Day 10 - Bethlehem and Jerusalem

We woke up early again today. We are finding out quickly that this trip is not meant for us to catch up on sleep. After a quick breakfast at the buffet, we took a fast nap and then headed off to Mass. The excursion was set to begin at 11:00 a.m. and in order to make full use of every minute, there were two talks scheduled between Mass and disembarkment. We first listened to a talk about the resurrection by Jimmy Akin followed by an outstanding, charasmatic outline of what the land would have been like when Jesus was around (given by Steve Ray). Steve talked about the realities of Jesus and Mary's life, not just the warm and fuzzy images we have of the Holy Family and their lifestyles. 

When it was finally time to leave for the excursion, we headed down the gangway to find that our buses had not yet arrived. Apparently they were stuck in security because the port was not given notice of their arrival soon enough. Steve Ray came to the rescue, worked his mysterious magic, and the buses arrived. The first stop on the agenda was Bethlehem. Bethlehem is located inside the West Bank, which is Palestinian territory. This means that we had to travel from Israel to Palestine, not an easy task with a bus full of Catholics and a Arab Israeli Catholic tour guide named Amer. Apparently the guards can cause problems and not allow buses and groups to pass through the border in a timely fashion, so we went around the back way to Bethlehem, the way with less traffic and easier border control.  While on the road in Bethlehem, a taxi met the buses on the side of the road to deliver our "fast food" lunch. It consisted of something green, ground up, and deep fried (we think it was a farafel), served with vegetables in a pita pocket. We also received a Coke and a tangerine (with a green peel). We were not too impressed with the farafel, but the tangerine was refreshing and the Coke was a Coke. 

We finally arrived at the first highlight of the day, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ. There was another large tour group outside the church who was listening to their guide before going in.  Again to the rescue, Steve and Amer led us in front of the other group and we hurried down to the cave where Mary gave birth to her Son, the Savior of the world. Upon entering in the cave, we immediately noticed a strong, familiar smell of incense which appropriately brought back memories of Christmas Mass. The place where He was born was marked with an altar. Under the altar was a 14 point star and a hole where we were able to reach down and touch the earth below. Only a few feet from the place of birth was the location of the manger in which Mary laid her newborn Son. We moved through the area quickly and it was hard to take in the place where we stood, the place where the whole world was changed forever, 2000 years ago. To emphasize the moment, we all sang a verse of "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

We shuffled out of the cave and we were then able to enjoy the Church of the Nativity which was built over the cave. After a few minutes of enjoyment, we made our way back out to the buses to continue on our journey. Before we left Bethlehem, Amer took us to a Christian gift shop where we could purchase items from the Holy Land. Seeing as this would be our only opportunity to shop while in the Holy Land, we all began purusing the store. Our guide brought us to this store because all of the other vendors and shops in the area are run by non-Christians, some of whom are persecutors of Israel and the Christians. So, we were doing our best to support the local Christian community.

Once our hands were heavier and our pockets lighter, we made our way back to the buses. The time had finally come for us to begin making our way to the holiest city on earth, the place where Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead: Jerusalem. Since Jerusalem is in Israel, we had to pass through the border again. This time, Israeli officers with semi-automatic rifles boarded the bus and walked through, making sure there was nothing or no one suspecious being brought into their land. When the officers left the bus, Steve made the comment that "They must be in a good mood today." I guess sometimes they give travelers more trouble.  As we drove into Jerusalem, we began to notice the diversity of the people on the streets. Many Orthodox Jews and Muslims filled the streets, each in their distinctive clothing. We were not able to tell if there were Christians in the mix because we have no outward sign of our religion, unlike the Jews (particularly Orthodox Jews) who wear yamicas and Muslim women who where scarves. 

Because Jerusalem is where Jesus was put to death, we were able to retrace His steps through the original way of the cross, the Via Dolorosa. The experience was moving, to say the least. It was hard at times to stay focused because we had to weave through small streets lined with vendors yelling at us to buy their items. Also, the priest leading the prayers at each station could not wait for everyone to catch up before he began, so many of the stations we reflected on silently. This, like Bethlehem, was hard to imagine that we were standing where Jesus stood and walking where He walked with the cross. The Via Dolorosa ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Here a few of us were able to make our way up to Calvary and touch the place where Jesus hung on the cross and died. As with Bethlehem, an altar stood over the exact spot. Under the altar there also was a star with a hole in the floor so we could touch the ground. Matt and I were able to touch the ground, but soon after we made our way through, the Armenian Orthodox Catholics began a long and loud service, blocking all others from getting to experience what we were able to. 

On the first floor of the church was the tomb in which Jesus was laid in after he died on the cross. The line to see the inside of the church was hours long, so our group just walked around the perimeter of the tomb, viewing the different "types" of Catholics who are represented at the church. Although we were not able to actually look inside the tomb, we know the important info about the tomb: it is empty! The entire experience in the holiest city in the world was absolutely moving. We are still realizing what we saw and where we stood.

While at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Matt and I had plans to meet up with a priest that we met in Louisville, Fr. Eamon Kelly, who is currently stationed at the Pontifical Institute of Notre Dame in Jerusalem. We had borrowed our guide's phone and called him before we started the Via Dolorosa, but Fr. Eamon was outside of the city and didn't know how long it would take for him to return. So, after the Via Dolorosa, Matt and I were scanning the courtyard, hoping Fr. Eamon would just walk up. Sadly, he did not. Matt and I were disappointed that we had missed him and reluctantly joined our group to drive to dinner. Upon arrival in the restaurant, we learned from Amer that Fr. Eamon would be joining us for dinner! It was so wonderful to see a familiar face all the way across the world. Fr. Eamon seemed pretty excited to see us, too! We were able to catch up with him and Matt and I even received a special marriage blessing from Fr. Eamon before we left. 

Our extremely full day came to a close as we drove back to our floating home and prepared for our next day in the Holy Land. Our only hope is that we can truly realize the significance of the places we have walked and the amazing gifts we have been given.