Today we headed to Cana of Galilee. It turns out that there are three Canas, but only one in Galilee. Galilee is clearly mentioned in the bible. It used to be an entirely Christian village, but Muslims have been moving in little by little, building mosques right next to churches in order to broadcast where they know Christians gather in order to try and convert them. Tony shared that almost none convert (due to shunning by family members), but that doesn't deter the efforts.
Tony shared that the weddings at the time of Jesus tended to last 6-9 days (greeting relatives who had arrived). Similar to the synagogues and the temple, men and women were in separate locations, except for true emergencies. Scholars (mostly Dominican) now believe that the couple was most likely a farmer (that is a very fertile region) and probably related to Mary (she was mentioned as being invited and Jesus and disciples listed almost as an after thought).
We had mass there at the Catholic Church. Eleven couples (283 total years of marriage) were able to renew their wedding vows in the place of our Lord's first miracle. It was very moving to see some if the older couples stating the vows. I teared up as the eldest said his. It was really moving experience!
The mass was in the chapel, so we then went into the church itself to view it, but there was a mass going on in Malayalam, an Indian language and what eight of our group speak. That was another moving experience to see them talking. Of course the leader shared that if we went to the moon, we would most likely find his people there trying to find work.
We continued following Christ's footsteps by driving to Mount Tabor, the site of the transfiguration. Father Mark had decided, in spite of promising no physical exertion for the day, to rent a bike in order to bike up. He tried to convince me, but I was not dressed or in shape for the mile long ride straight up the curvy road to the top. He twisted my arm harder, so I did ride it down (burning off all of the disc brakes in the process). Father's roommate, Mike, ended up making the trip. Father slowed obviously for him so that they both made it at the same time. Mike road down with me so I had time to talk (we got down long before the vans that transported us up since the buses would not have made the sharp turns. He shared that he wasn't sure if he was going to make it either, in spite of being a retired fireman.
Mount Tabor itself is a mountain that stands out in the middle of the valley of Armageddon, where the battle for the end of the year is to take place. The valley itself reminded me of the San Joaquin valley with agriculture everywhere. Hard to imagine a battle there, but where humanity is involved, anything is possible.
Because Peter, in the story of the transfiguration, mentions setting up some tents/tabernacles, most biblical experts suggest that the time of the event must have been around the time of the Jewish Festival of Booths/tabernacle, which spending on the lunar calendar, fell in September or October. Now it is celebrated in the Middle East always on the 6th of August and Christians from around the region gather on the site.
According to Tony, the Vatican architect, Berlucci, was inspired by a dream for the design. The facade looks like three tents coming together. The windows are all made of alabaster due to the cost. The first August sixth those gathered were surprised to see how the church was illuminated. According to Berlucci, he did not plan any illuminations and merely followed what his dream told him to design.
We then headed for the relaxing site of Peter's Primacy, the site where our Lord asked Peter to head His Church. It couldn't have been more to Father likings with shady, park like benches, a quiet church, an ampli-theater and a small beach. After Tony finished explaining about the location, Father proposed 20 minutes of silent prayer in the church, 20 minutes of quiet time on the beach, and 20 minutes of communal prayer in the ampli-theater finishing just in time for the place to close.
It was known that Jesus must have given the authority of the church somewhere close to Capernaum, since that is where His home base was located. Then a few years of continuous drought exposed a rather large rock which formed almost a natural harbor where many first century hooks appeared in the water. Based on that, it was determined that this is the most likely place. The church there is built right on top of the rock harbor with the top of it right in front of the altar. It is quite an impressive site, where we spent 20 minutes in silent prayer. Many took up their religious articles and touched them to the rock itself.
While coming out of the church Father changed his mind and decided to go first to the ampli-theater. That worked out better since the 20 minutes extended itself until just a little before we were "kicked" out, but some of us headed for the beach and did not hear the changed plans. Those of us on the beach walked in the sharp rocks while wading into the Sea of Galilee. Many were searching for the distinctive first century hooks that still appear, but to no avail. We missed out on singing hymns and praying the rosary in the shade of the ampli-theater, but at least the majority were able. The rest headed for the beach while I started praying with the handful who moved first to the beach, but it was not three minutes before the guard started shooing us out.
While heading back to the bus, Father decided that it would be a great idea to ride the six plus miles back to the hotel on the bike. He recruited a new volunteer (the one who had the longest, 46 years married) who rides bikes a lot, and was dropped at a convenient spot to head out is his clericals on the bike! He is obviously not your average priest.
After dinner, the long night of futbol began with Colombia starting the evening, something I was not going to miss. Colombia' game started at 7 pm local time. Colombia won 3-0 a cause for a lot of celebration, but nothing compare to what happened at halftime on the roof. One couple had purchased three bottles of the Cana wedding wine for a toast for all of the newly re-weds!
I continued watching at least part of each of the other four games. One started at 10 pm between Costa Rica who surprisingly beat Uruguay 3-1. The next at 1 am won 2-1 by Italy over England. The final one starting at 4 am between Colombia's next opponents Ivory Coast and Japan. It was won by two beautiful and almost identical headers within two minutes of each other by Coite d'Ivoire. I don't know if I am up to similar marathon nights for the rest of the week, but we'll see!
Tony shared that the weddings at the time of Jesus tended to last 6-9 days (greeting relatives who had arrived). Similar to the synagogues and the temple, men and women were in separate locations, except for true emergencies. Scholars (mostly Dominican) now believe that the couple was most likely a farmer (that is a very fertile region) and probably related to Mary (she was mentioned as being invited and Jesus and disciples listed almost as an after thought).
We had mass there at the Catholic Church. Eleven couples (283 total years of marriage) were able to renew their wedding vows in the place of our Lord's first miracle. It was very moving to see some if the older couples stating the vows. I teared up as the eldest said his. It was really moving experience!
The mass was in the chapel, so we then went into the church itself to view it, but there was a mass going on in Malayalam, an Indian language and what eight of our group speak. That was another moving experience to see them talking. Of course the leader shared that if we went to the moon, we would most likely find his people there trying to find work.
We continued following Christ's footsteps by driving to Mount Tabor, the site of the transfiguration. Father Mark had decided, in spite of promising no physical exertion for the day, to rent a bike in order to bike up. He tried to convince me, but I was not dressed or in shape for the mile long ride straight up the curvy road to the top. He twisted my arm harder, so I did ride it down (burning off all of the disc brakes in the process). Father's roommate, Mike, ended up making the trip. Father slowed obviously for him so that they both made it at the same time. Mike road down with me so I had time to talk (we got down long before the vans that transported us up since the buses would not have made the sharp turns. He shared that he wasn't sure if he was going to make it either, in spite of being a retired fireman.
Mount Tabor itself is a mountain that stands out in the middle of the valley of Armageddon, where the battle for the end of the year is to take place. The valley itself reminded me of the San Joaquin valley with agriculture everywhere. Hard to imagine a battle there, but where humanity is involved, anything is possible.
Because Peter, in the story of the transfiguration, mentions setting up some tents/tabernacles, most biblical experts suggest that the time of the event must have been around the time of the Jewish Festival of Booths/tabernacle, which spending on the lunar calendar, fell in September or October. Now it is celebrated in the Middle East always on the 6th of August and Christians from around the region gather on the site.
According to Tony, the Vatican architect, Berlucci, was inspired by a dream for the design. The facade looks like three tents coming together. The windows are all made of alabaster due to the cost. The first August sixth those gathered were surprised to see how the church was illuminated. According to Berlucci, he did not plan any illuminations and merely followed what his dream told him to design.
We then headed for the relaxing site of Peter's Primacy, the site where our Lord asked Peter to head His Church. It couldn't have been more to Father likings with shady, park like benches, a quiet church, an ampli-theater and a small beach. After Tony finished explaining about the location, Father proposed 20 minutes of silent prayer in the church, 20 minutes of quiet time on the beach, and 20 minutes of communal prayer in the ampli-theater finishing just in time for the place to close.
It was known that Jesus must have given the authority of the church somewhere close to Capernaum, since that is where His home base was located. Then a few years of continuous drought exposed a rather large rock which formed almost a natural harbor where many first century hooks appeared in the water. Based on that, it was determined that this is the most likely place. The church there is built right on top of the rock harbor with the top of it right in front of the altar. It is quite an impressive site, where we spent 20 minutes in silent prayer. Many took up their religious articles and touched them to the rock itself.
While coming out of the church Father changed his mind and decided to go first to the ampli-theater. That worked out better since the 20 minutes extended itself until just a little before we were "kicked" out, but some of us headed for the beach and did not hear the changed plans. Those of us on the beach walked in the sharp rocks while wading into the Sea of Galilee. Many were searching for the distinctive first century hooks that still appear, but to no avail. We missed out on singing hymns and praying the rosary in the shade of the ampli-theater, but at least the majority were able. The rest headed for the beach while I started praying with the handful who moved first to the beach, but it was not three minutes before the guard started shooing us out.
While heading back to the bus, Father decided that it would be a great idea to ride the six plus miles back to the hotel on the bike. He recruited a new volunteer (the one who had the longest, 46 years married) who rides bikes a lot, and was dropped at a convenient spot to head out is his clericals on the bike! He is obviously not your average priest.
After dinner, the long night of futbol began with Colombia starting the evening, something I was not going to miss. Colombia' game started at 7 pm local time. Colombia won 3-0 a cause for a lot of celebration, but nothing compare to what happened at halftime on the roof. One couple had purchased three bottles of the Cana wedding wine for a toast for all of the newly re-weds!
I continued watching at least part of each of the other four games. One started at 10 pm between Costa Rica who surprisingly beat Uruguay 3-1. The next at 1 am won 2-1 by Italy over England. The final one starting at 4 am between Colombia's next opponents Ivory Coast and Japan. It was won by two beautiful and almost identical headers within two minutes of each other by Coite d'Ivoire. I don't know if I am up to similar marathon nights for the rest of the week, but we'll see!