Where Jesus Walked

a journey through the holy land with sister nancy celaschi

A look inside the ancient church of the Annunciation, erected over a house built into the hillside. According to tradition, this was the home of Miryam in Nazareth. The star in the ground bears the inscription “HERE the Word was made flesh.”

*A view inside the tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.*

*The Sea of Galilee as seen from the window of the Church of the Primacy of Peter where, according to tradition, the post-resurrection Jesus cooked and served a lovely fish breakfast to the Apostles.*

a travelogue by sister nancy celaschi

ope Paul VI is credited with first calling the Holy Land “The Fifth Gospel,” and anyone who goes there on pilgrimage soon learns how true this is. I was privileged to visit with 18 other men and women and our two pilgrim guides.

Nazareth

From the airport we headed north into Galilee, stopping for Mass and dinner at Mt. Carmel on the way to Nazareth. That evening we arrived in Nazareth and went to the first in a series of pilgrim hostels. When I opened the door of my bedroom, I saw the most beautiful sight – the Basilica of the Annunciation bathed in light, right across the street.

While in Nazareth we visited excavations beneath the Basilica, the Church of St. Joseph, and traveled to Cana, Capernaum, Mount Tabor, the Sea of Galilee, and the Mount of the Beatitudes. We also visited Banias, which the Romans called Caesarea Philippi, at the headwaters of the Jordan River, and sailed across the Sea of Galilee. Whether these sites are backed by 2000 years of tradition or merely commemorate the Gospel story, the reading of

the Good News in these places added to my understanding and appreciation of it.

Jordan

Although I had visited Israel before, I had never been to Jordan, which was one of the reasons I asked to make this pilgrimage. The friars recently built a new church on the summit of Mount Nebo, on the remains of a fourth-century Basilica. Both the church and the view from the place – where tradition holds that Moses saw the Promised Land – seized my eyes and heart beyond words.

We traveled on to Madaba and, before returning to Israel, stopped at what was, for me, the most memorable moment of the journey. On the Jordanian side of the Jordan River we left our bus and trekked over the plain to a backwater of the Jordan River which, since the 4th Century, claims to be Bethany in Jordan, where Jesus went because John was baptizing there.

Archaeological evidence attests to the long history of this site, where the Jordan is very narrow and we could see and hear the people on the Israeli side. Due to irrigation, the Jordan is no longer the mighty river it was in history, but Jordanian troops standing guard turned on the pump to bring filtered Jordan water into the large, ancient basin. After renewing our Baptismal promises, we affirmed our commitment with that water.

The Dead Sea

Before heading on to Bethlehem, we visited the Dead Sea and toured Qumran and Masada. Yes, there was an opportunity to swim – or rather float – in the Dead Sea. As I stood on the shore, I checked the altimeter on my phone, which indicated I was at about 423 meters below sea level. We took the cable car to the top of Masada and, once again, I checked the altimeter. Looking down at the Dead Sea way below us, I discovered that I was only 58 meters above sea level. Looks are deceiving.

On the way to Bethlehem, we stopped in Bethany; and several of us braved the descent into what tradition claims is the Tomb of Lazarus. Standing inside the tomb, which is on solid ground but approximately two stories below the modern street level, our guide explained the account of the raising of Lazarus in the context of the burial customs of that day.

Bethlehem

On my previous trip to Israel it was difficult getting into Palestinian territories, so we managed to spend an hour in Bethlehem on Good Friday morning. This time we stayed there and were privileged to have Mass in the Grotto of the Manger, right next to the Grotto of the Nativity. Later we went out to Shepherd’s Field, a lovely place that commemorates and highlights the emotions the shepherds experienced – their fear, their amazement and, ultimately, their great joy.

Jerusalem

Our last days were spent in Jerusalem with visits to Bethphage, the Mount of the Ascension, the Garden of Olives, the Cenacle, the Western Wall, the place of Mary’s Dormition. We were scheduled to have Adoration on Thursday night in the Garden of Gethsemane with two other groups, but they failed to show. To our delight, we had the whole Basilica of the Nations to ourselves.

Our last day in Jerusalem began with a visit to Calvary and early morning Mass in the Tomb. Later that day, we prayed the Stations of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa. We are used to praying the Stations in nice, quiet churches, but that day we prayed on a narrow, busy street with shop owners selling their wares. Of course, we would consider this disrespectful, but were reminded that this is exactly what Jesus would have experienced as he carried His cross to Golgotha.

With a little free time in the afternoon, we visited the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Alexander Nevsky. There, in the 1880s, they discovered that some of the walls of the church were built over parts of the Constantinian Basilica, Herodian structures, and even the city wall. Next to a large archway there is a smaller one, which some claim was for travelers to enter the city once the gates were closed. With some climbing and contortions, we were able to pass through “the Eye of the Needle.”

As I sit in Rome and look back over the pilgrimage, the places I’ve seen and the Scriptures we heard proclaimed there come back to my mind’s eye with such vividness. It was, indeed, a grace to be able to walk where Jesus walked, and to see the skies, clouds, rolling hills and the steep slopes he knew when he walked on this Holy Land.

Sister Nancy serves on the administrative staff of Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs, which has guided more than 20,000 pilgrims from 45 countries on pilgrimage.