpatrick was the celebrant and preacher as the sun rose over the Golan Heights behind us and shone on the town of Tiberias across the water from us.

After breakfast we departed from Ein Gev kibbutz for our first stop at the Jordan River north of the Sea of Galilee. On the road heading north from the Kibbutz we saw the area where Jesus encountered the man living among the tombs, commonly known as the Gerasene Demoniac. Fr. Kamal provided a rich historical context for this story. There is a more commercial location south of the Sea of Galilee where groups can renew their baptismal vows, but we chose the road not taken to a secluded spot under a bridge where the Jordan enters a sort of rapids. It was a very moving experience for me to lead our group through a renewal of their baptismal covenant and to then sprinkle them with the water drawn from the river next to me.

Our next stop was high atop a mountain overlooking the sea of Galilee to the Church of the Beatitudes. This present structure is a 6th century construction which beautifully recalls Jesus words in the Gospel of Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount. The ruins of the original site are found closer to the water across the street from the Primacy of Peter church.

Following meditation and reflection we visited the church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes in Tabgha. Again, Fr. Kamal presented a challenging and moving reflection on the meaning of the biblical event recalled at this church. We then shared lunch at the Pilgerhouse, run by a Roman Catholic order which is also a residence guesthouse for pilgrims to the area.

Our next to the last stop for the day was in Capernaum, the town that served as Jesus' home after he was turned away from Nazareth. Here we see the remains of a neighborhood of Jesus' time, and the probable remains of the house that belonged to St. Peter's mother. In front of the altar in the church is the rock on which Jesus is said to have made his proclamation, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will set my church . . ." Many of us spent some time praying while touching the rock. Outside the church is the location of the synagogue in which Jesus taught when he was in Capernaum. While the ruins of what is known as the "White Synagogue" are of the Byzantine era, one can see that it is built upon black rock, which is the rock used at the time of Jesus' ministry.

Then it was time for our boatride from Caperenaum to Tiberias, both on the Western shore of the Sea of Galilee. As we took off from Caperenaum, the crew hoisted an American flag next to the Israeli flag, and played the Star Spangled Banner. We read the two stories from the Gospels in which Jesus encounters his disiples on the water -- the one in which Jesus falls asleep on the back of the boat in stormy seas and the disciples are afraid; the second passage relating the event of Jesus walking toward the boat on the water and Peter's attempt to walk on the water. after the readings, a certain priest fell asleep in the back of the boat in choppy waters and high winds, leading many to take pictures that I am confident will find their way into the social media of the parish!

Upon our return to the kibbutz, we took a brief tour of the kibbuts where we were given a historical perspective as well as some working knowledge of the kibbutz at Ein Gev. Folloiwing dinner, many of us went down to the edge of the Sea of Galilee in front of my cottage. It is now time for me to gete some rest before a long day tomorrow, in which we drive south for approximately three hours before arriving at the fortress of Masada, then on to the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and finally for a float in the Dead Sea before returning to Jerusalem at the end of the day.

Hope you are having a blessed day. don