Vacation/Travel Supplement

The holiest of lands: St. Monica parishioners walk in Christ’s footsteps with pastor

By Mary Ann Wyand

Jesus walked there, preached there and healed there.

The Son of God lived out his earthly life in Palestine and was crucified on Calvary Hill near Jerusalem. Then the

resurrected Christ came back to share the Good News with the Apostles before ascending to his Father in heaven.

His miraculous life is recorded in the Gospels, which detail events along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the site of the Sermon on the Mount, the Garden of Gethsemane and dozens of other places in the Holy Land.

St. Monica parishioner Denis Kelly Jr. of Indianapolis was so excited about the unique opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Christ during a parish pilgrimage to the Holy Land on Nov. 8-18, 2006, that he took more than 2,000 photographs there.

Kelly, a talented professional photographer who has traveled extensively and taken thousands of pictures throughout the world, shares a few of his digital memories of Israel with The Criterion so readers may enjoy these amazing pilgrimage experiences.

“I accept the principle that God’s grace is everywhere,”

he said, “but I felt drawn to go to the Holy Land.”

Kelly arranged to stay until Nov. 22, four extra days after the pilgrims departed for home, so he could capture more images of God’s people and God’s places in this holiest of lands.

Msgr. Paul Koetter, pastor of the Indianapolis West Deanery parish, was the spiritual director and Franciscan Father Peter Vasko, president of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, served as tour director for the pilgrimage.

“Father Peter declared the Church of the Nativity as the holiest place in Christendom,” Kelly said, “because it is where Jesus was born in Bethlehem.”

One of Kelly’s favorite pictures from the pilgrimage is a timeless image of a Greek Orthodox religious mopping the stone floor of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

“I think it was St. Teresa of Avila who spoke so beautifully about the value of prayer while working,” he said, “and [this photo is about] finding God’s grace even while

mopping the floor. You can see pilgrims coming in the door behind him while he works. In a number of places, I tried to express the wear of the stone and the passage of pilgrims [in photographs].”

Kelly was surprised to find so many modern churches

in Israel that are parish churches as well as pilgrimage

destinations.

“The [church] in Capernaum, along the Sea of Galilee, is quite astonishing,” he said. “It’s built over [what is believed to be] the house of St. Peter. … The church is elevated and … has a glass floor. It has panoramic windows so you could look out to the Sea of Galilee.”

If Peter lived there, Kelly said, Jesus must have stayed there with him.

Kelly also enjoyed seeing “the little [Roman] town of Caesarea Philippi, which was lost to the ages. It had been buried by sand and was only recently excavated. … St. Paul was held there in prison.”

Pilgrimage highlights included reading Scripture that

references the holy places they visited, he said, as well as singing the “Ave Maria” at several sacred sites, praying on the Mount of Beatitudes and joining Jews in prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

“It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been,” Kelly said of the Mount of Beatitudes. “… The Sermon on the Mount was [preached] a little further down the mountain toward the Sea of Galilee, a large fresh-water lake. The Jordan River flows out of the Sea of Galilee.”

At the Church of Cana, which commemorates the site of the wedding feast of Cana, married couples renewed their vows and Kelly wished that his wife, Maryann, could have been with him.

“For me, one of my greatest privileges in the whole

pilgrimage was that Father Peter asked me to sing the ‘Ave Maria’ at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, where the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary,” he said. “Father Peter had heard me sing on the bus.”

God’s grace is apparent everywhere in the Holy Land, Kelly said, but one experience was especially meaningful.

At the house of Caiaphas, the high priest in Jerusalem, Kelly closed his eyes and sang verses of “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?” in what may have been the dungeon where Jesus was held before the Crucifixion.

After singing the original verses, Kelly was inspired to sing new verses that came to him, including “Were you there when he showed his wounds to Thomas?” and “Were you there when Spirit fire came upon the Apostles?”

When Kelly finished the song, a Polish pilgrim from Chicago said, “My name is Thomas.”

St. Monica pilgrim Jane Cooney, who is a fourth-grade teacher in Pike Township in Indianapolis, likes to think about Scripture while recalling memories of the pilgrimage.

“I was amazed at how totally overpowering it was,” Cooney said. “I had never intended to go on a pilgrimage, but when it came up with Father Paul leading it, and I happened to be on a school break, it just seemed like it was meant to be.”

Cooney especially treasures memories of Msgr. Koetter celebrating eucharistic liturgies with parishioners in so many sacred places central to the life of Christ.

“It was just overwhelming,” she said. “And then now, to be back at St. Monica’s, having him celebrate liturgies again and giving sermons that relate to some of the places that we went, the connections are still so strong. I can feel myself being in those places.”

After praying at the Sea of Galilee, Cooney enjoys

meditating about sitting in the boat with Jesus, Peter and the other Apostles, “and everything being calmed as Jesus is a calming influence in our lives.”

Cooney and her husband, Don, were among the couples who renewed their marriage vows at Cana.

“It was extraordinary,” she said. “We’ll be married 30 years in October. … I was overwhelmed by the idea of what a gift Don has been to me, what a blessing he has been, over all these years, [and] … that opportunity to stop and think about this blessing that God has put in my life.”

They are members of a small Church community at St. Monica Parish, Cooney said, and six of the eight members of that group went on the pilgrimage, which was “really

powerful” to share as close friends and faith partners.

“I loved being on the Mount of Beatitudes,” she said. “I had a sense of peace at that location, and a sense of hesitancy, of not wanting to leave there and not wanting to go to Jerusalem. I felt like going to Jerusalem was my own [experience of] going to Calvary … and I didn’t want to face it. I wanted to stay … at the Mount of Beatitudes. It was so peaceful.”

As a Catholic and a teacher, Cooney appreciated Father Vasko’s historical knowledge of the Holy Land.

“One of the reasons Father Paul said he wanted to go back [to Israel] was because he wanted to go back as a shepherd and bring some of his flock,” she said. “It was a gift to be part of the flock.”

Since Msgr. Koetter completed an 11-week sabbatical in the Holy Land during the fall of 2003 made possible by Lilly Endowment’s Pastor Renewal Program, he has wanted to share his spiritual experiences there with parishioners.

The November pilgrimage included 21 St. Monica

parishioners.

Last summer, when hostilities broke out between Israel and Lebanon on the Lebanese border, other parishioners decided not to participate in the pilgrimage, Msgr. Koetter said. He understood their concerns and was relieved when political tensions eased and grateful that there were no problems or incidents of violence in November.

“It went very smooth,” Msgr. Koetter said. “In fact, we saw very little military presence on the trip.”

On the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land Web site, Father Vasko explains that “our Christian ancestry is at risk” because of continuing conflict in the region, mostly between the Arab and Jewish residents.

“Since the [United Nations] partition of Palestine in 1947, the control of this land for the last 56 years has undergone many changes, especially territorial between Israelites and Palestinians,” Father Vasko explains. “Christians in this area comprise fewer than 2 percent of the population. … The vast majority of Christians simply want to live in peace. They are caught in the middle.”

As the birthplace of Jesus, Father Vasko notes, the Holy Land will always be “the cradle of Christianity,” but he worries that sporadic violence and economic hardship will force all Christians out of Israel within 50 years.

The Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land is a worldwide nonprofit organization founded in 1994 to

safeguard basic human rights and the continued presence of the Christian Palestinian minority living in the Holy Land.

“We are not taking sides,” Father Peter explains. “We’re just trying to quietly help maintain the Catholic presence in the Holy Land.”

Christian pilgrims help support the delicate economy there in addition to their prayerful visits to sacred sites.

“Father Peter was our tour guide so he met us at the

airport in Tel Aviv and spent most of the 10 days with us,” Msgr. Koetter said. “He took us to the different locations, and explained the sites and the significance within our faith.

“I really enjoyed the chance to celebrate Mass with the group in the different locations,” he said. “Certainly one of the significant moments for me, and I think for many others, was having Mass outside on the side of the mountain where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount … and to be aware of the fact that in this same setting we were celebrating the Eucharist and preaching the Word 2,000 years later.”

The pilgrims also enjoyed praying at the Sea of Galilee, Msgr. Koetter said. “We went down to the water and sat on the edge of the shore. … Some of us stepped into the water. As one person said, ‘A lot of things can change, but water looks the same.’ So that sense that Jesus probably sat in this same area and looked out on the same water and took in the same view, and all the dimensions of that, was pretty significant. Both on my first trip and this trip, [praying at] the Sea of Galilee was an important part of the visit.”

During the pilgrimage, he said, the pilgrims gathered in the evening to pray and reflect on their experiences.

“I think when we renewed our baptismal commitment at the Jordan River that was very significant,” Msgr. Koetter said. “I took some of the water from the Jordan River. We renewed our baptismal promises and I blessed each person with some of the Jordan River water, and that really connected us with Jesus, who was baptized in those waters.”

Other pilgrimage highlights were visits to Jericho, he said, and Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as four days in Jerusalem, also referred to as Mount Zion in Scripture.

“It is on the top of a mountain, but … it’s more like a big hill,” he said. “The ancient walls have been moved numerous times over the years. What you do have from Jesus’ day is the foundation of the Temple, and that’s where the Western Wall, the Wailing Wall of the Jews, is located. Where the Temple itself sat is now a sacred place for the Muslims. That’s where the Dome of the Rock is.

“Probably the most sacred place inside the city is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where we commemorate both the Crucifixion and the burial of Jesus,” Msgr. Koetter said. “I had the privilege of leading Mass at the tomb. I celebrated the Eucharist right over the tomb.

“I think another important area is the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane, which we visited and

celebrated Mass right there,” he said. “It was good to

celebrate the Eucharist at each of these locations and to come together in prayer.”

At the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the pilgrims sang Christmas carols for the Christ Child.

“To be able to sit there and spend some time in that sacred space was very good,” Msgr. Koetter said. “Then we celebrated Mass there at what’s called the Shepherds Field, which is the area where they believe the shepherds were when the angel appeared to them and said, ‘A child has been born to us.’ That was also a special place to be.”

It rained when the pilgrims prayed the Stations of the Cross and took turns carrying the cross along the Via Dolorosa (“Way of Sorrows”) from the Roman garrison to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

“It was very apropos because it created a more somber mood,” he said. “I think people would say that the Via Dolorosa might have been the most touching moment.”

Visiting the Holy Land helps Christians understand Scripture better, he said, and deepens their faith.

“For me, what was most meaningful was to go back [to the Holy Land] with people that I know, people who I share faith with, people I pray with on a regular basis, and to experience those places together,” Msgr. Koetter said. “When you have visited the birthplace of the Lord with others, when you have celebrated Mass together where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, it bonds you closely together.”

(For information about pilgrimages to Israel, contact the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land at info@ffhl.org or call toll-free 866-905-3787. A Holy Land pilgrimage is scheduled on Nov. 5-15.) †