Knowing Nazareth

Hey Pilgrims-!

We went up to Nazareth for a few days- it’s a big city now (about 100,000 people) but when Jesus lived there they suppose that there wouldn’t have been more than 500 living there- very small town! We had mass in the Basilica of the Annunciation- there is a sort of cave-like room there behind an ornate gate where the angel Gabriel visited Mary. (read Luke 1: 26-38) I went back later on at night and knelt in front of the grate to pray the first Joyful Mystery of the rosary- since I was exactly where it had taken place! Unexpectedly, one of the friars came and unlocked the gate and let four or five of us seminarians inside the cave. I can't even tell you- what an overwhelming experience-! I thought of how Mary must have felt when Gabriel came to her-
As I left the cave thinking “Did that just happen?” I wondered if Mary thought the same thing when Gabriel left her. How long was the conversation? Did it last just a minute or two? She must have been so stunned when the angel suddenly appeared to her in that little room (I wonder what he looked like?), saying “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women…”

Seeing the smallness of the room and how poor our Blessed Mother must’ve been on earth made me think of what she must have felt being crowned queen of heaven and earth! I realized how easy it is to think of her as a sort of storybook figure- but she’s a real person! Underneath the convent where we stayed (right next to the Basilica) was a new excavation of buildings and tombs from the time of Jesus. Walking through the doorways and under arches and next to crumbling stairs I realized that these would have been the neighbors of Mary and Joseph and Jesus. Though now underground, they would have seen these places everyday. (We imagined the boy Jesus running by with His friends, or Mary coming to the door to visit). From the time Jesus was 12 to about 30, there are 18 years of silence.

This is the town where he would have lived when he was working as a carpenter with Joseph. (actually we found that there aren’t as many trees here- so they build with stone as well as wood- Jesus would have been a mason working with stone just as much as he was a carpenter). There probably wouldn’t have been enough work in Nazareth alone to support them, so they most likely would have walked to jobs in other towns as well. As I trekked the steep maze of streets and alleys that night and climbed to the top of the hillside on which Nazareth is built, I realized that there was a time when Jesus was my age (26) and walked that very same hillside. Looking out over the valley I thought of what a familiar sight it would have been for Jesus- how many memories He must have of that hillside. I guess I've got a few myself now!

till next time,

-mike