Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

The most important church in all of Christendom: this is where it all happened. Walk the lamp-lit street of Jerusalem, the Via Dolorosa, as you meditate on the Stations of the Cross. The final stations are prayed at the end of the route at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There a sacred moment is waiting for you at Calvary, where you climb the narrow stairs and kneel to touch the rock where Jesus was crucified. Just a few yards away is the most famous tomb in the world–and it’s empty. As you bend down to enter the small room, and kneel at the marble slab that covers the place where your Savior’s body lay, let it sink in: you are in the place where death was defeated on Easter morning.

Walking through the ancient olive grove, whose roots date to the time of Christ, it is not hard to be transported back to that Holy Thursday night. Upon entering the church, the alabaster windows and ceiling painted as the night sky take you into the Garden with Christ, even on the brightest day. At the foot of the altar lies a slab of rock marking the place where Jesus wept that evening, inviting pilgrims to kneel and pray where Christ Himself did.

Bethlehem is the heart of the Christian community in the Holy Land today. As you descend the narrow stairs to the grotto beneath the Church of the Nativity, you come face-to-face with the mystery of the Incarnation. With the same humility with which you entered the low doorway of the church, you now crouch down to reach towards the star that marks the place where God was born to die for you. On the outskirts of Bethlehem, visit Shepherd’s Field and pray in one of its many caves, probably very similar to the one where Jesus was born. In Bethlehem, you encounter firsthand not only the ancient stones of the cave that bore witness to Christ’s birth over 2,000 years ago, but also the living stones, the Christians of today, that bear a powerful witness to Emmanuel, God With Us, amidst the beauty and challenges of life in the Holy Land today.

Many pilgrims comment that they feel the closest to Jesus here, on the banks of the Sea that formed the backdrop for much of his public ministry. Not much has changed here, so it does not take much imagination to picture Peter struggling to bring in the massive catch on the banks of Capernaum or falling at the feet of the Lord to ask his forgiveness after Easter. As you take a boat ride across the freshwater lake, look out at the water below you and imagine having the faith to step out and walk.

Overlooking the Sea of Galilee, the Church of the Beatitudes now stands atop the Mount where Jesus would have preached, as commemorated by Christians since at least the fourth century. Stand where the crowds would have stood to hear Jesus, and look out over the Sea and surrounding countryside that Jesus would have viewed two thousand years ago. The Sermon on the Mount comes alive as you see the images of the parables in the natural beauty that surrounds you.

The altar in this little grotto says it all: The Word became flesh here. The Church of the Annunciation stands above the home of Mary, where the archangel Gabriel announced to her that she would be the Mother of God. Above the grotto, the impressive basilica and courtyard are adorned with beautiful images of Mary from around the world, a representation of the universal Church and that Mary is indeed a mother to all. It is especially striking to pray here at the hours of the Angelus, when the bells peal out all over the city and we stop to remember her “yes” that changed the course of human history.

At the foot of the Mount of Beatitudes, right on the Sea of Galilee, lies the village of Tabgha, where Jesus performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. The famous mosaic in the floor of the sanctuary reminds us that this miracle foreshadows an even greater miracle that takes place in the church–indeed, in every Catholic church–the Mass.