Part IV, Holy Land

Capernaum, Church of the Beatitudes, The Rock at the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Fish, and a Boat Trip on the Sea of Galilee

May 25, 2022

Dear Friends,

I hope this week finds you all well and looking forward. Even in the uncertainty of these times with world events, including the crazy economy, life has so much to offer. There is hope for our future if we keep the big picture in front of us. The economy will stabilize once again. History has proven this. Wars will settle. Breathe each moment and focus on the next step and not on all that lies between. Only see in the future the world as a whole in God’s hands. One of the keys, I have found over the years, is not to continually watch the news. I find these constant news “alerts” and continual talk of crises cause stress. Instead, turn the news off and live your life- enjoy each day and focus on soul fulfillment; God, family, friends, nature, seasons, creation, good food…expand.

Last week’s letter left off with having arrived in Magdala and some insights into Mary Magdalene. I know now this opening up to my spiritual past was necessary to absorb the following days, such as the next day, which was a big day spiritually for me.

On this special day at the Magdala Hotel, I woke feeling something very important was about to happen and I was full of energy. I wondered what the day would bring. Father John had discovered the night before that I was a widow and when he found out about Ron, he said that the day’s Mass would be said for him. I thought this was very nice. This Mass was held at our first stop of the day, the Church of St. Peter, at Capernaum. The church is located directly over the house of St. Peter. At the center of the church, in front of the Altar, with pews surrounding the other side, was a large opening covered by a see-through material. Through this, you could see down into St. Peter’s house.

It has been determined pretty certainly that this was St. Peter’s house; which was actually his mother’s house. She was a wealthy widow and when the archeologists discovered the house, it fit the description in the bible perfectly. A wealthy house, within a short distance of the synagogue, and the house had a fish carved into the wall, marking it as an early Christian house. This house is very important because Jesus lived here with Peter and Peter’s mother while they were in Capernaum. So, it was here in the church that the Mass was said for Ron.

Afterward, we had a few minutes to ourselves so I wrote the Father’s words. He wrote, “I, Child, am here and everywhere. I have chosen you and you have given yourself to me fully. Remember, Jody, this is your sole purpose and that alone. Everything else will follow. No need to worry or be upset. All is well and will continue to be well. Now go in peace.”

He had emphasized the word “Everything” and I was then given the awareness that He was at my center and that I can go to Him for everything.

Afterward, we had time to walk around the village ruins and sit under one of the fig trees to listen to some history of Capernaum. Capernaum was an important city in Jesus’s time. It sat right on the Via Maris, an ancient trade route that passed along the Sea of Galilee. This was perfect for Jesus because many people could hear His messages and carry His words to far-off places.

We sat under a fig tree, as Jesus did with his disciples because fig trees have always been a natural haven for rest and keeping cool. The leaves act as a coolant- more so than other leaves, and sitting under a fig tree drops the temperature a noticeable number of degrees. It was easy to imagine the disciples sitting here listening to their teacher with the wall of the synagogue next to them. Indeed, a lot of the walls surrounding what was the synagogue still remain and we were able to walk around them, inside and out.

Next, we traveled a little further around the Sea of Galilee to the Church of the Beatitudes, with its beautiful gardens overlooking the lake. It was there it is believed that Jesus gave His famous, “Sermon on the Mount”, where He listed the Beatitudes. This hill has a feeling of tranquility and I found myself breathing deeply looking out over the Sea of Galilee with all the colors of the hills and our guide, Youssef, pointing out the different places around this lake that were connected with Jesus and His time there.

The walk through the gardens was marked with the different Beatitudes, or sayings, attributed to what Jesus said in His sermon, such as, “Blessed be the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven”; “Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted”; “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”. I was not able to walk around all the gardens because I only had a few minutes, but I found myself wondering what the words, “Blessed be the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven”, meant. Have you ever wondered that?

I think it means to be aware that we need God’s help to come to Him, and that we cannot do this alone.
You may be wondering why I refer to the Sea of Galilee as a lake. Because the Sea of Galilee is a lake, not a sea. In the Aramaic language, there was not a word for “lake”- just a general word for a body of water and so the word was translated to “sea”. It is, however, a large lake, with several miles around the shore.
After this peaceful stop at the Church of the Beatitudes, we headed to the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter.

It was at the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter that the most significant message came through for me. This is the place where Jesus came after His resurrection and cooked fish on an open fire for the disciples who were fishing out on the Sea of Galilee. It is also where Jesus forgave St. Peter for denying Him three times and made him the rock of His Church. This church is very small and like other places that the Catholics find sacred, they built this church around the “Rock” where this event happened. The Rock is beneath the Altar and the church is tiny, made of stone sitting right next to the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

As a Catholic, you are supposed to touch the rock and venerate it. You can touch articles to the rock to be blessed. People mostly touch these sacred places with crucifixes and rosaries.

I wanted to spend time in this church, but as I said, on tours like this you are given limited time. You have to rush and this is not how I would wish it, nor is it helpful to focus and pray. I worry that I will take too long and the bus will leave without me. I am so concerned with this that I wonder if the messages say everything that should be said because the Father speaks quickly and simply due to my state of mind. It is hard to focus. So, I was already batting around this situation in my mind as we were waiting our turn as a group to go into the church. That is when the Father very loudly formed in me the words, very directly, that when I came to Him there in this church, I needed to hear Him and pay attention to what He said. I knew that this was one time I had to put aside worry and trust Him to arrange the time. Besides, I knew I wouldn’t be left behind. There were only 12 of us and the tour guide and priest would know immediately I was not there. They counted us before leaving any site and we all knew each other well enough by now to know if one of us was missing. I knew this- but my mind would still jump around. However, I did put the rushed worry aside as I pulled my journal out inside the church, and like other times when I ask specifically for the Father to take over, a steady calmness came over me.

“Know I am here, child, for I have called you to this sacred place. Here, Love, you will give me your word to obey and be mine whatever may come. I am with you always. Come now and tell me who I am and who you are and that you will obey me.”

I told Him He was God the Creator, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the only God, although known by many names. He was my Father. I was His daughter and I represented Hope because this is what He had taught me over the years who I was. That I did not know what this meant fully, to represent “Hope”, but I knew it would come through as He wished it. That I would obey Him.

He then told me I must never (He emphasized “never”) again be afraid because I belonged to Him and He would take care of me. I know He said this because since Ron passed away, I have had a lot of anxiety- waking up at night very anxious. My mind only on what could or could not happen in the future- no foundation for the fear, just fear of life and the unknown. And through this fog, it is very hard to connect to the Higher Spirit. This is what He was referring to.

He then told me clearly that I represent Hope for His people and that I would succeed in my life’s work.
After this, I did touch the Rock and I laid my rosary on it.

This experience was the clearest and most direct I have experienced Him in a very long time and I knew it was a pivot to a new beginning. Not sure exactly what this means- but a new chapter in life has started. I can still feel it, now that I am back home.

Still rocking from the experience, I found myself outside the church standing next to Helen and she pointed out the fish that could be seen up next to the church in the water. She smiled but didn’t say anything, and then we walked over to our group standing by our bus. It was time for lunch and so we drove a short distance to the “Pilgrims Residence” where they had St. Peter’s fish for us. The staff at the restaurant cooked it similar to how it would have been cooked by Jesus over an open fire- whole fish from the Sea of Galilee. However, they served the fish with French fries! This took away from the authenticity a bit, but I still thought the fish was delicious. Some of the other pilgrims were put off by the head still being on the fish, while others didn’t even have fish, asking for chicken instead.

Then we headed to the pier to take a boat out onto the Sea of Galilee. This boat, known as, “The Jesus Boat”, was made to look like a replica of what St. Peter’s boat may have looked like, only it did have a motor. The first thing one of the crew members did was hoist an American flag at the front of the ship, along with the Israeli flag. I thought this very nice and then the crew took us out to the middle of the lake and turned off the engine so it was quiet like it would have been in biblical times. Then our guide, Youssef, explained to us how the hills and the shoreline would have looked similar to when Jesus and His disciples fished here, living near the shore. Little had changed except for some buildings and paved roads. Father John then read the passages out of the bible that took place on the Sea of Galilee- reading to us about Jesus calming the storm, walking on water, and rescuing St. Peter, who had been afraid he would drown.

When Father John was done reading, we all sat in silence and looked around picturing how it could have been. This was very significant for me, sitting there looking at a very similar landscape that Jesus would have looked at. Looking down into the water, wondering what a storm here on the Sea of Galilee would feel like. It didn’t seem real- like I was in a dream. Moments so surreal that they stand out in my mind and became one of the highlights of the whole trip for me. I had not expected to experience this boat trip and to hear this bible story in this setting. I had, over the years, become tired of hearing this story and other stories in the bible, but now I was viewing the stories differently. I would never again hear the stories and not be brought back to Israel.

After the boat trip, back on shore, we were able to see a boat from the Sea of Galilee dating back to biblical times. It had been preserved in the mud and then carefully removed and placed in a museum. Archeologists think this was the type of boat the disciples and Jesus went out in and who knows? Maybe this preserved boat was St. Peter’s boat! Of course, no one knows.

What I did keep thinking about, on the way back to the hotel at Magdala, where we were staying another night, was that when Jesus had lived here on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Whether it was in Magdala or Capernaum, traveling along, or fishing on the lake itself, life would have been a very pleasant existence. This part of Israel is very beautiful and the weather pleasant. The feeling was very calming. I wondered then about Jesus- His everyday view and wondered if the feeling I had was from Him. I think He would have been happy here and I wondered if the Sea of Galilee was His oasis during His time on earth.

At this time on the trip, I did not know what a huge contrast the Sea of Galilee would be from the rest of the time in Israel. What a huge difference compared to Jerusalem and the desert! There could not be two more opposite places. Later I would wonder if indeed I was right about these feelings of the Sea of Galilee, being like an oasis because it seems that Jesus’s time in the desert areas and in Jerusalem was almost always filled with suffering. Perhaps not all the experiences, but many of them. Later, as the days passed, and now looking back over the time in Israel, I realize the land itself spoke volumes. I would have a very mixed feeling about the next places I would visit, including Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Jericho.

The next morning was our last morning on the Sea of Galilee and just before sunrise I walked down to the shore and watched the sunrise come over the hills across the lake. Father John was there too- and we each sat on a bench away from each other, not talking, but in those moments, companions.

Watching the sunrise, God the Father reminded me that today was a New Beginning. I realized then that today we were going to the river, Jordon, and we could be baptized again if we wished. I will tell you all about this next week, as well as about Mount Tabor and Jericho. Have a blessed week! -Jody