Friday, July 11, 2014

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Coming home

The hostilities in Israel are on the rise, therfore we have gone to Tel Aviv and chnged our flight to Thursday evening heading back. 

Monday, July 7, 2014

Nazereth to Cana

Well we spent Sunday in Nazereth then walked to Cana by way of Zippori. The entire walk was suppose to be 13 km; however a mix up in the markers sent us on many more km's before we got to Cana. 

Some of my initial recations of this walk compared to the Camino is two-fold. First, the Camino is much better supported with cafe's and resturants. Second, the trail is like a landfill. There is garbage everywhere, so much for responsibility of the enviornment. As Maria says, we should send half of our EPA over here, it would be an extream benefit to both countries. 

We saw some incredible countryside today as well as historical spots. For example, in Ziporri the Sandhedrin met in the early first century. Mash'had is where Jona (sent to Ninivea in the belly of a whale) is from. Cana is where Jesus's first mircale, turning wwater into wine (you cannot find much wine here today) at the wedding feast. Enjoy the pictures to follow. 












Saturday, July 5, 2014

July 6, 2014 from the Rosary Sisters Guest House in Nazareth, Israel.






It is morning in Nazerth. We landed about an hour late as we were delayed the same at JFK due to some passengers who missed the flight and their bags had to be found and taken off the plane. Upon our arrival and for all my prepartions, I could not find the driver I hired online to drive us th 60 miles or so from the airport in Tel Aviv ti the Rosary Sisters guesthouse in Nazereth. After an hour of looking, then with the assistance of some brand new friends, I hired a second car. I went to bring Maria to the counter to meet the new driver and on the way Maria spied Nicky, the original driver. To say the least I felt bad for the new driver and tried to pay him the fare anyway, but he would only accept my smile; what a wonderful way to start this journey. 

As you may know ther is much unrest in Israel right now. That unrest is mainly in the Gaza Strip, which we have no intent to visit, but has spilled over into other areas of Israel. On our way to Nazereth we passed through a predominant Arabic town that was in protest and there was riot police and reporters all over the place. As an aside I find it interesting that protests, reporters and police all go hand-in-hand, I wonder what would happen to a protest if the police and reporters failed to show up?

On a spiritual note, which did nit start out that way, I received a book about one mans' adventure walking the Appilachin  Trail from Georgia to Maine, called "HikingThrough" by Paul Stutzman.  I recevied the book from my friend Bob Jordan back in Cassadaga, NY who has a great love for the outdoors. Bob's intent is to read the book, sign it, then pass it along. I had planned to read the book on this trio then pass it on to Bishop Michael who is an avid hicker; however I did not anticipate the spiritual effect the book would have on and prepare me for this journey. Stutzman's life journey paralelled mine in the loss of his wife to cancer and his copping with that loss. As it turned out I read the entire 300 plus pages on the flights over; I now intend to leave the book here to see where God wishes for it to land next. 

Today is a zero day of walking. We will start with Mass at 8 with the sisters, then explore ancient Nazereth. Since Christanity is the minority of the Abramanic religions and the other two celebrate the sabbath on Friday and Saturday, Sunday here is a working day. We will get prepared for the start of our walking journey tomorrow by finding the start of the trail, these things are not always as easy as one may guess, then enjoy the town. 

The picures are from the balcony courtyard of our room. The picture of the Madonna and child is on the wall of the courtyard, what a pleasent way to start the day.  I will identify the church on the hill and report back later. 

Pray for our journey and know we are praying for you all as well. 

Nazereth, July 6, 2014

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Packed and ready to go


Well it took me several hours to get packed, but am now ready to go. So it is off to a mc ride and dinner for tonight. 

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Walking the Jesus Trail July 2014

Maria and I are off for a walk again this year.  This time we are off to Israel to walk the ancient path Jesus walked from Nazareth to Capernaum.  We leave Billings on Friday, July 4th arriving at Tel Aviv International, then a car to Nazereth. After arriving at Capernaum we will car to the old walled city of Jerusalem for four days.  I hope to have wireless access each day to post updates to this years adventure so check daily.

Click on the link below to access the Jesus Trail official site: 
http://jesustrail.com/

Mike