Hello Menominee!

We have been getting GREAT support from Menominee! Thank you so much MCC and now Resurrection's religious ed! We wanted to post a blog to answer some of the questions from their classrooms!

We want to challenge and encourage any of our readers (especially students) who would like to comment or ask questions to do so before the end of our pilgrimage (February 11th)! Below we're going to answer the questions SandyB's religious ed class asked in a comment on "What passes through your neighborhood?" below.

Kayla, it's been awesome to walk where Jesus walked! I hope you can make it here someday. It has been challenging and rewarding to be travelling and living as pilgrims for 3 months!

Courtney, (it is cool)- the most amazing thing I've seen so far....hmm.
Mike: the other day I was walking the Via Dolorosa, the way that Jesus was led as he carried his cross. At the Fourth Station, where Jesus saw our Blessed Mother, there was a chapel where they were having Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. (ask your teacher about the similar chapel in Marinette) I sighed in relief and sat silently in the pew, and was very thankful that the most important things back home are simply the most important things.

Ben: (is thinking about a good answer) Finally - sorry it took me so long... I'm not sure this qualifies as MOST amazing, but definitely amazing... a couple days ago in the afternoon I was in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and suddenly there was only a few other people around, so I was able to go into the Empty Tomb, which was actually empty for a change, and pray by myself for maybe 5 or 6 minutes. A quiet little gift!

Hailee, Ben did ride a camel, but just for a few minutes, in Jericho. We'll post a picture. Here it's actually pretty cold right now. It might even snow on Thursday! But rainy cold, not cold like in the UP. Down in the Jordan Valley, and especially by the Dead Sea, it's almost always warm. We sleep in hotels or pilgrim houses.

Deanna, It's a long ways... it took us almost 2 days to get here, a combined total of about 13 hours in the air plus a layover in Zurich, Switzerland. As we mentioned, we've been staying in hotels or pilgrim hostels.

Bryce, we would really like to visit you all, but we're not sure we'll be able to... when we get back we have just a few days break, then the spring quarter, then Mike heads to Tacoma, WA and Ben heads to Anchorage, AK for CPE... which basically means volunteering in a hospital and learning how to be a chaplain. So, it might be tough, but we'll try.

Nick... Jerusalem is basically a big city, but in the old part there are lots of old buildings and churches... most people speak Arabic or Hebrew, and now it's raining!

Hi, Andy!

Breanna, that's a big question! If you read some of the blogs, that will help you see what we've been experiencing.

Sam, we're going to try, but we're not sure we'll be able to visit you all.

Teja Tonn and Madison: right now it's raining and windy, Thursday it might snow, which is pretty unusual here. Most of the time it's been between 45 and 70. What's it like in Menominee right now?

Abby, It would be great to be in Bethlehem again for Christmas, but once Mike and I are priests, we'll probably be very busy in our parishes saying Mass! But, who knows, maybe someday...

Thank you everyone for your questions! Keep them coming.

God Bless,

Mike & Ben

PS Here's a challenge for all the students: Can anyone find out the exact distance from Menominee, MI to Jerusalem? First one with the right answer wins a postcard to your class!

PPS It just started to snow here! I think this stuff follows us around.

What all was made for

Just got back from Jordan. During our long trip on back of the bus several of us read out loud from the beginning of Genesis and talked about it. It struck me in a new way how even from the beginning God gave man so many gifts: "I give you every seed-bearing plant...every tree that has fruit...all the beasts of the earth...all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." Everything on earth has been given us to. To aid in our salvation, to bring us closer to heaven. As a place for worship- that's what it was made for.

Last night we inexplicably stayed at an opulent resort. There were gardens and fountains, a pool overlooking the Dead Sea, really soft mattresses and expensive soaps, antiquated wood doors with brass latches, and a little veranda out the back of every room with low couches where we stayed up late and talked. I definitely felt like an Arabian prince for the night!

I ate the best feast I’ve ever had in my life! Honestly, it put the symbol of the ‘Heavenly Banquet’ into a whole new light for me. Vegetables steamed and some I’d never seen, lamb and wild rice and fancy cheeses, sushi and homemade breads and chocolate mousse for desert (and strawberries and bananas in carmel). You should have seen my face! I enjoyed it all very much, but I have to tell you that I enjoyed it much more than anyone else who stayed at that resort. For me it was an unexpected gift-!

-When we went to Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean a few weeks ago we saw some of the Roman bath-houses there. They were much more luxurious than anything we have now. They had geometrically designed floors out of marble, hot-tubs and saunas, massage tables in the middle of porticoed atriums. There were these vast amphitheatres and hippodromes dedicated to entertainment: dramas and horse-races and such. Caesarea is the city where the centurion Cornelius lived, the first Gentile convert. (Acts 10) Just think of how he gave up that lifestyle when he became a Christian (and later a bishop)! I wonder how St. Peter felt, a poor fisherman, when he went to the extravagent house of that centurion? Or St. Paul, a tent-maker, when he was imprisoned in that city for two years before being sent to Rome? Of course, those people are all in heaven now, and Caesarea is a field of ruins.

It was fun to see the 'other side', but it made me realize how silly it is that some people dedicate and work their whole lives away so that they can live that way. I think I'll give my life to something a bit more important! What is the greater good? What is lasting?
What is your pearl of great price, for which you would give all else? What are you giving your life to?

-Mike

My Niece

Here's a picture of my niece, Elizabeth Grace, born on Friday! Isn't she beautiful? Congratulations Jim and Michelle! Hope I get to meet her soon!

-Mike

From Babel to Pentecost

The other day we went to the Upper Room here in Jerusalem- where the Last Supper took place. They were holding a prayer service there for Christian Unity- it was beautiful to see Christians from all around the world crowding in. Near the end we all prayed the Our Father in our own languages (which were many) and at first I thought it sounded so discordant and messy- (like the Tower of Babel! -see Genesis 11) but as we all ended at about the same time it occurred to me quite powerfully that it sounded something more like Pentecost must have. After the service we climbed some stairs to a small, unheated, unadorned chapel; the Chapel of the Holy Spirit where the apostles hid for nine days after Jesus rose into heaven. There they heard a rumbling rushing sound which filled the house, fire from heaven came down and rested on them- and they all were given the ability to speak in different languages- so that they could go out and preach to all nations. A crowd gathered outside, wondering what the sound could be, and everyone gathered there heard the apostles speaking in their own language. A tradition holds that the apostles knew where they were being sent to go and evangelize by the language that they were given to speak. St. James went to Spain. St. Thomas went to India. Peter went to Rome. John cared for the Blessed Mother. Philip went to Turkey, Jude to Syria, Andrew to Greece. Simon went to Africa, and maybe Great Britain as well. (all the places had different names then, but of course the Church outlasts countries). Holy Spirit come and fill the hearts of thy faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of thy love!
-Mike

New Jerusalem Pictures up...

Greetings, Pilgrims. More Jerusalem pictures are now up on Picasa... but not too many captions yet! And we're off to Jordan for some days!

This is Dominus Flevit, "The Lord Wept," a church on the Mount of Olives commemorating the Lord's tears as he looked across at Jerusalem. Luke 19:41

God Bless,

Ben

Congratulations Bishop Sample!

Today, 2 years ago, Bishop Sample was ordained bishop and installed as the Bishop of the Diocese of Marquette! It is the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. Oh happy day, at least for us! For him, a new and heavier responsability, to be sure.

Thank you for your enthusiastic, faithful, and courageous service these past years. May God grant you many more years of service.

God Bless,
Ben

Check our our new header!

What do you think of the new header? Created and designed by Mrs. Jenny Raiche! Jen, that's awesome... thank you very much!

God Bless,
Ben

What am I to do?

I sat on the bus, I sat in the chapel, I sit here in this darkened room at 11:00 pm and think.

What am I to do?

Today, we spent part of the afternoon at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial here in Jerusalem. We spent almost 2 hours there, but it was barely time enough to see one part of it, much less engage or process the hellacious history it tells. In the last minutes of the visit I visited the Children's Memorial, which commemorates the approximately 1.5 million Jewish CHILDREN killed during the Holocaust.

As we drove away, my head was spinning. Not all of what I saw or read was new to me... I spent some days at Auschwitz, including hearing a survivor speak, when I was in Poland in 2001. We were following the footsteps of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who died there at the concentration camp. In some ways, the picture at Yad Vashem was bigger, in some ways narrower. It spoke of the situation throughout the Reich. But, it spoke mostly of Jews. I do not necessarily fault it in this regard... that is a big enough story to tell, and certainly the story most central in Jerusalem. It is perhaps the unique horror of the Holocaust and the Third Reich, although certainly not the only one. I struggled not to let a search for perhaps an extreme or inappropriate objectivity dominate my attention. The experience of actually visiting Auschwitz was made real and alive again.

The enormity of what was done is really hard to grasp. By many accounts, 6 million or more lives taken specifically because of the religion/ethnicity of the people involved. Men and women, the old, the young. The healthy and the sick. Shot, starved, beaten, injected, gassed, burned. Each one a human person created in the image and likeness of God, with inestimable dignity. A number that large easily becomes meaningless.

So, the central question in my heart, mind, soul as we pulled away was this. What am I to do? It is necessary to analyze the situation historically, politically, philosphically, theologically. But, if I look primarily at others, other times, other places, I think the key moment is lost. The one over whom I have the most, if not complete or perfect, control, myself, can be ignored. What am I to do?

I must pray. For those who died, for those who killed them, for the tremors and aftershocks that still rock the world we live in. For forgiveness, for strength, for courage.

Here is one moment I think that really matters: I must examine my heart, my words, my conduct. Where do I allow hatred and violence towards others to reside? To look at what the Nazi's did and act as if it is so very far away from my own sin and inhumanity is perhaps disingenous. I could certainly overstate this... but what can be more fruitful and more revolutionary and more truly the good leaven of grace in the world than to allow this moment to be one of conversion in my heart... What am I to do? Who am I to be?

Lord Jesus, I do not understand.... Lord Jesus, I trust in You.

What are you to do? Who are you to be?
-Ben

What passes through your neighborhood?

I wandered into a Jewish neighborhood today and I saw that the local government had prominently placed a banner above a street corner- it really struck me.

It said, “DO NOT PASS THROUGH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD IN IMMODEST CLOTHES…PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB OUR CHILDREN’S EDUCATION”

A note to our Catholic School Students who read this blog: living in a conservative Muslim society in Palestine (Bethlehem) and now in the primarily observant Jewish culture of Jerusalem, I see that you are exposed to so many things that you shouldn’t be. I wish that you were being formed instead by beauty and truth and goodness. In other cultures there are filters to protect youth from seeing and hearing many things. I think many people here would be shocked at the crass and inappropriate content of movies targeted at youth in our country, the violence in videogames, clothes sold to you in stores, the lyrics of songs that you hear on the radio... (of course these thing have had their effect on me as well)

I want to challenge you then, since society isn’t doing it for you, to decide what you allow yourself to be filled with: will this book bring me closer to Christ? Will this TV show? Do these clothes express that I have dignity and self-respect? You aren’t too young to decide what kind of person you are!

If you want to know what you're filled with now, there's an easy test: try and pray silently for three minutes. At the end, write down whatever came into your head- The silence reveals to us our attachments. Are we filled with distraction? With Christ? With movie quotes, the desire for Little Caesar's pizza, thoughts of jealousy or anger?

I challenge you to think about and evaluate what you allow into your life.
SO let’s make this interesting. I want to start something of a debate-! The Harry Potter books are pretty popular- and I imagine many of you have read them. Let's hear in the 'Comments' Section the reasons WHY you think it is, or isn't, a good thing to read those books? Remember that we respond to Comments in the same place where they are left- so be sure to check back. I look forward to your arguments!

-Mike

Hey... here's my 10 cents... 10 shekels, I mean. If I look at the entertainment, or clothes, or books in my life, the question I have to ask, I try to ask is this: Does this bring me closer to what is most beautiful, most joyful, most true, to the very best? In the language of our Catholic tradition: Holiness! Which isn't boring or drab or out of style... rather it's what is really most authentic, and best, right to the core. In most traditional cultures, this is done for young people to a large degree by their parents, by their tribe. Now, things run pretty unfiltered. So, it's up to YOU! Tell us what you think!

Ben

Joining my fears to Christ.

Greetings fellow pilgrims!

This evening we had a holy hour at the Church of All Nations, or the Church of Gethsemane. It is the Catholic Church at the base of the Mount of Olives, where Christ prayed the night before His Passion. We took the bus down the hill from from the Old City, and came to the church. It closes around 5:00 pm, so when we got there at 5:30 pm, one of the Franciscan friars let us in. We walked past the shadowy grove of olive trees, some of which may go back to the time of Christ. We filed quietly into the church and sat around the sanctuary. In the middle is a big rock which was the center of Byzantine church.

Then we just sat there quietly and prayed for an hour. We didn't have a program... just quiet time. It was pretty cold, but I was well bundled in wool from my family. After a little silence, I prayed evening prayer - St. Antony the Abbot today, who was one of the founders of monasticism. I prayed for many people, especially the monks of Holy Transfiguration Skete, in Eagle Harbor.

After mulling over the breviary slowly, I read the Gethsemane passages from all four gospels. Praying over them in light of preparing for priesthood, I was struck by how Jesus struggled and gave Himself over completely to the Father's will. I don't look at the priesthood as a cross or a bitter cup, rather a privilege, a gift, a joy, a pearl of great price. But I also know there will be suffering, as in any vocation, any life. I asked myself in prayer, looking at the mosaic of Christ praying, looking at the stone, what are my fears? What suffering do I fear, what failure, what pain? As things came to mind, I offered them to Christ, putting them in His hands. His grace is sufficient, His measure is filled up, tamped down, flowing over.

Jesus, I trust in you.

Ben

Coal-fire in the Courtyard

I came upon a Church yesterday, “St. Peter in Gallicantu”. It’s built on the place where they believe the house of the high priest Caiaphas to have been. Here it was that Jesus was kept in the dungeon the night before He died- He would have been lowered by ropes through a hole into a deep pit (33 steps down I counted). It’s clean and well-lit now, but would have been dark and thick with fetid stench in the time of Christ. Outside there are slanting and partly covered stairs in the hillside where Jesus would have walked as he was being led by the Temple Guard to Caiaphas’ House. There is a smooth-stoned pavement at the top built where they believe the courtyard to have been. This is where Peter would have sat warming himself by the coal-fire when he denied knowing Christ three times (please read Luke 22:54-62 so the rest of this makes sense). Sitting there, I read from a book in my backpack which speaks of the look that Jesus gave Peter after he denied Him and the rooster crowed:

He knows them well, the Savior’s looks. And yet never, never had he seen on the Savior’s face the expression he sees there at this moment, the eyes marked with sadness but without any severity. A look of reproach, without a doubt, but which becomes suppliant at the same time and seems to repeat to him ‘Simon, I have prayed for thee!’ This look only rests on him for an instant, Jesus was violently dragged away by the soldiers, but Peter sees him all the time.
-G. Chevrot

When the rooster crowed Peter fled from the courtyard; he knew if he stayed he might deny Christ again. I realized that Peter later returned to this place- several times he himself was held in those dungeons for preaching Christ. (Acts 4:1-4 and 5:12-32). Peter was allowed to suffer for Christ in the same place he had denied Him! I imagine Peter being led through the courtyard by the soldiers, and seeing the spot where the coal-fire had once burned, saying to himself, “Not this time!” I reflect on what my own ‘coal-fires’ are; the places I seek false comfort and tend to deny the Lord. What courtyards do I need to run from?
What are your coal-fires Pilgrim?

Mike

YooperPilgrims makes the UP Catholic!

The UP Catholic included our little blog in a recent issue! Check out the article:

"Marquette seminarians are blogging from the Holy Land"

I know a few parishes have also put the address in their bulletins.

If you came to the blog via the UP Catholic, Welcome! Please comment on the blogs or ask us questions if you'd like. The whole reason we're doing this is to share this beautiful and unique opportunity to be here in the Holy Land on pilgrimage with as many people as possible, especially students. If you have the opportunity to share it with others who might find it interesting, please do! Any of the teachers who read this, if you think your students' parents would be interested, please pass it along to them.

As a reminder: We will respond to any comments where they occur with another comment, unless a critical mass of interest builds up on specific topic.

Thank you Joe and Aaron for putting us in the UP Catholic!

God Bless,
Ben

Being filmed in Jerusalem!

Greetings fellow pilgrims! Happy Feast of the Baptism of the Lord!

I apologize for my overlong silence here at YooperPilgrims! Mike has been doing a great job of putting up regular and interesting posts, while I've been lollygagging! One might ask, what has Ben been up to? Is he lost in spiritual ecstasy, taken up to the Seventh Heaven? Or is he just lost in the Old City of Jerusalem, trying desperately to find the New Gate? Is he trying to read all 37 needless books he's been lugging around, just in case? Has the announcement of a date for ordination filled him with fear and trembling?

Actually, I have sort of an excuse, at least since Epiphany! I'm part of a documentary film project with the Kindling Group, "The Calling." This project will look at Americans preparing for ministry in four faith groups: Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim. After consultation with Cardinal George, the archbishop of Chicago, and Fr. Lyle, the rector at Mundelein, the team received permission to work with seminarians there, pending the approval of their bishops. So, inexplicably, I was among those interviewed, and now I'm part of the group they're following. This all started during the fall quarter.

For you Yoopers out there, you'll be proud to know that the initial group they picked included Greg Michaud, Jim Altman, Mike and myself, along with some other guys. All four of us are from the UP, although they didn't realize that! After some adjustments, only Greg and I are part of the main group now, although they'll probably work with some of the other guys too. Is this Anti-Yooper prejudice? ;)

In any case, they've been following us at school and at home. They even came up to the UP for deer season. Although almost everyone involved is a city-slicker, they did pretty good! John, the cameraman sat up in a treestand with me on Opening Day until neither of us could talk because we were shivering, and then the next morning he was there with the camera when Greg got an 8-point buck!!!

So, they decided to follow us here... and since Epiphany, they've been following Greg and I around with cameras and microphone booms, etc. First we were in Galilee, then down here in Jerusalem. Friday was there last day here. It was a lot of fun, but also exhausting because all the "free time" was taken up with interviews, trying to get into the Holy Sepulchre to film, etc. It was disruptive for the rest of our brother pilgrims, but they were patient and accepting.

On the first day, the Israeli sound guy came up to me and said, "Is that what you're going to wear?" I immediately thought of the embarrassment my mother and sisters would feel when they saw me on screen wearing what I do in spite of their best efforts to raise my fashion consciousness and wardrobe! Then he clarified that he just wanted to know so that he could put the wireless microphone on me. I felt a little better... but, I'm sorry Mom and Becky and Libby, just in case! I'm proud to say that the Stormy Kromer my dad got me, the sweater my mom knit for me, the nice wool sweater Becky and John got for me, and the scarf Libby knit for me were all worn on film.

It's also been interesting being filmed while visiting the holy places. Every pious impulse gets second-guessed: "Am I just praying/bowing my head/gazing at the Crucifix/praying the rosary/etc. because the camera's on?" I do all those things normally, but it still made me feel kind of fake knowing that I was being filmed. Maybe they'll just use the footage of me making funny faces or scratching my nose or looking confused!

So, the hope is that in all of this the film will serve as a vehicle to help people understand vocation, the call God has for each of us to follow Him. Please pray for the project, for the team, and for the "subjects"! The projected air date is in Fall of 2009, so there's plenty of time for intercession!

God Bless,


Ben

P.S. There's a nice article on The Calling project in the UP Catholic:

http://www.dioceseofmarquette.org/upcarticle.asp?upcID=1311


And here's a picture of Danny, the head honcho for the whole project, and Maggie, who is in charge of the Catholic segment ----->

ALL KINDS OF PICTURES!

I have uploaded several hundred pictures since yesterday evening, with more to go up shortly. The connection here in Jerusalem is MUCH faster! Especially, more from Christmas in Bethlehem, including the Christmas Donkey, and a bunch from Galilee. So, check them out and let me know what you think... in particular, if the organization or format is helpful, or not. They don't all have captions yet, but we'll work on that!

The link is to the left, "Our pictures on Picasa"

Take note: Some of the new pictures go back to December, so I finally got the albums on Picasa in order by date, the newest will show up at the top.

God Bless,
Ben

Still Dark in the Sepulchre

While it was still dark, we made our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre again early this morning. I’m left with an impression of jutting out pillared platforms and high arches, balconies and walkways webbed from place to place. It was cold- we could see our breath in one part of the church. A very somber and ancient place- and massive. Mt. Calvary is in one part, and the Holy Sepulchre in another.

I found myself in a dim grey light coming from a glass cupola crowning the domed atrium, hundreds of feet above me. It’s a bit like looking up from the bottom of an immense well, with encircling walkways half hidden behind arches the whole way up. In the center sits a squarish edifice probably three stories tall at the top of its dome, but dwarfed by the vast space where it rests. In this chapel is the sepulchre itself. At the time of Christ this would have been the garden where Mary Magdalene came ‘while it was still dark.’ The city gate and Mt. Calvary would have been within view (Mt. Calvary was part of a stone quarry at the time).

In the sepulchre lies the stone slab that Jesus’ body was placed upon. Here Peter and John saw Jesus' burial cloths lying. Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb after the others left- she stooped to look into the tomb; the stone had been rolled aside. She saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "woman, why are you weeping?"
-"Because they've taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they've lain Him." (She thought His body had been stolen)
Then she turned around, and saw Jesus standing.
She didn't recognize Him, until He said her name, "Mary..."

What an incredible moment! What would it have been like to see Jesus die: dear friend and Lord, teacher and brother- to prepare and lay His body in the tomb, to sit in vigil red eyed and weeping- then to see Him living again? Think of how amazing it will be when we die and, in hope, see again those we love who have gone before us! How much better will it be to finally see the face of Christ!? I wish I knew Christ like Mary Magdalene does, or John the Evangelist. I think if we knew ourselves and were able to see into our depths, we would find that that's all anyone every really desires.
Lord Jesus, come into our hearts- may we pick up our crosses and die with you so that we may too rise again- I pray you will relive in us your submission to the Father, and make yourself known in a powerful way to those back home on whose behalf I make this pilgrimage.

Mike

Hill of the Skull: Golgotha

4:30 a.m. we rose and walked the Way of the Cross- the road where the Roman soldiers led Jesus to His death on Mt. Calvary. Still dark and we made due with a few flashlights. Walking the narrow way we could make out a strip of sky high above between buildings and arches, past overhanging shop-awnings and signs. It was raining for most the time however, and our eyes were mostly watching our footing on the uneven stone pavement for unpredictable steps and puddles. Each station is indicated in stone on the walls and we stopped briefly at each spot. Where Jesus fell. Where he was tortured and scourged. Where Veronica wiped his face. Where he met his mother.
Across a courtyard and through a door we entered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre- to the right is a steep irregular stairway which brings one to the top of Mount Calvary (which isn't a mountain at all, and fits entirely within the massive structure of the Church.) The crucifixion would have been immediately outside the city gates and close enough to be quite visible to anyone going in or out; as a policy the Romans sought to strike terror and demonstrate what happened to anyone who rebelled their occupation. We each in turn kissed the spot where Jesus' cross had stood, marked underneath an altar. The floor and step of the sanctuary surrounding the altar are made of glass, so you can see the bare rock there and the shape of the cliff's edge. Together with this and a life-size painting of Christ crucified where He actually was, one can easily imagine the scene as it happened: stripping away like a transparent overlay the hanging oil lamps, the mosaics and burning candles, the designs on the marble floors, the crumbling forest of pillars and balcony railings, oneself. Under Calvary is a chapel with a window, and the rock is lit up so one can see the split in the earth directly beneath the cross, caused by the earthquake which immediately followed Jesus' death. It is said that Adam's skull lay there (hence "Golgotha"; Place of the Skull)
Through our feet we felt an organ somewhere yawn open, and a single voiced choir began a chant which sounded far-away and everywhere. The stone where Jesus' body was hastily prepared and anointed for burial lies there. Here was where it really hit me, this detail one doesn't think of. Here Nicodemus had carried one hundred pounds of spices. Here Mary Magdalene and John remained. Here Mary held the corpse of her dead son. They could still see the two thieves struggling and gasping on the crag- they'd all been shaken by the earthquake and the sun was hiding. A blur of duty with shaking hands before full darkness came and the Sabbath began.
Tomorrow morning (in four and a half hours) we go back to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate mass in the Tomb where Jesus rose.

-Mike

Diaconate, here we come!

Just a few minutes ago I got an email from Fr. Greg Heikkala, the Vocations Director for the Diocese of Marquette. (Mike is reading over my shoulder as I type.) He gave us the date when we will be ordained deacons - Friday, October 17th, 2008! It will be at 3:30 pm in St. Peter's Cathedral (our St. Peter's). This is also the Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch. Can any of you students can tell me anything about him in a comment?

So, hopefully our families will either read this soon, or not be angry about not being the first to know! Just remember, folks, you heard it here first.

Especially since there will only be the two of us, there should be plenty of room at the cathedral! So, you're all welcome to come!

God Bless,

Ben (w/ Mike flying co-pilot)

Land of Milk and Honey

This morning our community celebrated mass on the spot which commemorates the Sermon on the Mount. There’s a large bowl sort of shape in the hillside where people could have sat, and Jesus would have stood at the bottom in order to speak to the crowds. The church is at the top of the mountain though- which is actually more like a big hill, and very green- and it’s eight sided in order to signify the eight virtues which correspond to the Beatitudes (found in the Sermon of the Mount which was given there, as recorded in Matthew 5). There’s a portico surrounding the Church, and gardens of flowers and palm trees. I walked down the mountain with Ivan- we may have been trespassing a bit- we made our way down through an olive grove, rows of mango trees, a banana plantation, an orchard of lemons and oranges, an open field on the hillside, more mangos and finally back to the road. We were quite pleased with ourselves when we finally came out to the road and immediately saw the sign for Capernaum!
We walked in to see the town where Peter once lived- a honeycomb of half ruined walls now, and the pillars and walls of a synagogue. Jesus performed many of His miracles at this place- there is a modern sort of church there which looks like a flying saucer floating over an archeological dig- when one is inside there are surrounding windows and a large glass floor in the center through which the ruins of an ancient church can be seen, and it is said that this was built over the house of Peter’s mother in law (whom Jesus cured). Inside the saucer it feels more like an upside down boat- maybe like the boat which Peter left behind on the nearby shore?
We then went to the neighboring Orthodox Church- a beautiful whitewashed building with red domes. Inside it was covered floor to roof with icons- I could’ve spent hours there. The faces of the saints are painted as though they’re illuminated from within- we were so drawn in that we missed lunchtime! There was a walkway of flagstones along the road, and I walked back barefoot because it was such beautiful weather. Talking as we went we thought of all the crowds of people that would’ve walked the same route following Jesus along to different parts of the shore as he crossed the water on a boat. Because the Sea of Galilee is surrounded by hills, it’s easy to see any boat that’s out on the water. We got back to the House for Pilgrims via my path through the orchard behind the Church of the Multiplication- fortunately there was still some salad and pastries leftover from lunch!
Walking along I whimsically imagine footprints permanently indicated on the ground -like the sort you’d see in a dance class- which would show the exact places where Jesus walked. Am I walking his steps? Had I stepped on the same rocks that he once had? On many levels, I hope so!

-Mike

Family Multiplied

YESTERDAY:
Having been convinced by Ben into taking a cold swim in the Sea of Galilee I then decided to find the nearby Benedictine monastery so I could pray vespers (Evening Prayer) with the monks. After obtaining the key to a gate and some vague directions from the receptionist I made my way down the drive past the lush vegetation and through some gates into an orchard. Here there was a lantern-lit path which I walked until it ran out of light and came to a fork, at which point I made my decisions of direction based on where angry barking dogs could and could not be heard. Luckily a fit bald man with glasses came out of a house somewhere and I asked him which way to the monastery (it took a few languages on both ends before we realized that both of us spoke english), to which he gave me a warm welcome and a firm handshake and led me up to the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves. There’s a little courtyard there with an olive tree in the middle and a pool filled with colorful fish- and the floor in the church is covered with patchy and warped mosaics of birds and plants.
I sat there and listened to the rain starting to fall again- (it took me a while to realize I was out of dry clothes and didn’t have an umbrella). I just about fell out of my pew when a young monk rang the bell at the back of the church! The monks came in- one of which was the bald man who found me out in the darkness, though now dressed in his habit with sleeves so wide at the opening that they came down to his knees- and a group of German pilgrims came in and they chanted evening prayer- I followed along in English in my own breviary. Their harmonies were incredible and carried me away-! A lot of other things sound more exciting on the pilgrimage, but when they sang the Our Father – I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.
That site started to be venerated even a year after the miracle of multiplication took place there! It’s the only miracle written about in all four Gospels. I imagine it is one that would have stuck in the mind of the people. Something they would tell their grandchildren about; “I was there!” Five-thousand men, plus the women and children not mentioned. That must have been about the entire population of the area. I wonder what became of the boy who talked to Andrew and gave his bread and fish away? Look how God took that small gift of the boy and- well, multiplied it! We just never know.

TODAY:
Tonight I walked along the shore with my Texan friend Alejandro until we reached the pebbly grey beach in front of the Church which commemorates the Primacy of Peter (and the happenings of John 21, my favorite chapter in the Bible). Ben and a couple other guys were sitting there on the shore playing drums, and our Kenyan seminarian George was teaching them a song in Swahili. The water looks to be gilded with silver from that spot, and we saw countless fish rising and jumping out of the water- in the very spot where the apostles drew up the net full of 153 fish!
We went to vespers with the German monks and pilgrims again at the neighboring Church of the Multiplication again. We all gathered at the back of the Church this time and bowed in turn as the bald priest sprinkled us with Holy Water. Unexpectedly, three young men came in dressed as the Wise Men in celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany starting tonight! We all sang Psalm 117 in Latin together, and it was beautiful to be able to share a common language with the other pilgrims for a brief moment- “Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes…” Which translates, fittingly enough, Praise the Lord, all you nations!” We all walked back through the orchard together, and they were quite happy that I had a key for the gates. Despite the fact that I know about 5 words in German and they knew only broken English, we talked and laughed the whole way back and were fast friends! Their priest invited us all to a Holy Hour with them tomorrow night . What an incredible thing to be part of the Universal Church! Wherever we travel we have a home and we have family. Guttenhaben!

-Mike