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February 2016 Newsletter

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February 2016 Newsletter THE PARISH OF THE EPIPHANY Holy Land 2017Issue One About Our Guide: Dear Pilgrims, Iyad Qumri Welcome to your 2017 pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This newsletter is the first of several to keep you informed, and to make all of us completely ready for our time together in the Holy Land, 8-20 January 2017. It may seem like many months away, and of course it is, but it’s not too soon to prepare, inasmuch as we can, for what awaits us. What can you do? The first suggestion we Iyad Qumri is an independent "on the make is to pray. ground" guide for pilgrimages in the Holy Land. When we arrive at the airport Pray for yourself, for the other people in our group, some in Tel Aviv, Israel Iyad and his staff will of whom you know and some of whom you will meet for be waiting for us, and from that moment the first time next fall. You can pray in thanksgiving to God until they drive us back to the airport to for this opportunity, asking God to open your heart to all fly home, everything will be taken care the people whom you’ll meet--the other pilgrims, to Tom of by Iyad. Born in Jerusalem, reared in and me, and our colleague, the Reverend Martin Smith, the Holy Land, and knowing it with every who will join Tom and me in serving as your chaplains. part of his soul, Iyad brings his passion Pray also for our Guide in Israel-Palestine, Iyad, and of and knowledge--and his Palestinian course for the people who live there, for whom the land is background--to his work as our teacher not only holy, but also home. and guide. Iyad and his wife, Simone, have two sons, Sami and Rami, both of The second thing we suggest is to read. There’s a great whom are undergraduates in the United deal to learn, and with each of these newsletters we will States. When Iyad and Simone are not suggest a few things. But you needn’t rely on our working in East Jerusalem they live in suggestions. You know what you’re most interested in Jericho, in a beautiful home to which learning and experiencing...so follow your heart and mind our group will be invited. With more than to your local bookstore or Amazon. fifteen years experience as a guide, Iyad understands how groups work, how We are counting the days. Tomorrow it will be 319 before groups are different, and he succeeds in we gather at the Logan Airport and make our way to getting groups to value punctuality, experience the “fifth gospel.” quiet time for reflection and prayer, and perhaps above all, laughter. We wouldn’t Every blessing, do this pilgrimage with anybody except & The Reverend Thomas James Brown Iyad. The Reverend Thomas N. Mousin The Parish of the Epiphany 1 Holy Land 2017 Reading List 2015-2016 Jerusalem. One City, Three Faiths by Karen Armstrong Venerated for millennia by three of the highly praised A History of faiths, torn by irreconcilable God, traces the history of how conflict, conquered, rebuilt, and Jews, Christians, and Muslims mourned for again and again, have all laid claim to Jerusalem Jerusalem is a sacred city whose as their holy place, and how three very sacredness has engendered radically different concepts of terrible tragedy. In this fascinating holiness have shaped and scarred volume, Karen Armstrong, author the city for thousands of years. A Walk in Jerusalem: Stations of the Cross by the Rev. Canon John Peterson In A Walk in Jerusalem, the Rever- story along with a meditation and end Canon John L. Peterson brings brief liturgy that apply that story new life to this centuries-old ritual to today’s world. Designed for use known as the Stations of the on Good Friday or general devo- Cross. Illustrated with a map, 14 tions, A Walk in Jerusalem offers black-and-white photographs, and new insight into the Passion 14 pen-and-ink drawings, this Narratives and encouragement to helpful guide provides the live as Christ taught. appropriate episode of the Passion With Jesus in Jerusalem by Bargil Pixner A special endeavor of the author and his community is the attempt to redene and renew the relationship between Christian and Jews, based on tolerance and on understanding founded on knowledge of the historical and spiritual background of Jesus' time. They deliberately decided to have this book edited and published by an Israeli publisher. This reects a new approach that allows Jews to see Jesus as a teacher and preacher, a son of their own people, and Christians to view the Jewish people in a new spirit of openness. Still, this book is a Christian interpretation of the life of Jesus. Who was responsible for Jesus' death? Recent excavations and discoveries shed new light on contemporary groups such as Natzoreans, Essenes, Pharisees and Sadducees and provide us with new understanding of the life around Jesus. The Parish of the Epiphany 2 Holy Land 2017 The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan Using the gospel of Mark governor Pontius Pilate as their guide, top Jesus leading Roman soldiers scholars Marcus Borg into the city, symbolized and John Dominic military strength. The Crossan present a second heralded a new day-by-day account of kind of moral hero who Jesus's final week of life. was praised who was Is it Safe? They begin their story on praised by the people as Palm Sunday with two he rode in on a humble News reports about the triumphal entries into donkey. See also their increased conflict in Gaza Jerusalem. The first companion volume, The likely raise questions about entry, that of Roman First Christmas. whether it’s safe for us to travel. Our experience has The Lemon Tree been that very often loved by Sandy Toolan ones who are not traveling are equally or even more concerned about safety. In 1967, not long after the Canon Qumri places the Six-Day War, three young highest priority on making Arab men ventured into sure his tours are safe. Iyad the town of Ramle, in will not permit us to travel to what is now Jewish his country, nor will either the Israel. They were cousins, US or Israeli governments, if on a pilgrimage to see modern history of the region. In his there is threat of imminent their childhood homes; childhood home, in the lemon tree his danger. The current situation their families had been father planted in the backyard, Bashir in Gaza, while cause for driven out of Palestine sees dispossession and occupation; concern certainly, is limited nearly twenty years Dalia, who arrived as an infant in 1948 to Gaza; we are not traveling earlier. One cousin had a with her family from Bulgaria, sees hope to Gaza— largely because it door slammed in his face, for a people devastated by the is often the center of and another found his old Holocaust. Both are swept up in the recurring violence. The house had been fates of their people, and their lives form remaining parts of Israel/ converted into a school. a personal microcosm of more than half Palestine, especially But the third, Bashir a century of Israeli-Palestinian history. Jerusalem, are rarely Al-Khairi, was met at the What began with a simple act of faith affected directly by uprisings. door by a young woman between two young people grew into a Nonetheless, it is a land over called Dalia, who invited dialogue of four decades that represents which there is—obviously— them in. the region’s hope for peace and serious conflict. If the trip is This poignant encounter self-determination. The Lemon Tree canceled because of actual is the starting point for a is a reminder of all that is at or threat of violence or lack true story of a remarkable stake, and of all that is still of safety, 100% of the land relationship between two possible. cost will be refunded. families, one Arab, one Jewish, amid the fraught The Parish of the Epiphany 3 Holy Land 2017 The General's Son: Heads-up about Journey of an Israeli in Palestine clothing/packing lists by Miko Peled Several pilgrims have pointed In A Walk in appropriate episode of the Pas- out the cultural and religious Jerusalem, the sionalong with a meditation and customs about what’s Reverend Canon John L. brief liturgy that apply that story appropriate to wear. It’s Peterson brings new life to this to today’s world. Designed for use respectful for women to centuries-old ritual known as the on Good Friday or general devo- cover their heads with a scarf Stations of the Cross. Illustrated with a tions, A Walk in Jerusalem offers while visiting actual holy map, 14 black-and-white photographs, new insight into the Passion sites; both Jewish and and 14 pen-and-ink drawings, this Narratives and encouragement to Muslim sensibilities enforce helpful guide provides the live as Christ taught. this norm, and Iyad will tell us when it’s imperative. Long With Jesus Through Galilee According to the Fifth Gospel skirts are commonplace, by Bargil Pixner but not absolutely necessary. For men, shorts are never With the help of pictures and historical maps, the reader can follow the inner appropriate. We raise this development of Jesus and his disciples and their role in society. Against the because some of you are backdrop of the landscape of Galilee emerges the figure of Jesus the com- already shopping, and we’ve passionate man.
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