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.