Whether at home or abroad, this pastor’s column needs to be submitted to the bulletin editor on the Tuesday prior to the weekend. So I write this from the Holy Land, specifically from Bethlehem. It has only been 5 days that we have been here visiting the sacred sites, but these five days have been packed with so many incredible experiences which will soon become lifelong memories. I look forward to sharing what I have learned here with you over the coming years as I continue to proclaim the Word of God whom I have encountered in a new and graced way while here.                                  

     For now, I can offer you some quick highlights. We began by seeing the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the home of the Virgin Mary, just a stone’s throw away where Joseph had worked, and we celebrated Mass there. We went to the site in Cana where Jesus, his Mother and his disciples had been invited to a wedding and where he performed his first miracle according to St. John’s Gospel, the transformation of water into wine. There I lead several couples (including my sister Janet and her husband, whose wedding I had celebrated 35 years ago last Monday!) in the renewal of their wedding vows. Also, amongst the couples renewing their vows there were Pete & Advia Turlop, who were married by my cousin Father Dan Schlegel several years ago, and Tom & Lu Anne Lahiff, also members of St. Leo’s. I had the wedding for 2 of their sons and baptized a couple of their grandchildren. We also went to Mount Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration of Jesus which is celebrated every year on my birthday, August 6th. I’ll have some special pictures to show you from that experience. 
      We also celebrated Mass outdoors at the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus gave his well-known sermon. We saw the place where he performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. We took a boat ride across the lake where Jesus walked, known as the Lake of Genesareth or the Sea of Tiberias. We went to the Church of Peter’s Primacy (where he declared his love for the Risen Lord 3 times after his 3-fold denial of him after the Last Supper). We saw the ruins of the Synagogue in Capernaum where Peter lived and fished. We celebrated Mass at Mount Carmel as we saw there the cave of Elijah the prophet and honored Mary under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. 
     The climax of the journey at this point was going to the Church of the Nativity here in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. There is a 14 point star marking the place of his birth and an altar over the manger where he lay. We also celebrated Christmas Mass there! We sang in the church which marked the place where the angel spoke of Jesus’s birth to the shepherds and saw the cave where they kept their sheep. We saw the place where Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth & where her son John the Baptist was born. Finally (up till now), we went to the site of Jesus’s baptism by the Jordan River as we renewed our baptismal vows and celebrated Mass in the home of Martha & Mary, the sisters of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. We saw the Mount of Temptations and learned about the Dead Sea Scrolls before going into the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth.                                                

     We can hardly keep track of the number of places we have visited so far but there is more to come as we make our way to Jerusalem this morning. And I don’t want to miss breakfast as I need my strength for today’s journey so I will end here as I pledge our prayers for you and experience the fruit of your prayers for us again today.