The End of the Pilgrimage

Before leaving Tiberias, I had to take a photo of this sign outside one of the hotels.



Our main worry over the last week was when or how we would get home.  By Thursday morning, we had been told that our plane in the afternoon should be flying, so we tried to forget about it.  We knew our last day involved quite a lot of travelling.



We had our final Pilgrimage Mass in Capharnum which was further round the Lake of Galilee.  (I have never come across a place that has so many spellings of its name.  It comes from the Greek, Kfer Nahum, meaning Village of Nahum, but no-one seems to know who Nahum was.)

The church is in the shape of a boat and is over the ruins of St Peter's house.  It was explained to us that Peter was a boat-owner rather than working on a fishing boat, so was reasonably wealthy.

This became apparent when we saw the ruins under the floor of the church which show the house to have been built in a circle, with rooms around a central court-yard.

Only yards away is the place of the synagogue where Jesus preached.











The lower white stones which come from the surrounding region are from the 4th century, whereas the black stones are imported and show the synagogue of a later date.

Jesus stayed here with Peter and started His ministry here.  He is said to have put a curse on a number of places and Capharnum was one of them.  The Arabs destroyed the village in about 700AD and it has never been inhabited since then.

We then left Galilee and drove to Haifa where we had our first sighting of the Mediterranean.  What a view!

The Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery in Haifa is a 19th-century monastery located on the slopes of Mount Carmel.  This is a large statue of Stella Maris (Our Lady, Star of the Sea)  looking out over the Mediterranean 

Haifa is the international headquarters for the Baha'i Faith, which began amidst persecution in Persia in the mid-19th century. Baha'is believe in the unity of all religions and believe that messengers of God like Moses, Jesus and Muhammad have been sent at different times in history with doctrines varying to fit changing social needs, but bringing substantially the same message.  They have developed these beautiful gardens here in memory of their founder




Then we are in coaches, making our way to Tel Aviv airport.  As we travel along the new dual carriageway, there were strikingly colourful flowers on a high bank of earth all along one side,  with what looks like a picket fence of about a metre high on the top.  We were told that the fence is metal  and is about 10m high on the other side as this is part of the wall.  We see a village close to where the bank turns away from us.  This is really half a village, the other half is the other side of the wall.  There is no way the Palestinians who live there  can pass from one side to the other without getting special permission

Our farewells to other pilgrims, most of whom come from all over Britain, but others who came from Ireland, Guernsey, Malta and even Australia, takes place at the airport as we are booked on 3 different flights.  Our worries now were whether we would get through the many checks and silly questions on time to board the plane.  In the end, we made it.

There are so many people to thank for such a wonderful experience; the Catenians together with the Deacon, Priests and Bishop, who organised and practised its spirituality, Tangney Tours and Laila Tours who organised the day-to-day practicalities and, especially, our guide who was so knowledgeable about the Bible and the Holy Land, so interesting in the way he outlined the plight of Christians in Palestine and whose friendship will remain with us.

For 10 days, 200 people have lived, prayed and travelled together.  We came to support, bear witness to and pray for the Christians of Palestine.  Our knowledge of their plight has been increased, sometimes with emotional feelings and we all go home with many memories.

What can we do to continue our support now we are home?  A new charity in England & Wales has just been created called "Friends of The Holy Land".  It is based on Parish groups of Friends working together to support the Christian Community in The Holy Land.  To find out more about it, visit their website at www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk .

I hope you have enjoyed my blog and that it has enlightened you to the situation which prevails for Christians in Palestine.  To finish, I quote part of the prayer we said at the end of the pilgrimage:


We have had the wonderful privilege of walking in the land where Jesus walked and of sharing in the lives of those who live by the Gospel in the Holy Land - "Living Stones".  They are our brothers and sisters in the Community of the Church.  They have shared so much with us - their joys, their sorrows, their sufferings, their hopes and fears.   We have learnt so many things from them.  May our union with them grow ever stronger, through our prayer for them and with them and through our efforts to assist them in their journey.