FRIDAY, DAY ONE: The 48 pilgrims arrived, weary but eager to visit the land where Christ walked. The ride from the airport in Tel Aviv to Galilee took about one and a half hours. Since it was dark, there was not much to see.

We met our guide, Amer Shehadeh, who is Palestinian and an expert on the Holy Land. The tour bus driver is Issam, also Palestinian, who just got a brand new bus for the occasion. Both are Christians. Arab Christians are only two per cent of the population in the Holy Land.

We are staying at the Pilgerhaus in Tabgha, along the Sea of Galilee, which was built by sponsorship from Germany and is run by German Benedictines. A beautiful place, restful and serene.

After our long flight from the States, everyone collapsed after dinner.

SATURDAY, DAY TWO: An early rise and breakfast got us to the bus by 8 a.m. to begin our first day of visiting Galilee. First, we went to Cana of Galilee, place of Christ's first miracle of changing water into wine.

Here, I led the married couples in our group in their renewal of their marriage vows before the altar in the Cana Catholic Wedding Church. We also prayed together for those who had lost their spouses and those whose spouses were sick and not able to make the trip.

Today is Father Mike Bucciarelli’s 58th birthday. Hope everyone at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Benson, where he is pastor, is praying for him. They threw a great party before he left.

From Cana, we went to Nazareth, place of the Angel's visitation to Mary and the home town of Jesus. We celebrated Mass in the crypt of the Basilica of the Annunciation where Mary first received the news that she would be the mother of the Savior. We prayed for our mothers, living and deceased, remembering how important Mary of Nazareth was in raising and caring for her son as a child.

Pope Paul VI visited this church in 1964 and made it a basilica. The interior is filled with mosaics and other art depicting the Mother of God from various traditions. The Virgin of China was striking, as was the art piece from Mexico of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Father Mike mentioned that it reminded us of home.

From there we went to the Mount of the Transfiguration. In the quiet of the mountain top, we heard the Gospel account of the Transfiguration. It is amazing to realize that you are standing in the place where this event happened.

At a vantage on the mountain where you can literally see forever, we encountered Bishop Manolo de los Santos of the Diocese of Virac in the Philippines. He was Father JoJo Tabo’s bishop in the Philippines whom I wrote to when Father JoJo, now serving at Our Mother of Sorrows Parish in Tucson, came to Tucson. Small world!

Even in the short time we have been here, we have felt the complicated situation that exists in the Holy Land. Conflicts and fighting have been present through much of the history of this place that is sacred to three faiths: Jewish, Moslem, and Christian. We continue to pray for peace in this region.

SUNDAY, DAY THREE: Sunday is the first day of the week in Israel so the roads were crowded with cars. We left to vist Mount Carmel place where Elijah in 1 Kings 18 encountered the 450 prophets of Baal challening their god and asserting his faith in the one true God.

The Carmelite Monastery was closed on Sunday but we sat on the top of the mountainside having walked up a steep climb. We know the importance of the Carmelites, both the discalced and O.Carm., in our Diocese. They trace their roots to Carmel. We offered prayers for these communities that serve our community with great dedication.

We drove to Stella Maris, Church over the cave where Elijah hid out of fear and where he experienced the wind, earthquake, and fire only to hear the whispering sound which coaxed him out of the cave to carry out the mission God had given him, to challenge Baal and bring people back to the one true God.

Fr. Mike and I celebrated Mass with our group in the chapel over the cave of Elijah. This prophet is patron of women wanting a child and of the sick who are in need of God's healing grace.

We then drove to Akko (Acre) place where the crusaders were asked to build a hospital. Since the 600's there was a desire to build a hospital in Jerusalem. It was first build in the 800s then destroyed. Pope Gregory asked the Knights to come to this land and establish a hospital. They were called the Hospitalers.

We toured the ruins of this place that go back many centuries. We ended our visit by passing through the escape tunnel formed by the Knights Templar. The history of this place is amazing with group after group taking their place here. Crusaders, Turks, English each had a part of this
history that continues even today.

Amer Shehadeh, our guide, invited the whole group of 48 to visit his home and family that live in Nazareth. Omima, Amer's wife, is an interior decorator and her house reflected that. She prepared a hugh banquet of Palestinian food which we gobbled down. It was a delightful time meeting their family, Narum their oldest daughter who is going to be engaged soon as well as their younger boys, Phillipe and Patrick.

Everyone was moved by their hospitality and graciousness.

DAY FOUR: We spent the day along the Sea of Galilee, a tranquil and beautiful place. We arrived early to celebrate Mass on the Hill of Beatitudes (below) overlooking the Lake. It was a powerful experience to re-live the Master Teacher telling his disciples what matters in life, how to be happy. This was a very moving experience for the group. Many like Frank Naughton expressed how the scriptures they have read all their lives were becoming so real. Frank said, "I can feel and sense His message to all ages."

From there we went to Tabgha, the place where the miracle the multiplication of the loaves and fishes took place. You can still see an early mosaic of the fishes and four loaves of bread (below). The fifth loaf was the one offered on the altar. The ancient floors also had images of non-religious symbols like birds and flowers from Egypt. The designer wanted to show that all is of God: nothing, no one is excluded.

Then we visited the place along the Sea where Peter was given primacy of the Church: the one who is prime was to be the servant of all. Amazing how Christ chose Peter, the most impetuous, the most wavering, the most bragadocious! He would be the one to hold his Church together in unity.

The catch of fish described in the Gospel just before Peter comes ashore totaled 153, the number of species of fish in the Sea and the number of nations in the world. Again, the message that all belong to Church.

Finally we visited Capharnaum, a former trading center where the taxes were collected from the caravans. You remember Matthew was from Capharnaum. Here in this busy place Jesus spoke in the Synagogue and amazed the crowds who began to spread His fame as a preacher and healer all along the trade route. For this the Scribes and Pharisees began to develop a hatred for Him and planted the seeds in Jerusalem that He was not loyal to Caesar because he was ambivalent about paying the taxes. This was the beginning of what would lead to His death.

The former bustling city is now just a ruin with remnants of the Synagogue still standing (below), as well as some structures from the house of Peter's mother-in-law where Christ healed her. While he worked his first miracle at Cana, a remote and insignificant place, the majority of his miracles were worked in Capharnaum.

Father Mike gets an up-close view of the ruins.

We left Galilee to make the long journey to Amman in Jordan. It was about an hour to the border of Israel. The border-crossing was as difficult as sometimes we experience entering or leaving Mexico. Security and scrutiny are intense. No pictures are allowed. When one of our number tried to take a picture, we were immediately questioned. We learned a hard lesson.

Entering Jordan was slow and tedious. From the border it is another two and a half hours to Amman, a big city that holds most of the population of Jordan. Immediately you see more intense poverty, rural communities with Bedouin shepherds herding their sheep as in the time of Christ. Jordan is also part of the Holy Land with many historic sites.

There are 10 Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan. Palestinians have been given citizenship by Jordan and can become active in the country. There are 6 million people in all of Jordan, 2.2 million of whom are in Amman. The second busiest city is Zerqa, where we will visit tomorrow. The country is only 92,000 square kilometers. It borders on a number of countries including Syria, Israel, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestine Authority.

They achieved their independence in 1946. The present king Abdullah is well-liked by the people. His father, King Hussein, died in 1999 after being treated for cancer at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

We went to bed exhausted.

DAY FIVE: At breakfast, we were talking about the many acts of kindness we have experienced from the Arab peoples. One of our number fell two times in the streets of Nazareth. People came out from their stores to help, provide a bandage or offer some water. People in one of the stores went out of their way to assist and help us. Ernie Nedder and I went running in the morning. A guard yelled at us to come over. We did not have our passports with us and we panicked. We went over as ordered. All he wanted was to offer us a cup of tea for our journey.

We went to Zerqa North and South. These are two parishes, St. Pius X and The Apostles, which are part of the Latin Patriarchate. St. Pius is a small community of 200 families, while The Apostles has 1,800.

We visited the schools at these parishes (below). St. Pius has about 270 while The Apostles 120 in kindergarten and 800 from grades 1-12. At St. Pius the children entertained us with traditional dances. Everyone marveled at how happy, playful, and impressive the children were. Dr. Chuck Fina got into a dodgeball game with some of the kids. They were laughing and running after this "American."

About 40 per cent of the children are Moslem. The schools want to help Christians and Moslems learn to be together and understand one another better. Most Moslems, with the exception of Iraqi refugees, are Sunni. Females, sometimes as young as 12, wear veils. Some cover their faces as well as their hair, depending on how conservative the family is. Hair is the most beautiful part of a woman in the Arab tradition.

In visiting several of the classes, we asked the children what they were thinking of becoming. Many said doctors or engineers, some priests, others dentists. None wanted to be in security. We asked the girls if it was hard for women in their country. "Yes," they said. They do much of the work and have little freedom. But things are changing.

They spoke to us in English, and one student made a presentation. He was impressive, although very nervous. Many want to visit America. Some have relatives there, and a few have visited already. It was obvious that these are delightful children who have many gifts and talents. They are very much like our own children, but they feel the effects of poverty and the difficulties in their region.

Our group was so impressed by the children that some of the Knights and Ladies want to take up a collection in our Diocese around Christmas time to provide school supplies and other needed items.

We left later that day to go through the same grueling process of border-crossing. There has to be a better way.

DAY SIX: We visited Bethlehem today. We took a route prohibited for Palestinians but that is used by Israeli settlers. The fortifications are incredible. So many walls and barriers have been erected since I was last in the Holy Land.

Many were moved as we celebrated Mass (below) in the Shepherd's Field, where the angel called the shepherd to visit the new-born Babe. Every day in Bethlehem is Christmas, so the hymns used were all Christmas carols. After all, this is the place where Christ our Savior was born.

We bent low to enter the Church of the Nativity. The door is small (to have prevented horses from entering the Church). But bending low is a sign of reverence entering this holy place. We descended the many stairs leading down to the place of Christ's birth. People knelt and touched the star (below) that marks the place. We sang and some tears were shed.

From there we visited Bethlehem University, a Catholic University established by Notre Dame University at the request of Pope Paul VI after his visit to the Holy Land. The De La Salle Christian brothers, who are involved at San Miguel High School in Tucson, direct the school.

Some of the students in the Hotel Management and Restaurant School cooked and served our meal. It was fantastic! Afterwards, we met with five students who explained the plight of the Palestinian students whose access is so limited. They are not able to enter Jerusalem where many of their families are. One student commented that he could not go to his grandparents' anniversary party because of the restrictions. It is very difficult for Palestinian students from Jerusalem or Ramallah or other places to get to Bethlehem University. Palestinians from Gaza simply cannot enter. They described a program titled "Crossing Borders," which is trying to get together Palestinian and Israeli young people to better understand each other.

From there we visited the Latin Patriarchate Seminary in Beit Jala. We met some of the seminarians, many of whom are Jordanian. They also expressed difficulties with access. They are not able to go back home freely to visit their families but are restricted to one-cross visas. Some of the children are very young and should be able to spend more time with their families.

The day ended with two very powerful experiences. The first was the formal entrance of the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (below). Dressed in their robes, they were met by a group of Franciscan Friars who have custody of the Holy Land Shrines. Singing Gregorian Chant, they escorted us to the Sepulchre where Christ was buried. There we stood outside the tomb as we prayed in Latin. Many Ladies were in tears standing in this sacred and holy place with crowds of people milling about and the candles, and the incense and the chants created a sense of mystery and awe.

Then, three by three we were brought into the Sepulchre where people knelt to pray.

We walked to the Latin Patriarchate where we proceeded up a long staircase and were escorted into a large meeting room adorned with paintings of the Patriarch and the Holy Father. We were greeted by Bishop Kamal, who is the Bishop Emeritus of the Latin Patriarchate (below). His Beatitude Michael Sabbah and Coadjutor Archbishop Fouad Twal were both in Rome participating in a meeting. At the Latin Patriarchate, the Knights and Ladies received their shell pins, which are given to a Knight or Lady on their first visit to Jerusalem.

Bishop Kamal expressed his joy of participating in several meetings of the Western Lieutenancy of the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre, two years ago in San Diego and three years ago in Hawaii. He spoke passionately about the situation of the Palestinians whom he has served for 40 years.

He reflected on his visit to San Diego where he was walking through the hotel and saw a group of beautiful birds each locked in their own cage. You heard their beautiful sounds. But, he noted as the week went on you got so preoccupied with other things that you did not even notice the birds in the cages any longer. He compared the situation of the Palestinians as those who are confined and restricted, unable to pass freely. He suggested that the situation is very complex. Israelis live in fear of violence and Palestinians live in depression, restricted from free access and the opportunity to work. Both need a doctor. He suggested that the doctor is the United States. To be a good doctor you have to listen to the patient and seek to hear where the patient is hurting. Only then can the patient be healed. He held little hope for the success of the upcoming summit on Palestine/Israel. But he suggested that we continue to pray.

Throughout the day, we heard the Palestinians express their hope that the U.S. would take a more active role in resolving the situation that exists. It alone among the nations of the world can create a way out of the turmoil, distrust, suspicion and hatred that exists among too many.

We ended the day pained by the struggles of all in the Middle East and the fervent desire to live the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, "Make me a channel of your peace."

DAY SEVEN: We spent the day today inside the Old City. We first went to the Wailing Wall. Being Thursday there were a number of young men celebrating their Bar Mitzvah which happens when a boy is 13. At the Wall were many Hasidic Jews dressed in black, many with a long curl along either side of their face. A Hasidic Jew never cuts these locks.

Along the Wall, women on one side, men on the other, people offer prayers, oftentimes singing the psalms or reading from the Torah. Occasionally you see a person carrying the scrolls of the Torah. We saw a group gathered around the scrolls with everyone bending in to hear the word amid all the noises of the city. One strains to hear God's word.

Many of our pilgrims placed small pieces of paper containing their petitions into the cracks of the wall along with thousands of others, many of which have been there for a long time.

One is struck by the prayerfulness of the people and how deeply their faith affects their lives.

Just above the Wall is the area sacred to the Moslems, the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqusa Mosque. Here we heard the rich, convoluted history of this area from the time that Abraham first brought his son onto Mount Moriah to be sacrificed until the time the area became Moslem and the mosques were erected.

The Dome of the Rock is very ornate with a gold leaf tower and Turkish tiles of many colors, another idea for our Cathedral (just kidding). Inside the Dome, which one is not able to enter since Ariel Sharon came into office and the Moslems closed their sacred places to the public, is the rock from which Mohammad ascended into heaven. It is said that the Rock was also ascending but the hand of Gabriel kept it on the ground.

Here again you see people at prayer. Bare-footed, the Moslems wash before entering the Mosque to pray. They bend low and together pray in harmony at least five times a day. This place next to Mecca and Medina is the most sacred among the places of the Moslems.

One is moved to see their faith and how it penetrates all their being.

We went from here to walk the Via Dolorosa. The street was bustling with people, probably not unlike in the time of Christ. However now there are also cars and motorbikes and carts and bicycles weaving their way through the narrow streets. We sang and prayed at each of the stations. For some in our group walking is a difficulty, a real cross, but they stayed the course, a sign of their faith.

We ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where we celebrated Easter Mass with many alleluias in the Crusader Church at the site of the empty tomb. That empty tomb is the foundation of our faith and the blessed assurance that death does not prevail but is life in the risen Christ.

The Sepulchre church is divided into different sections, each directed by one of the Christian faiths. It is several churches within one building. It is a maze reflecting the complexities of our world and the mix of people and cultures all called to faith in Christ.

A number in our group climbed the steep staircase to Golgotha where Christ was crucified. Annie Lopez, who struggles with knees replaced by surgery, worked her way up the winding stairs, hanging on tightly but determined to make it to the place where she could reverence the place where Jesus died.

I was moved to see the faith of our people at Mass in the empty tomb and on Golgotha.

You cannot help but wonder why people of Jewish, Moslem, and Christian faiths cannot get along better. Faith opens our hearts to one another and invites us to see one another as brothers and sisters. For that we prayed throughout the day.

After lunch, we went to visit the Daughters of Charity, who run a boarding house for Palestinian girls from the West Bank called Bethany House. Some of the funding for the home comes from the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre.

There, Sister Ursula welcomed us and provided refreshments for weary pilgrims. We listened to Andrew Garrity from New York, who had come to Bethany House as a volunteer in January. He is an impressive young man who originally wanted to study peace and conflict management but now wonders how he can be of help in bringing justice for Palestinians and harmony among Israelis and Palestinians. They brought up again the difficulty their girls have in going even to the church which is only five minutes away but is outside the wall erected by the Israeli government. Both sides used to be in the West Bank but now there are all kinds of restrictions. Some visas are given only until dusk. Some are given only for medical reasons. Free movement across the wall is difficult and at times impossible. This is a serious problem for the girls served by the boarding house.

This day again reminded us of the complexity of issues that face the Middle East, and we can only pray that God will help intervene and change people's hearts.

DAY EIGHT: I begin by sharing my experience at the Wailing Wall yesterday:

A man dressed in a prayer shawl approached me (I was wearing my Roman collar) and asked to offer a prayer over me. As he began, he wanted to know my wife's name. I said I did not have a wife. At that point he began to pray louder with his arm raised over my head:|"May you find a good wife, raise a good family and find happiness with her and your children." When I shared this later on the bus, we had a good laugh. Nevertheless, I appreciated the man's concern and, most especially, his prayer. We were just two people of different faiths reaching out and trying to understand one another's beliefs.

Today, we visited the Mount of Olives, first seeing the striking image of the city of Jerusalem laid out before us. You see the beautiful image of the gold domed Dome of the Rock and the less vivid dome of the Holy Sepulchre. You see the Golden Gate, also referred to as the Beautiful Gate, closed awaiting the entrance of the Messiah to the Holy City. Our pilgrim group was snapping photos constantly, trying to capture this marvelous view.

From our vantage, our guide Amer pointed out Christ's journey in His last days through the Kidron Valley that lay before us: Mount Sion, where Christ dined with His apostles; Antonia, where He met Pilate; to Caiphas' house. It was very moving.

There were some lighter moments, too, such as when Sister Charlotte Anne Swift, O.P., my administrative assistant, stood next to a camel. A few of the pilgrims, including Brenda Even (below), had the courage to climb aboard the beast.

From there, we descended to Dominus Flevit, the place where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. People stared out as the passage from Scripture was read, expressing Christ's lament that the city did not recognize Him as they did not recognize the prophets before Him. You could only image Christ's emotion as he overlooked the city and people He loved who would in not too long be crying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"

We visited the Church of Pater Noster further down the hill. There, the garden and Church are surrounded by plaques depicting the Our Father in hundreds of different languages. We recited the prayer together in English, Spanish, and Arabic.

We celebrated Mass at the Church on the Mount of Olives (below). The church is surrounded by magnificent olive trees, some as old, perhaps, as 2,000 years. If only they could talk and bring us back in time when the Lord suffered alone with His apostles asleep.

At the end of the Mass, each person knelt before the stone where Jesus experienced His agony. As each person touched the stone, you could see vividly their faith and their desire to understand just a little better all that Christ did for us out of love.

After lunch, we visited the Church of the Dormition, where Mary's body was laid before she was assumed into Heaven. We also visited the site of the Last Supper. There is no Church there, and no one is able to celebrate Mass there (except Pope John Paul II who was given permission).

We ended the day at the Church of St. Peter of Alcantara, where Christ was beaten and scourged and where Peter denied Him three times. We stood together in the deep cave (below) that marks the spot and viewed the stairs into and out of the Kedron Valley that quite likely were the stairs that Jesus walked.

In the evening, we heard from Dr. Bernard Sabella, a professor at Bethlehem University, who is a life-long resident of the Holy Land whose family goes back generations in the Holy Land. In a very balanced way, he described the concerns of Palestinians and Israelis.

He said there are three concerns for the Palestinians: the status of Jerusalem; the return of the Palestinian refugees; and the Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. On the part of the Israelis, he said that they need to be assured of security and that they will not be targets of terrorism. They want those who have settled in Palestinian lands to be able to stay in their homes.

Dr. Sabella encouraged dialogue as a way of breaking down the deep seated animosities that people on both sides feel. He felt it very important that Americans keep visiting the Holy Land so they can see first hand what is happening.

He was encouraged that the Bush Administration was giving Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice more autonomy and authority in her negotiations.

Our pilgrim group will stay on three more days, as I leave tomorrow for Rome to join other pilgrims from Tucson who are traveling to Rome for the beatifications of the Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War. Among the more than 400 martrys to be beatified are Father Lucas of St. Joseph and Father Eduardo of the Child Jesus, Discalced Carmelites who served in our Diocese Tucson in the early 20th century. Father Lucas was the founding pastor of Holy Family Parish. Several Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters also are among those to be beatified, and although these Sister never served in our Diocese, a contingent of Sisters from Immaculate Heart School in Tucson will be present for the beatifications. We know the good work the IHM sisters do in our Diocese, and so we rejoice with them.

The week has been very powerful for all of us, seeing and hearing so many things. We have walked the Way with Christ and, hopefully, have grown in our love for all that Christ did for us. The Scriptures will never be the same for the 48 of us. We have seen what they describe. That has been expressed again and again by the pilgrims:

Frank Vasquez: "The Bible truly comes alive outside of Capharnaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee as we saw the place where Jesus established His church. To see and touch the rock at that location certainly was a moving experience for all of us."

Frank Naughton: "The Gospels are coming to life as we travel and learn about the Holy Land. It is truely a blessing to travel the walk of Christ and feel and sense His message to all ages."

Jackie Vasquez: "The many years that my husband, Frank, and I were involved in pre-Cana in Los Angeles and Orange Counties preparing young peoples for marriage and praying to Our Lady of Cana over the 50 years of our marriage came to life at Cana. Renewing our marriage vows was powerful."

Rae Jacob: "Coming to walk in the place of Christ has opened up my faith."

We also have seen and heard a lot about the situation in the Holy Land. Israelis and Palestinians each suffer in their own way. Our country has a pivotal role in helping to end the tension and crisis still so apparent. While one does not see violence, one sees walls, restrictions, fear, inequities. As pilgrims, we are even more committed to pray for peace, and I ask all in our Diocese to do the same.

Father Mike Bucciarelli will continue the blog tomorrow.

DAY NINE: This morning was a sad one for all of us pilgrims as we bade our spiritual leader, Bishop Kicanas, goodbye and a safe journey to Rome for THE beatification ceremony. However, we had to board the bus and get moving if we wanted to make our Mass time at the Church in Abu Gosh.

Abu Gosh is one of three sites that are called Emmaus. Because it is the most accessible of the three, it has become the place to remember the appearance of Our Lord to the two disciples on the road. The church is located within the grounds of a Ollivetan Benedictine monastery. The monks there knew of Fr. Henry Capedeville and Father Benedict Lemeki from Holy Trinity Monastery in St. David. I told the monks that my parish was safely in their care during my journey.

We celebrated Mass (below) and reflected on the disciples' journey in coming to know the Lord as we recalled our own journey of learning and growth that has taken place during this pilgrimage. Then we came to know and celebrate Our Lord in the breaking of the bread.

Our second stop was the Church of the Birth of John the Baptist at Ein Karem (Vinyard Spring). Jim Ronstadt (below) pointed out to us the marker on the place of John's birth. We prayed the "Benedictus" in the courtard, recalling the words of Zechrias at the miraculous birth of John who prepared the way of the Lord.

Our final stop was the Church of the Visitation. Mary walked all the way from Nazareth -- about 90 miles -- to be with Elizabeth. That distance gives us an inkling of Mary's charity and concern for others. My prayer is that we can each have a share of Mary's love in our love for others. We concluded our visit to the church by praying the Angelus.

Saturday evening dinner brought us a surprise: we were visited by a small group of local Catholics who joined us at table. At my table, we were honored by the presence of Diana Kaltan, who works for the Franciscan "Custos," the office that maintains the many Catholic churches and sites here in the Holy Land. She was able to share with us about her daily life and the struggles of being a Christian in the land and the work of the Church in this special place. I was able to share with her some of what the daily life is like for our people in Arizona. It was a wonderful experience to be able to meet with local Catholics.

DAY TEN: Sunday, the Feast of Our Lady of Palestine, was a most moving day for me. We had a small change of schedule that enabled us to participate in Mass with the parish community in the city of Jericho (the oldest inhabited city in the world).

Our group was welcomed by Father Firas, the parish priest and a Franciscan from Jordan. We concelebrated the Mass, which was prayed in both English and Arabic. This was a first for me, but we could see right away that we were praying the same Mass with the same prayers and even some of the same hymns. Being a parish priest, I felt much more at home here than anywhere else on our pilgrimage.

Father Firas preached in both Arabic and English from the parable about the pharisee and pubican and reminded us of the need for true humility. Our group sang "Gift of Finest Wheat" for the Communion hymn.

I was wondering whether we would have coffee and donuts after mass... It turns out we had coffee and Jericho bananas (the region is famous for their small, sweet bananas).

After Mass, we headed to Mt. Temptation to visit the site where Our Lord was tempted by the Devil. No devil was there, but we drove down the mountain to the "Temptation Restaurant" where we were all tempted to leave our diets for the best lunch of the whole pilgrimage.

Our afternoon brought us to Qumran, site of the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is an archeological site overlooking the Dead Sea. We could see the remains of the buildings that the Essene community had constructed. The community was much into ritual bathing and washing, and it wasn't hard to make the connection with John, who baptized Jesus not very far from here.

Our final stop was the Dead Sea, where some of us took a dip. The water surprised me: it has no smell ( I remembered the Great Salt Lake in Utah) and feels like mineral oil. It is used in many cosmetic products.

We returned to Jerusalem for the last time on the pilgirmage. Coming into the city is always an inspirational sight!

We head to Jaffa tomorrow, and then to the airport to begin our journey home.