Fr. Bel R San Luis, S V D
LAST April 23 to May 4, a group of pilgrims with me serving as chaplain, traveled to the Holy Land to visit the biblical sites where Jesus was born, lived, taught and died.
The first destination of our pilgrimage en route to Israel was Jordan. For new pilgrims going to Jordan, what comes to mind right away is the River Jordan. While that may be true, the River Jordan where Jesus Christ was baptized is not on the side of Jordan country but in Israel.
What Jordan boasts, however, is an ancient city called Petra located southwest of Amman, the capital of Jordan. Our tourist guide even called it one of the wonders of the world.
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After seeing the place, there’s truth to the saying, "Don’t leave Jordan without seeing Petra."
Petra which, in Greek means "rock," is a city nestled in a redish brown mountainous desert region previously occupied by the Nabateans as early as the 3 BC.
When the place was excavated out of a gigantic rocky mountain, it was discovered that the people who were influenced by the Greeks and Egyptians possessed a high degree of civilization.
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The city is dominated by another city called Wadi Mousa where historians believe the prophet Moses drew water after striking a rock with his rod. What’s amazing from the extensive excavations was how the Nabatean houses, government buildings, monasteries and tombs dating back from 3 BC were carved out from the huge rocks.
Due to Petra’s antique and spooky ambiance, the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was filmed there.
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After seeing that lost ancient city, our pilgrimage brought us to the border between Jordan and Israel.
We proceeded to Yardenit or most commonly known as the "River Jordan" where Jesus was baptized. We saw there a group of Americans dressed in white gowns baptizing their brethren by dipping their heads under the water.
Our group just waded on the bank or filled bottles with water as souvenir.
The next day we motored by bus to Nazareth and visited the Church of the Annunciation.
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There are two versions on the Annunciation event: That of the Greek Orthodox; the other, that of the Catholic Church. According to the Greek Orthodox, the angel appeared to Mary at the well. The Catholic is that the Annunciation happened in Mary’s house after fetching water from the well. Just what’s the right version, only angel Gabriel knows.
From Nazareth we moved on to Cana where, according to the gospel narrative, our Lord performed his first miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding feast. A renewal of marriage vows of the couples in our group took place. The companions joked: "That puts a double seal to your marriage. Hindi na kayo makakaalpas."
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If you recall in the gospel, the apostle Nathaniel came from Cana and when Philip told him how he met Jesus the Messiah, like some "pilosopo," he said sarcastically: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Nathaniel got a mild reprimand when he came face-to-face with Jesus.
Cana in Jesus’ time was a thriving town compared to Nazareth. But today it’s the other way around. Cana is like a barrio compared to the prosperous and growing city of Nazareth. Eat your heart out, Nathaniel!
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From Cana we visited Tabgha, the site where Jesus performed the multiplication of the five loaves and two fishes. Enshrined in a chapel was the rock on which the Lord sat down and seeing the famished crowd, miraculously fed them.
The custodians of the place are Benedictine monks and, by the way, some of the nuns there were Filipinos belonging to the Benedictines of the Eucharistic King, a local sisters’ congregation whose generalate house is nestled on a mountain in Damortis, La Union.
Right afterwards, we had lunch at a restaurant which specialized in the "St. Peter’s fish," the kind Jesus blessed and multiplied. The meal cost about US. Seeing the fish, it was nothing but our local tilapia. This prompted somebody from the group to remark: "This is the most expensive tilapia I’ve ever eaten!"
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We continued our tour, visiting Capernaum where Jesus began his preaching career. Of significant interest was the synagogue of the town where Jesus said, "A prophet is not accepted in his own hometown." Likewise, the house of St. Peter was nearby. It was in the house of Peter where Jesus healed his hospitable motherin-law.
By the way, the tour guide Shamir bantered that the reason why Peter denied Jesus when confronted by a maiden was because he cured his mother-in-law!
Then we moved on to the Sea of Galilee where part of the tour was to take a boat ride and read from the gospel about the sudden storm which frightened Jesus’ apostles. We meditated about its lesson of faith in the face of our personal storms and trials.
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It is the same sea where the Lord walked on the water, appearing to his apostles at night.
I remembered what my Bible mentor said in class: Jesus was forced to walk on the water instead of riding a boat because he could not afford to pay the exorbitant fare charged by the boat owners!
(To be continued on Sunday)
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GOLF FOR A CAUSE. The Mater Dei Marriage Encounter Community is holding an invitational golf tournament on June 11, 2006 (Sunday), 8:00am-6:00pm at Intramuros Golf Course, Manila.
The ME Community is appealing to all interested to join the tournament for a noble cause, which is, to support their Marriage Encounter weekend seminars.
Think of the many married couples you can bring closer to God by your participation in the tournament. Tournament fee is R2,000.00.
For inquiries, call Ogie Mercado at 0917-208-38896.
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