Day 12 - At Sea

Today was another day at sea, which means we had another day of presentations by the Catholic Answers apologists. We started the day off with Mass followed by a presentation by Karl Keating on Rome before Christ and The Life and Journeys of St. Paul by Steve Ray. Steve has been one of the most exciting speakers on this trip because he is vibrant and full of energy. He tries ardently to help us to understand the real and difficult lives of the apostles and Jesus. Because he is so on-fire, he inspires us all to be as well read and as excited about the faith as he is. So, we look forward to listening to Steve talk and to being on his bus when we have tours of ancient Biblical cities.

After the presentations, Matt and I headed up to the Lido deck for lunch. We decided to give the cruise pizza a shot. It was pretty good, but not even close to the pizza we had in New York (as mentioned in an earlier post). Starting yesterday, Matt and I have been feeling a little under the weather. Along with our coughs and sneezes, we have felt extremely tired. So, we took a nap after our lunch in preparation of the afternoon session of presentations.

The first presentation was on Ephesus by Jimmy Akin. Ephesus, which was the home of Mary when she was living with John, has been excavated to expose the ruins of the ancient town. Jimmy walked us through the cites we would see in a few days and gave us background information on the city. This was very helpful because Matt and I knew very little about this city, aside from the Christian aspect. Following Jimmy's talk was a question and answer session. The cruisers are asked to write down questions they have for Steve, Jimmy, and Karl. The three apologists do an excellent job thoroughly answering any questions that may arise. We always find these sessions interesting and inspiring. We just wish we were as knowledgeable as they are about the Catholic faith. Maybe one day!

Tonight was the second formal evening. So, we got all dressed up again for dinner. We like the fancy dinners, but we are much more comfortable in the casual dinner settings. Oh well, only one more formal night to go!