FRANCISCAN PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND November 24‐December 3, 2018 ITINERARY We hope this itinerary provides pilgrims with a preview of our journey Day 4 ‐ Tuesday, Nov. 27: Tiberias in the footsteps of Jesus. Our busy schedule is designed to make the This morning we drive to the Mt. of Beatitudes which overlooks the best possible use of our precious time visiting the shrines of the Holy Sea of Galilee. In this scenic setting Jesus preached his Sermon on Land, as you walk, pray and find a deeper understanding of your the Mount. An octagonal, dome‐topped church has eight Catholic faith. stained‐glass windows inscribed with the Eight Beatitudes, an ideal setting to contemplate Our Lord’s words of love and hope and charity when he called us to be blessed. Around the shoreline, in an Day 1 ‐ Saturday, Nov. 24: Depart USA area known as Tabgha (Seven Springs), is the shrine of the We will depart from the United States today for our overnight Multiplication of the Loaves, a modern church commemorating the connecting flight to the city of Tel Aviv located on the Mediterranean miracle when Jesus fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes. It Coast. has some of the most beautiful mosaics in the Holy Land. Our journey in the footsteps of Jesus continues as we walk into the ruins Day 2 ‐ Sunday, Nov. 25: Arrive Tel Aviv / Netanya of Capernaum, where he began his public ministry, preaching and Upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, we meet our Franciscan spiritual healing many people. In this fishing village on the Sea of Galilee, director who will be our guide as we step into the pages of the Bible mentioned more times in the Gospels than any other place except and see the Scriptures come to life. His expertise and dedication is Jerusalem, he made his home and the base of his ministry after rooted in his Franciscan community’s centuries‐old guardianship of leaving Nazareth. We marvel at the remnant of a 4th‐century AD the Holy Land shrines. We clear customs and go by motorcoach to our synagogue, likely set on the same location of the synagogue in which hotel in Netanya, the capital of the Sharon plain area along the Jesus gave us his Bread of Life Discourse and other profound Mediterranean Coast. We check‐in and have dinner together, teachings on the Kingdom of God. We pray at the modern church breaking bread as a group for the first time as we begin our built over the site of Peter’s Home. In the afternoon, we take an pilgrimage. (D) unforgettable boat ride across the glorious waters of the Sea of Galilee, in a replica of an ancient wooden fishing boat used in the Day 3 ‐ Monday, Nov. 26: Netanya / Tiberias days of the Apostles. On board, we recall the Scripture passages of This morning we will drive north to Cana, where Jesus worked his first Jesus and his Apostles on this lake, when he first called his disciples public miracle, turning the water into wine at the wedding feast. Here and calmed the storm and walked on its waters. (B/L/D) we recall the words of Mary to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Couples can renew their marriage vows in the Franciscan Day 5 ‐ Wednesday, Nov. 28: Tiberias chapel. It’s not far to the bustling hillside city of Nazareth, the We begin our day with a return to Tabgha to see the Church of the hometown of Jesus where he grew “in wisdom, age and grace before Primacy of Peter. It is a small stone Franciscan chapel built on a rock God and men” and where he spent most of his life. In Nazareth we at the water’s edge to mark the site where the resurrected Jesus pray at one of Christianity’s holiest shrines, the Basilica of the appeared to the Apostles and where Peter received his commission Annunciation, whose beautiful dome, designed like an inverted lily, from the Risen Christ, who instructed him to feed his flock. A trip graces the skyline. The walls of the basilica are decorated with images north into Upper Galilee brings us to the ancient ruins and imposing of Mary as a way of honoring her place in salvation history. Here she cliff of Caesarea Philippi, the ancient Roman city where Jesus became the Mother of God when she said “let it be me according to revealed his divine mission to his disciples, telling Peter, “You are your word.” God. Directly below the dome is the grotto where the Peter, and on this Rock I will build my Church.” In the afternoon we Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she was to be visit Bethsaida, where Jesus cured a blind man. It is the hometown the Mother of Jesus. Just around the corner is St. Joseph’s Church, the of Peter, Andrew and Phillip, one of three towns that Jesus traditional home of the Holy Family, the first “domestic Church” and condemned for failing to repent. In the afternoon, we travel to Kursi a model for all Christian families. Nearby, the Synagogue Church on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, the site of the Miracle of commemorates the site of the synagogue where Jesus opened the the Swine, when Jesus cleansed a demoniac and sent the evil spirits Scrolls on the Sabbath and read the words from Isaiah, proclaiming into a herd of swine that ran headlong into the sea and were himself as the Messiah: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he drowned. We explore the ruins of a Byzantine monastery where has anointed me to give Good News to the poor.” After a lunch break pilgrims have come for centuries. (B/D) we ascend the majestic heights of Mt. Tabor, which, as one pilgrim wrote, “Rises up to heaven like an altar that the Creator built to Day 6 ‐ Thursday, Nov. 29: Tiberias / Jerusalem himself.” It is the mountain where Jesus took Peter, James and John Today we journey south from the Sea of Galilee through the fertile and was gloriously transfigured in their sight. On the summit, we valley of the Jordan River. In Jericho, the world’s oldest known city, reflect on this great mystery while visiting the Basilica of the we recall momentous events from the Old Testament and the Transfiguration. Afterward we feast our eyes on another spectacular Gospels. Here is where Joshua blew the trumpet and the walls fell view of the landscape where so many Biblical events took place, down as the Israelites conquered this Canaanite city. We stop at a stretching from Mt Hermon to the hills of Samaria. Nearby we will sycamore tree to help us recall the Gospel story of how Jesus visit the small village of Nain to see the Franciscan chapel that marks inspired the tax collector Zacchaeus to repent his dishonest deeds. the site of the Raising of the Widow’s Son, the miracle that Jesus In Jericho, we view the Mt. of Temptation, where the Devil tried to worked when he stopped the funeral procession to bring to life a tempt Jesus during his 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. Not far woman’s only child. Our busy day ends with a short drive to our hotel from Jericho, we follow the path of pilgrims from centuries past who in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, one of the four holy Jewish cities and have come to the bank of the Jordan River to recall Our Lord's the capital of the Galilee. (B/D) Baptism by St. John. Here we will renew our Baptismal Promises. On our way to Jerusalem we will stop at Bethany, home of Martha, Mary following the Via Dolorosa. We begin our devotional procession at and their brother Lazarus, to go down into the Tomb of Lazarus where the Church of the Flagellation, where Jesus was scourged by the Jesus raised his beloved friend from the dead with the command, Roman soldiers. The Via Dolorosa culminates at the holiest of all the “Lazarus, Come out!” We end our busy day in Jerusalem, the Holy shrines in Christendom, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built over City, where we check‐in at our hotel. (B/L/D) the sites of the Crucifixion of Jesus on Golgotha and the Sacred Tomb of Jesus where he was resurrected and where we will Day 7 ‐ Friday, Nov. 30: Jerusalem complete our devotions. In the afternoon, we touch the ancient Just a few miles south of Jerusalem is Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus. sacred stones of the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall, where prayers We begin our visit with a peaceful morning at Shepherds’ Field to are offered up at these remaining holy stones of the glorious second remember the angels’ song of glad tidings to the shepherds, “Glory temple compound. We view from a distance the Temple Mount, to God in the Highest.” In Bethlehem, we go to pray at the oldest home to the Muslim shrine of the Dome of the Rock, famous for its Christian church in the Holy Land, built above the cave where Jesus golden cupola, erected over the exposed rock of Mount Moriah was born. In the Holy Grotto of the Nativity, we kneel and reflect on where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. We drive along the mystery of the Incarnation. We light candles at the Manger and the walls of the Old City to Mt. Zion, the traditional site of the Upper marvel at the Grotto of St.