First I must explain that our tour guide is a Jewish lady who immigrated to Israel from St. Petersburg, Russia 20 years ago. She currently lives in Nazareth and began our tour by taking us to the top of a hill overlooking Nazareth. This place was built for Benedict 16th to say Mass. Over 30,000 people attended. We then went for an emotional visit to the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. This Church is a beautiful Catholic Cathedral situated on the site where St. Mary grew up. It was there that the Archangel Gabriel visited her. The original house is located under the Church with access for visitors to see it. The house is very small with an alter inside.
Next we continued our Jesus day by traveling to Cana, the place of the first miracle performed by Jesus. We first stopped to taste the sweet wine served at services. Then on to the location of the wedding feast. A Franciscan church was built at the site and the remains can be seen from inside. While there, we stopped off at a side chapel and a Franciscan priest performed a renewal of vows ceremony for a couple on our trip who is celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary. It was a surprise to the couple and a very sweet experience for the rest of the group.
We then traveled to the Mount of Beatitudes to visit another church. We have come to learn the best to preserve a holy site is to build a church on top of it. When we stepped off the bus the fragrant smell of fresh flowers was almost overwhelming. The gardens leading up to the church were amazing yet the church was rather plain. They did have paintings of the stations of the cross and beautiful stained glass windows with the beatitudes written in them.
We then had a fish lunch (at 3:00 pm) by the Sea of Galilee.
We ended our Jesus day with trips to see Caperneum and the place where Jesus feed 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread. The gardens at Caperneum were again amazing.
We are staying at a Kibbutz tonight. This village is similar to a commune or a socialism society where everyone works and everyone receives benefits. I don't agree with everything they do but I must say they all seem happy.
A few tidbits of humor:
We are the opposite of Moses. We assumed Israel was a desert. We have been in the land of milk and honey searching for that desert.
We saw three sites of Jesus's miracles today. First the water into wine at canna, then the making the paralyzed man walk again, and finally the fishes and loaves feeding the 5,000. Our fourth miracle occurred in Tibereas where Margie miraculously learned how to read Hebrew. Feel free to donate to build a church upon the spot where this miracle occurred. Ironically it was just above when we reached sea level which is 200 meters above the Sea of Galilee which is actually a lake. I'll leave you to ponder that last sentence.
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