End o' Day

 Sun's low in the sky

Rays glisten on the water

End of day glory

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

Good Friday--Amazing Love

Early morning on the Via Dolorosa

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Bearing all our sins

The Savior carries his cross

In weakness and pain

All this just for us

So much pain and agony

For our salvation

Pieta

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Only this is pure love!!!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

Palm Sunday

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout daughter of Jerusalem!  Se your king comes to you; righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt the foal of a donkey."

Zechariah 9:9

There were so many beautiful palm trees in the Holy Land that it was not difficult to understand how their fronds were used to hail our Lord's entry into Jerusalem.  I can just imagine the excitement and enthusiasm of those cheering their "Hosannas! "

"The palm branch is a symbol of triumph, peace and eternal life originating in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world." (Wikipedia)

For Christians today is the beginning of the holiest season of the year.  We follow Jesus through his last days to his death on the cross and celebrate his resurrection!  We walk with him to Emmaus, eat breakfast with him on the beach at the Sea of Galilee with his disciples.  We witness his Ascension to the Father,  And then, we are in the upper room when the gift of the Holy Spirit is celebrated on Pentecost.   The celebration of our salvation story compels us to celebrate God's love for us!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, Through My Lens, Travel Tuesday, and Our World Tuesday.

Creation of Rose

Beauty of the Rose

Fragrance and color supreme

God's own creation

All beauty is love

And fragrances calm the soul

All praise creator

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

Tagbha, A Place of Miracles

“A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints” ~Wilfred Peterson

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Tabgha is an area not far from Caphernaum and within this area is the Mount of Beatitudes, as well as, the two churches here.

Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves

Interior garden of the church

The altar over the stone on which Jesus was to have stood to feed the multitude.

Mark 6:34-44

Church of Peter's Primacy

A place venerated As the place where Jesus fed his disciples after the Resurrection.  It is suggested that Jesus wanted to have breakfast with his disciples that he had physically risen from the dead. (John 21: 1-14)

 And so I walked down to the Sea of Galilee where countless pilgrims have walked and tried to envision the multitude that was fed that day, not 80 as we were, but a multitude. 

For the Lord Most High is awesome
the great King over all the earth.
Psalm 47: 2

So it is that next week we begin our journey from Palm Sunday to the cross on Calvary with our Lord.  Then we celebrate with great Alleluias on Easter Sunday with our Risen Lord!!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, Through My Lens, Travel Tuesday, and Our World Tuesday.

Serenity

O tranquility

Beautiful serenity

Rests on the water

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

Capharnaum, the Town of Jesus

“A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints” ~Wilfred Peterson

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When Jesus began his ministry he chose Capharnaum (Capernaum) as his home.  He would set out from here on his journeys healing and teaching around the Sea of Galilee.  It is here that he taught in the synagogue.

The went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.  The people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.  (Mark 1: 21-22)

Synagogue

Dated to the 5th century

. . .the synagogue, [is] dated to the fifth century AD by the coins and pottery found at the floor level of its wall. . .Many scholars agree that this synagogue stands on top of a basalt synagogue that goes back to the first century AD. It is almost certain that this earlier synagogue was the very synagogue that Jesus and his followers attended and the one where our Lord spoke about himself as the bread of life (John 6:59).    Come and See: A Catholic Guide to the Holy Land, by Rev. Charles Samson, SSL

Ruins of the City

The Church of Saint Peter

The Church of Saint Peter in Capharnaum is built over Saint Peter's home in such a way that the ruins are still visible.  It was remarkable.

On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.  Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a fever.  They immediately told him about her.  He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.  Then the fever left her and she waited on them. (Mark 1: 29-31)

It was amazing to walk where Peter lived.  The town where he and his family lived and walked the streets and worshiped together.  Oh, the wonder of it all!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!!

Cathy

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, Through My Lens, Travel Tuesday, and Our World Tuesday.

Mount of Beatitudes on the Sea of Galilee

“A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints” ~Wilfred Peterson

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View of the Sea of Galilee from the Mount of Beatitudes

Church of the Beatitudes

The Church of the Beatitudes is located on a small hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee, the site where Jesus taught (Matthew 5:1-12.  This hill has been a destination for pilgrims since the 4th century.  The church was built between 1936 and 1938 over the ruins of a Byzantine church. 

 Mass that day was celebrated outside overlooking the Sea of Galilee.  It was windy and I couldn't help but wonder if it were windy the day our Lord was teaching.

The Sea of Galilee

Our boat tour of the Sea of Galilee was uneventful but it's beauty is incomparable.  You can see from the flags that the wind had not subsided after our visit to The Mount.  Just imagine all the fisherman casting their nets hoping for a good catch.  Then imagine Peter and Andrew tending their nets when Jesus calls them by name.  Then, too, he sees James and his brother John, offered the invitation and they too left their nets and followed him.  (Matthew 4: 18-24).  I have been called by name, I must follow.  It's not an easy journey, but trusting in the Master these men followed, so I must follow too.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please join me for Mosaic Monday, Through My Lens, Travel Tuesday, and Our World Tuesday.

O Spring

Hope springs eternal

And Spring comes to those who hope

And roses will bloom

There’s one certainty

Whether sunshine or in rain

It’s always welcomed

~~~^j^~~~
Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please visit recuerda mi corazon for Haiku My Heart. There is always more beautiful words  there to enchant and encourage!!! 

Mount Carmel

“A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints” ~Wilfred Peterson

There is so much to learn about every place you visit in the Holy Land.  And just when you think you know there's nothing else to learn you learn something else.  Mount Carmel was that way for me.  I thought it was only a holy site because it was where the Carmelite order was begun in the twelfth century.  Well there is so much more.  More that I can write here.  So I challenge you to learn what you can on your own.

In Hebrew Mount Carmel means God's vineyard and in Arabic Mount Saint Elijah.  In the book of Joshua Asher's land allotment reaches to Carmel on the West.  During the reign of Ahab Elijah challenges the prophets off Baal and calls down fire to consume the sacrifice. . .Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel and prayed seven times this clouds appeared bringing rain.

Elijah's Cave

Church of Stella Maris

Shortly after the creation of the Carmelite Order in the twelfth century a monastery was built on the mount with a church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Star of the Sea.  It is a beautiful church.  We were privileged to celebrate Mass in the chapel there.

Chapel of Stella Maris

Finally, in twentieth century the Bah'is Faith built a Shrine to the Bab (mausoleum).  It was begun in 1901 and was completed in 1953,  It is beautiful to see and was called The Hanging Gardens by our guide.

I think that's enough for today.  There is so much more to share and I'm excited to do so, but I'm still trying to assimilate all the information I was given.  It will be easier to share if I do.  

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Cathy

Please join me at  Through My Lens, Travel Tuesday, Our World Tuesday and Mosaic Monday.