"Where Jesus washed, my sins away"

On Friday, October 20, the sun rose to find us in Tiberias, a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Established around 18 AD, it was named in honor of the 2nd Emperor of the Roman Empire.  Our hotel (Emilys) is pretty nice, and since we arrived after dark last evening, we had no idea what lay outside.
  

One of our first acts upon awakening was to throw open the curtain on our small balcony and, voila, outside lay the Sea of Galilee.  All around this area is where Jesus circulated in his active years, and performed many of his miracles.  Today was our first day to visit these sites.

The first stop after a wonderful breakfast (and quite a bit different than eating at Bob Evans, e.g., no meat) was Tabgha. 

Per Wikipedia,  it is traditionally accepted as the place of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, and the fourth resurrection appearance after the crucifixion.  Specifically we visited the Church of Heptapegon, whose first church was built in 350 AD upon a large rock venerated for being where Jesus laid the loaves and fishes to feed 5,000 who had come to hear him speak.   The current church was built in 1980 on the ruins of the previous churches on that site  and, while pretty plain, contains a beautiful mosaic of the loaves and fishes in the floor in front of the altar.

The Church of the Primacy of St. Peter

The Sea of Galilee

From here, we moved just down the road to the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter, still in Tabgha.  According to tradition this is where Jesus, in his third visit after the Resurrection, effectively reinstated Peter to lead the church with the words "Feed my sheep". 

We had a beautiful Mass in an outdoor chapel near the church and then followed the path to the beach of the Sea of Galilee so we could dip our hands into its waters. .  . very moving as you might imagine.  (And, yes, we snuck a very small rock out to go in our pond)   Across the Sea of Galilee lies the Golan Heights which we would visit later in the day.

The remains of the 4th. century synagogue at Capernaum

But first, we visited Capernaum, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee and where Jesus lived after leaving Nazareth.

Archaeological excavations have  revealed two ancient synagogues built one over the other.  And, the current church was built over a house by the Byzantines, and is said to be the home of Saint Peter.  Here also was a 4th. century synagogue built over a 1st. century synagogue, reputedly where Jesus often taught.  (A synagogue differed from the Temple because the latter was for sacrificing to God, but the trend was away from that toward the synagogue which focused on gathering, teaching, and communal activities).

And it was here where Jesus found all 12 of his disciples, many of them like Simon Peter were actively fishing in the Sea of Galilee.  Matthew, the tax collector, responded to Jesus' request of "Follow me" by dropping everything - leaving his work, the money, and his life and career without question and joined Peter and the others.  (And from moment, like my namesake brother-in-law, he had it all going on!)

The Church of the Beatitudes viewed
from where the believers would've listened.

From here, believe it or not, one more stop to fit in before lunch - The Church of the Beatitudes, built on the site of the delivery of the Sermon on the Mount.  The Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12 are:

1.  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:3)
2.  Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted. (5:4)
3,  Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth. (5:5)
4.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled. (5:6)
5.  Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy. (5:7)
6.  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God. (5:8)
7.  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God. (5:9)
8.  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (5:10)
9.  Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. .5:11-12

(Long-time friend Ray Urban suggested that, perhaps, there could've been a tenth beatitude:  "When I was naked, you came to see me" and we all laughed at this bit of irreverence.)

Finally it was lunch time, and we went to a restaurant whose name I cannot pronounce since it was in Hebrew.   The star of the lunchtime show was tilapia, taken right from the Sea of Galilee.  Most of our group dove right in but some of them couldn't get past the head of the fish being left on a la Jewish preference.

Finishing off lunch with a small cup of Arabic coffee (espresso) gave us all a leg up for the rest of the afternoon, so off we went again in our deluxe bus with Wi-Fi and headed directly toward the Sea of Galilee where we were take a "pleasure cruise". 

The boats providing this service were all modeled after those of Jesus time, except for the fact that these had an engine and a stereo system which greeted our crowd with the Star Spangled Banner and, then, the other King - Elvis - singing "How Great Thou Art".  

Yes, it was a bit kitschy but we all felt good about it on this beautiful day filled with sunshine.  And, after our boat ride we adjourned to the museum onsite where they had a replica of the 2,000-year old boat (just like these) that was uncovered a few years ago at the water's edge.

Our next stop was nearby Magdala, the likely home of Mary Magdalene who became a close collaborator of Jesus - the Apostle to the Apostles (and not the prostitute as is commonly thought).  She was the first one to find the tomb empty following Jesus Resurrection, and holds a very special place for all women thereafter.  

Magdala was thought to lie a mile or so away from its location, revealed as the oldest site in Galilee when a large luxury hotel began building their new facility.   That stopped construction for a couple years and the hotel is now adjacent and getting ready to open.  In the meantime, a treasure trove of artifacts has been recovered, including a stone that has a carving of the wheels of a chariot with fire emerging from them - a depiction of God since Jews never showed his face or a human form.  This stone and its imagery (including a menorah) is unlike any seen elsewhere before.

Our final stop came after a bus ride from the Sea of Galilee, across the River Jordan (about 1/8 the width of the Olentangy River), and into the Golan Heights.  This took us from 600 feet below sea level at the Sea to the Golan Heights which were, before the 1967 war, Syrian territory.  Perhaps this will be the closest I get to fulfilling the dream of myself and my mother to visit her parents homeland (Syria), even if today it is in the hands of Israel for obvious reasons of self-defense from its towering heights.

Father Schalk taste tests a variety of olive oils.

We went to an olive oil "plant" and were shown the many products - cosmetics, after shave, olive oil for food, etc. - that comes from the olive.  While the after shave made my face feel good, darned if it didn't smell like turpentine, so on the shelves it remained.   And, at last we left and returned back to our hotel for dinner and a well deserved rest in bed.   We're told that tomorrow involves a couple archaelogic digs, so it'll be interesting to see how they compare to what we've seen today.   Back to you tomorrow!

PS - The title of this day's post comes from a song by The Edwin Hawkins Singers, "Oh Happy Day", 1969.