C4
April 1 - 14, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 07
CBCP Monitor
HOLY LAND, C1
Renewal of marriage vows in Cana
Jordan River
Via Dolorosa
The Old City of Jerusalem
Pater Noster Church
Tomb of the Prophets
Cana
Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth tional Airport in Tel-Aviv after a 13hour flight, my co-pilgrims and I were assaulted by the cold, crisp weather. Add to that the wind and the slight rain shower! But the cold and the rain didn’t matter. We were in Israel! And soon, we were on our way to the different sites scheduled for the day. We were all in awe of everything. The scenery was truly a sight to behold! The highlight of that first day was entering through the small door of the Church of the Nativity to see the place where Jesus was born, and the spot where He was laid in a manger. Jet lag was steadily creeping into our systems, but we stubbornly fought tiredness and sleepiness as we stood in line just to be able to kiss the ground where the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, and to kneel in front of the spot where the manger used to be. Ninay’s husband Jeremy, who heads the CFC Youth for Christ ministry, shared, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...—these words from John 1:14 were what came to my mind when we arrived at the Holy Land! It felt like a dream, but at the same time, a clear manifestation of how Jesus became man and how He embraced His death and resurrection. Being there was also an affirmation of how Mama Mary and St. Joseph were a big part of God’s plan from the start.” We all knelt and prayed like we never did before, overwhelmed by deep emotions at being in the very place where the first Christmas happened. Bethlehem did not really look like a ‘little town’ as the song says, but it was there where the shepherds heard the angels singing “Gloria in excelsis Deo!” It was there where Joseph and Mary were denied room in every inn, where Jesus had to be born in humble surroundings, and where wise men from the East came to pay homage to the infant Jesus, bringing Him gifts fit for a King! It was only the first day, but I believe I can speak for the others when I say our hearts were already so full! Walking where Jesus walked The next seven days became a series of getting on and off the bus, walking for hours, kneeling, praying for personal as well as our families’ and friends’ prayer intentions. Bethany, The Old City of Jerusalem, Mt. Zion, the Mount of Olives, the Garden
of Gethsemane, the Upper Room, the Mount of Beatitudes, the Sea of Galilee, the Mount of Temptation, the vast Judean Desert, the Jordan River, Capernaum Cana, Mount Tabor, Golgotha—these were places that we read about in the Bible. But in those seven days, we were able to not just see, but walk through these places where Jesus Christ preached, performed miracles, grieved, suffered, died by crucifixion and rose again. And as we walked, we imagined in our minds the various scenes, the sounds, the people in the stories. Kaye Bentinganan wrote in her reflection, “I cannot fathom the grace of being able to walk where Jesus walked! The only difference is, our walks happened 2,000 years apart! The experience was truly extraordinary.” She added, “Now, whenever I read and contemplate scripture, I feel God’s tangible way of sharing His life with me. And every time I pray, whether a memorized or a personal utterance, I can truly feel the love of the Lord.” The churches we visited—the Church of the Annunciation, the Church of the Visitation, the Church of St. Peter in Galicantu as well as the Church of the Primacy of Peter, the Dominus Flevit, the Church of All Nations beside the Garden of Gethsemane, the birthplace of the Virgin Mary, the Dormition Abbey, and the Church of the Assumption—were a testament to the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. They made the mysteries of the Rosary come to life, that it is now impossible not to remember these places whenever we recite the Holy Rosary. It was truly the Bible alive! For Jeremy and Ninay, the highlight of the pilgrimage was the renewal of their marriage vows in Cana. According to Ninay, “July of this year marks our 10th year as a married couple. What made our anniversary this year more special was renewing our marriage vows at the very place where Jesus performed His first miracle!” More than a “faith lift” Singles for Christ fulltime missionary Lanie Montaos described how the pilgrimage has created an impact on her faith walk. She said, “Walking where Jesus walked while He lived here on Earth has made greater sense to my
Fellowship with CFC Israel faith. After the pilgrimage, my heart yearns to know Him more and more!” For Sol Noel, a YFC missionary, the pilgrimage was also an encounter with people of present-day Israel—the convenience store owner who didn’t charge more just because we were foreigners; the taxicab driver who brought his children along when he went to the hotel where his mother (who was also on pilgrimage) stayed; and the hotel staff who helped load our luggage on to the bus when we checked out but refused to accept the tip, saying he was just dong his job. Sol shared, “It was Ash Wednesday that day and the reflection I read from Bible Diary 2019 connected all of them together: “To give without compensation; to pray without expectation of results; to act without the desire to be noticed—all these are forms of detachment. It requires that we focus on the good of the deed itself, the correctness of our attitude, the purity of our intention. To live in this state of consciousness is its own reward.” YFC Missionary Gerald Manapsal, who went to the pilgrimage together with his fiancee Maan Palacios, also a missionary, experienced an epiphany of sorts. He shared, “Last 2016, the Lord showed me a vision when I prayed for my vocation. In that vision, I saw Jesus, and heard Him telling me to go down from the mountain and experience the mission that He entrusted to me. In my heart, Jesus was telling to me to be brave and ask Maan if I can pursue her. To cut the long story short, I asked her on that day and Maan said ‘Yes’." He added, “As we were going up Mt. Tabor, it was all very surreal to me. I felt that I was in the very place of Christ’s Transfiguration, the very place in my vision! I can only be grateful that God is blessing the vocation we have received and that Maan and I will soon receive the sacrament of marriage.” The reflections of my fellow pilgrims are truly a testimony that this pilgrimage to the Holy Land has given us more than a ‘faith lift’. For most of us, it was a leap of faith. Indeed, the Lord has taken care of all that we needed for that trip. We know He has received all of the prayer intentions we lifted up during those 10 days to and from the Holy Land. He took care of our families here at home, the work we
left behind momentarily, our health (We left Manila at 32˚C, and arrived at Tel Aviv at 10˚C!). It was all of us telling the Lord, “I said ‘Yes’ to this pilgrimage, Lord, because I know You will take care of everything for me.” Every CFC should go On the last day of the pilgrimage, we visited the members of CFC Israel living in Tel Aviv. The titos and titas graciously opened their homes to us, and broke bread with us. Spending time with our CFC brethren once again reminded us that anywhere we go in the world, we have a bigger family who will welcome us with open arms.
Now that we are back to our usual grind at the Global Mission Center in Manila, I realized that the pilgrimage was an opportunity for all of us to appreciate each other more, and to acknowledge our co-pilgrims as we go about our personal journeys. I personally believe that every Catholic should at least, once in his or her lifetime, go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The memories we created while walking where Jesus walked will forever be etched in our minds and hearts. But more than the memories, I know that all of us will never be the same, and evermore strive to walk how Jesus walked.