I will be on Relevant Radio at 5:15 PM Eastern today to take calls from non-Catholics about Mary. You can listen on-line at www.RelevantRadio.com.

TFP (Tradition, Family & Property) is a solid group of young Catholic men who are spreading our Christian message in a peaceful way. Yet they are met with the forces of evil masquerading under the false auspices of “Tolerance.” This video will open your eyes to the bigotry, hate, and violence of the pro-gay movement. You will never hear about these crimes and violent acts in the main stream media because they do not fit the narrative that NBC ABC and the others have bought into. Please share this video.

Very cool map animation. Watch the history of the Middle East (and beyond) unfold with an interactive map showing the various civilizations that have ruled the region from ancient Egypt to modern times.

Click on the map to start the show.

To listen to the archived show, click HERE. Podcast and other listening options, click HERE. Al Kresta was the guest host and we took questions from non-Catholics.

Questions I Answered:

1) Are works in a Christian’s life a witness to his faith or meritorious for his salvation?
2) Non-denominational asks: How ought a Catholic layperson submit himself to a Protestant since Scripture says, “Submit to one another”?
3) Atheist asks: Why are Catholics so opposed to same-sex marriage?
4) Non-denominational asks: What does on have to believe to be a Catholic?
5) Calvinist Baptist asks: What do Catholics believe about the end times? Is is uniform or are there different opinions?
6) Protestant asks: Why does the Catholic Church talk so much about the Eucharist and pay so little attention to the Holy Ghost?
7) Missionary Alliance considering the Catholic Church asks: What is the difference between the way a Protestant and Catholic gets saved?

Click on this image to see maps, videos, pictures and the story

It was a beautiful Sabbath. No traffic. Jews, Muslims, Christians all out walking. Children everywhere. I walked briskly (until my knee surgery later this month) for 9 miles from north to south. I followed the light rail train track through the city.

I started at Notre Dame near the Old City and the Tomb of Christ north. Once I got the the end I took a taxi to the far south point of the rail and walked north back to the Notre Dame Hotel. It was a delightful walk and I wish all of you could have joined me. Enjoy!

Click on the map and picture to see the whole run with videos, maps, pictures and the story.

Not running today because it is the Sabbath

From Tim Staples of Catholic Answers Live:

About 13 years ago, when Catholic Answers first started in radio, our first host was Johnny Hochgraefe. He decided to start a listener comment line for folks who could not get on the air or who just wanted to make a comment. This is a best of that Johnny put together way back when. These are real callers, folks! Saturday Night Live could not do this if they tried! Get ready to laugh your head off!

Click here to listen to Comment Line Classics

View of Khirbet Qeiyafa from the air.

Archaeological discoveries tell us a great deal about our ancestors. And now, in light of some recent discoveries in Israel, they may also provide corroboratory evidence for descriptions presented in the Old Testament. For quite some time, Biblical historians have been working diligently to better understand the city of Judah during the time of King David.

Interestingly, Professor Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University of Jerusalem and other archeologists have been digging in the ancient city of Khirbet Qeiyafa (Elah Valley, Israel, where David killed Goliath), where they recently unearthed some fascinating findings. The researchers there uncovered three cultic shrines that date back to the time of King David, The Atlantic report.…

For the whole story read here (Atlantic Report) and in another article here (Hebrew University).

3,000 old antiquities

I have two things here to inform, entertain and instruct. Many Americans think it is unsafe and dangerous to come to the Holy Land. However, 3.5 million people are walking the streets, praying at holy sites and following the footprints of Jesus and his Mother.

In the first you will hear the testimony of pilgrims with me who have been from one end of Israel to the other and found it completely safe, beautiful, spiritual and friendly.

The second item below is my run/walk today through Jerusalem to show you have safe and wonderful it is over here. Families, pilgrims, locals, tourists with children walking joyously through the streets. Enjoy – and come!

Click on image for story, videos, pictures and maps

My grandpa is a nice old gentleman, with gray hair, and gold spectacles, and very fond of his little grandson Billy—that’s me. Grandpa and I often go out to walk together, that is, on fine days, because on cloudy days he never goes out of the house, but stays at home to keep “comfortable with the gout”, as he says.

One day we strolled along the edge of the woods and into the park, and after walking about for a while we sat down on a nice sunny bench. Grandpa took out a newspaper to read. As his eye glanced down the columns, he suddenly gave a grunt and hit the ground very sharply with his cane.

“Got the gout, Grandpa?” I asked.

“No, my dear, it’s nothing but the old Pope again.”

“Who is he, Grandpa?” I inquired.

“I am sorry to say he’s a bad man, and always has been my dear,” replied Grandpa, looking at me over his spectacles.”

“Why don’t the police pick him up then, and put him in jail?” I asked.

“Because there are so many people that think he is a good man,” answered my grandpa, “and as for trying him, Billy, there’s been plenty of that, if you only understood it; but as often as he is brought up in court, the fewer witnesses you can get to appear against him, and he always manages to come away not guilty.”

“How many people believe he is a good man, Grandpa?” I asked. “Probably ten or twelve?”

“A dozen!” laughed the old gentleman, “see here,” and he commenced drawing figures on the sandy path with his cane. “There,” said he pointing to his numbers scratched in the sand, “what do you think of that?”

“There’s a “1” with nine zeroes after it, I said, “Why, Grandpa, that’s over a billion people!”

“That’s about it, my dear.”

I thought it was rather funny that so many people could not find out that he was a bad man, and said so; to which my grandpa answered:

“It’s because they are all blind and superstitious Billy.”

“Are these people really that stupid, Grandpa? What kind of people can they be?” I asked.

“They are called Catholics, my dear.”

“Oh! I know,” I said, “I heard Pastor Roland preach about them, and that’s what Mr. Andrews became when he left our church. Why don’t you tell him, Grandpa, that the Pope is a bad man?”

“No use in that,” he replied; “he would only laugh at your grandpa, and tell him just what I have told you, that there are over a billion people who believe the Pope to be a good man; nearly four times as many as all us Protestants together who think he is bad.”

“What makes the Pope a bad man?” I asked, “did he steal something?”

“Yes, my dear Billy,” answered Grandpa, banging his cane down with each word, “he stole too much power and authority, and made himself the so-called head of the Christian Church over the whole world.”

“But,” I said, scratching my little head, “why don’t some of the billion people find out he is not the head of the Church, and tell the rest of the people?”

“They could not find out that he is not, when he actually is now, could they, little whipper-snapper?”

“I don’t mean that, Grandpa,” said I, “but why don’t they find out that he has no right to be the head of the Church, and find out when he stole all the power and authority?”

“Because nobody knows when or how he did it.”

“How do you know it then, Grandpa?”

Grandpa was suddenly seized with a violent fit of coughing, which made him very red in the face. I was afraid he was having a heart attack. My grandpa is rather fat, and has a short neck; and short-necked fat people always die of heart attacks, you know. In my fear I forgot all about the Pope, and ran to the drinking fountain to get some water for him, when who should come along but Mr. Andrews himself, whom we had just been talking about.

“Oh Mr. Andrews!” I cried out, “my Grandpa is very bad! Come quick!” Mr. Andrews looked over at my grandpa coughing on the bench; he cautiously said hello. Grandpa had stopped coughing and looked just fine now. Mr. Andrews smiled down at me, and said:

“Your Grandpa is not bad, little Billy, but very good, as everybody knows.”

“Oh! I don’t mean he’s a bad grandpa, “I responded, “but I thought he was going to die of a heart attack when I asked him about that bad man, the Pope.”

My grandpa didn’t know quite how to respond so he said, “Little Inquisitive here. He’s been asking me about the Pope, and I told him what I firmly believe, Mr. Andrews, that the Pope assumes an unfounded authority over the Christian world, and that it’s a wicked assumption. How could you, brought up in this enlightened country, and in an Evangelical church to boot, submit yourself to it?”

“Simply because I found out that (contrary to what you and I were taught in our early days) the Pope not only is, but always was the visible head, and earthly governor of the Christian Church; and that not until a comparatively late date in history was it ever doubted. To be called a Christian and acknowledge the Bishop of Rome as the chief pastor of Christ’s flock was one and the same thing. So after some research I concluded that I must either submit myself to his pastoral authority or be cut off from the Christian Church altogether.”

“You had plenty of Christian Churches you could join without coming to that silly conclusion,” growled my grandpa.

“You are right, there are plenty that call themselves the Christian church, over twenty-eight thousand to be exact,” replied Mr. Andrews, “but Jesus Christ told us there should only be one fold, and one shepherd” (Jn 10:16).

“I know” said my grandpa, “that those words about the ‘one flock’ seem to condemn us Protestants outright, but you see the truth is, no matter how many divisions there are, we’re all Christians, and Jesus Christ is our one shepherd.”

“All alike in theory maybe, if you will,” said Mr. Andrews, “but surely you won’t pretend to say that the Christian religion as Catholics believe it, and the Christian religion as Protestants believe it is just alike?”

“Of course not. Heaven forbid!” gasped Grandpa, “Our blessed Reformers cut us loose from your doctrines and your Pope too, and we escaped from your slavery, sir.”

“Grandpa,” I asked, “why didn’t everybody run away too?”

“Ha! ha!” laughed Grandpa, “very good! ha! ha! V e r y good, Billy; and left the old Pope all by himself! That’s a capital idea!”

Mr. Andrews pointed over in the direction of the hillside, and said: “I’m afraid we’d all be in the same predicament as those sheep over on the hillside if they took it into their silly heads to run off from their shepherd.”

My grandpa stopped laughing at this, and his face went blank, at least I thought so.

“St. Paul says,” continued Mr. Andrews, “that Christ is not divided,” and it is plain that the Church ought not to be divided, as you admit it is. ‘One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism,’ says St. Paul again (1 Cor 1:18; Eph 4:5). Now we Catholics are all under Christ, have one faith, and one baptism; and we are all in one church, governed by one head, but you Protestants are divided not only from us, but even among yourselves, with multitudes of faiths, different baptisms, acknowledging no head of your churches, and for ever quarreling and competing among yourselves.”

“I admit you have the Scripture on your side,” said my grandpa, “but then you push it too far, my dear Mr. Andrews. There is Peter’s name, now, which just because it happened to mean a rock, and because our Lord said He would build His Church on a rock, you say that He must have meant Peter.”

“I beg your pardon,” answered Mr. Andrews, “his name did not happen to be Peter, but Simon: and Jesus specifically changed it to Cephas, which is, interpreted, Peter, or Rock, as the Scripture says, because He meant to make him the foundation rock of the visible Church (Jn 1:42; Mt 16:18). Cephas, you know, is Aramaic for rock, and Peter is Greek for rock. But it is plain our Lord made St. Peter the head pastor over his flock, for He said, ‘Simon, son of John, feed my sheep, tend my lambs’; and you cannot deny that He said to St. Peter, ‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven’” (Mt 16:19; Jn 21:15-17).

“No,” replied my grandpa, “I don’t deny it, because it is in the Holy Bible plain enough, but I don’t believe the Pope has got them, the keys that is.”

“Who else does then?” asked Mr. Andrews.

“Nobody has, and nobody wants them,” answered Grandpa, rather gruffly.

“What use did St. Peter make of them, and what did he do with them when he was martyred?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care”; and Grandpa, and when he said that, took up his newspaper again as if he did not wish to talk any further with Mr. Andrews. I was very anxious to know who had the keys of the kingdom of heaven, as any little boy would be, so I asked Mr. Andrews if he knew, and what St. Peter did with them. “St. Peter had the keys of the kingdom of the kingdom of heaven because he was the first head of the Church, and whoever is head of the Church in St. Peter’s place must have them now,” said Mr. Andrews.

“That is the Lord and Savior, my son, and not the Pope,” said my grandpa.

“Why, grandpa, didn’t you say the Pope was the head of the Church now, only he had no right to be?”

“Hold your tongue boy,” retorted my grandpa, “hold your tongue. What do you know about theology?” He then turned to Mr. Andrews (and I was glad he did, for that big word “theology” quite frightened me), and said:

“My dear Mr. Andrews, why can’t you Catholics get along without any man as the head of your Church?”

“Because,” replied Mr. Andrews, “nothing can get along in this world without a head. A headless Church would be as ungovernable, as shaky and as liable to go to pieces as a state, or a family, or an orchestra, or an army, or any other association without a head. Even Protestants have “heads” or pastors for each of their ‘churches’ to keep order and lead the flock. In principle there is no difference.”

“But I don’t want any such human head in my religion,” said my grandpa. “I want to be able to decide things for myself, to be my own head and-”

“Your own Pope,” interjected Mr. Anderson.

“And do my own thinking,” continued my grandpa, not noticing the interruption.

“And so you get what you’ve gotten,” said Mr. Andrews, “as many religions and sects as you have heads to think.”

“And you have given up being an enlightened and free American and Evangelical, and you let the Pope do your thinking for you, eh?” said my grandpa sneeringly.

“Not at all!” answered Mr. Andrews. “The Pope is as much obliged to believe and obey the same one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic truth, as it was first taught by Jesus Christ, ‘the faith once delivered to the saints’ (Jude 3), as I am, or the least one of the over one billion Christians who acknowledge him as their spiritual pastor.A truth, moreover, to which neither the Pope, nor even the whole Church can either add any thing new, or take anything away. And as for freedom, friend Simon,” (Simon is my grandpa’s name), “I have never known what it is to be truly free in my faith, though at one time like you I thought I did, until I became a Catholic; for I am now bound to the opinions of no man or set of men, but only to those sure and settled universal principles and truths which the whole Church is bound to, and has always believed in every age of Christianity. Outside of these, I can believe as I will, and I’m bound only by common sense and decency. ‘You shall know the truth,’ said our Lord, ‘and the truth shall make you free’. The Church has always been faithful to preserve the truth of the Lord Jesus and His apostles.”

“I must say, Mr. Andrews, that you put things in rather a new light for me; and if what you say is true, it is worth thinking over,” said my grandpa.

“Yes, it is worth thinking over, Mr. Simon,” and with that Mr. Andrews dipped his hat and bid my grandpa and I a “Good morning,” and walked on.

My grandpa seemed to lose interest in his newspaper, folded it up, and we returned home. As we walked along he kept talking to himself and appeared to get so agitated that I was afraid the gout was rapidly coming on. When we arrived at the door of our house, we saw old Mick Mooney chopping up a load of wood on the sidewalk. My grandpa stopped right before Mick and he asked:

“Mick, who is the head of the Church?”

“Jesus Christ, sir, and visibly, the Pope who represents him as pastor, your honor, bless his holy reverence,” replied Mick.

“But,” said Grandpa, “our church has no Pope. What is the use of your Church having one?”

“How could we ever know the difference between Catholic and Protestant then?” asked Mick.

“I don’t understand you,” said my grandpa.

“Sure, if it wasn’t for the Pope, the Protestants might be calling themselves Catholics, and pretty soon everyone in the Catholic Church would be going off in a billion directions and lose their way. Then no one would know who was in the true fold at all, and no one would be there to direct them, begging your permission, sir.”

“But the Bible,” said Grandpa, “could tell you, Mick, better than the Pope too, whether you were of the fold of Christ or not.”

“I’m afraid not sir, begging your pardon,” replied Mick. “For there are lots of Protestants, very fair and wonderful folks they are too, honorable gentlemen, but the Bible don’t seem to tell them.”

“Why, Mick,” said my grandpa, “you talk as if you thought all us Protestants were out of the true Church because we don’t submit to the Pope. You might as well say we are all heathens for the same reason.”

“I believe,” said Mick humbly, “that our Savior said something like that, too. ‘He that will not hear the Church, let him be to you as a heathen and a publican’, and St. Paul, bless his soul, said the Church was the ‘pillar and foundation of the truth’ (1 Tim 2:15.), whereas I would suspect that you, Mr. Simon, would probably give those honors to the Bible alone.”

“The Church. Oh! yes, well, um,” said my grandpa. “Very true, but the Church is not the Pope.”

“You’re kidding me, right Mr. Simon, you’re just joking around.” answered Mick, with a curious look on his face, “You couldn’t hear the Church, I’m thinking, if the Church didn’t speak, and how is she to speak without a head and a mouth?”

“There’s some truth in that,” said my grandpa. “And I guess the Pope is the pastor of the Catholic Church. In principle, I can’t argue because I don’t know of any Protestant church that doesn’t also have a pastor to lead it.”

My grandpa thought deeply for awhile and then said, “Come, Billy, the Pope has been in court again, and came out ‘not guilty’ again, as usual;” and taking my hand, he led me into the house, and into the living room and sat down.

“Now,” he said, turning to me, “you see now what has become of your bad old Pope, little Billy?”

I began to tremble, for I was afraid something very dreadful had happened to the Pope, yet I managed to stammer out “Dear Grandpa! what has happened to him?”

“Why, just this, that your stupid old gouty grandpa is very much inclined to think that those one billion Catholics may not be so stupid after all. They may be right after all; and-” he continued, going to the window, and waving his cane like he was yelling to someone in the street-”what a blind old fool I have been, like a old mole, not to have seen this all before. We must thank God for His mercy and compassion, even for a gouty old man like me!”

Part One: We visited the site of Mary’s birth, where the Immaculate Conception took place. It was also here that Jesus cured the cripple at the Pools of Bethesda in John 5. We listened to some Protestants belittling Mary and the Catholic Church there. Another guide was mocking the Via Dolorosa.

We then went to the Western Wall and I told the pilgrims the story of the Wall and we all prayed there — for the conversion of the Jewish people. It was pretty exciting since it was Bar Mitzvah Thursday. Then to lunch at Ramat Rachel overlooking Bethlehem before a free afternoon.

Then the happy-sad part. We all had dinner together and hugged, cried, said our good-byes and got a lot of comments on video for all of you to see.

Part One: Via Dolorosa, touching top of Calvary, Mass at the Tomb of Christ, Israel Museum to see Dead Sea Scrolls, Model of 1st century Jerusalem, authentic baptismal site of Jesus to renew our baptismal vows, lunch in Jericho.

Part Two: Qumran, Dead Sea Swimming, Camel riding, free evening.

What a great day. Started the day with Mass at Gethsemane at the stone where Jesus sweat drops of blood. Then to the top of the Mount of Olives where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray and from where he ascended into heaven.

Then to Mount Zion. We visited the place where Mary fell asleep before being assumed into heaven and made queen of heaven. Steve explained this based on the Bible. From their to the Upper Room where three sacraments were instituted: priesthood, the Eucharist and Confession. It was here also where the Holy Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost.

We then took a guided tour through the excellent Exhibition of the Shroud of Turin. Then everyone had a free afternoon.

At 5 we gathered in the lobby and walked to the Holy Sepulchre where we were met by the Franciscans and escorted in for a Solemn Entry into the Tomb after a pilgrimage greetings.

After that we walked to the Patriarchate and the Bishop of Jerusalem welcomed us in and gave us a talk and his blessing. What a day!

Part I:

Part II: Solemn Entry to the Holy Tomb followed by private meeting with the Bishop of Jerusalem.

All day in Bethlehem his always special for our pilgrims. This is the burial site of Rachel, wife of Jacob. It is the home of Ruth who became the great-grandmother of David who was born in Bethlehem and probably where he wrote Psalm 23.

It is also prophesied about by Micah 5:2 pronouncing Bethlehem as birthplace of the heavenly king. Then Jesus was born there and later St. Jerome translated the Bible into the Latin Vulgate here.

After shopping, visiting the birthplace of Our Lord (2.5 hour line) we ate schwarma sandwiches at the Christmas Tree Restaurant, then Mass at Shepherds Field where the angels announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. Then a great lamb and rice dinner and dancing.

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury.

From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by
a dictatorship.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from
complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage.

From Galilee to Jerusalem. A very rich, eventful day. Following Mary from Galilee to her relative Elizabeth, pilgrims were surprised that she walked over 90 miles.

We started the day taking a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee and having Mass at Capernaum where Jesus did more miracles than anywhere else. I gave my talk “Defending the Eucharist” at the exact place Jesus taught, “Eat My Flesh and Drink My Blood.” Then we ate St. Peters Fish and drove south to Jerusalem.

I (Steve Ray) gave my Conversion Story from Baptist to Catholic on the bus before arriving at the Church of the Visitation. Here I gave my talk “Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant.” Then to our Notre Dame Hotel for a great meal and welcome beds.

See Part One:

Part Two here:

This trip was inspired by Catholic Community Radio in Baton Rouge Louisiana. A bunch of these good folks are with us along with people from a lot of other states and even Australia and Africa. It is a very lively, Catholic, inquisitive, excited, humorous and fun group of pilgrims. They are firmly set on learning the Faith, celebrating their joy in Christ and walking in the footprints of Our Lord.

Today we visited the top of Mount Tabor where the Transfiguration took place. We prayed the Luminous Mystery of the Transfiguration where it actually happened. Then to Cana to renew wedding vows. I gave a talk on the wedding in John 2 and Amer (our Catholic Nazarene guide) told the history of the site.

Then to Nazareth for an authentic lunch at an Arab Christian restaurant before Mass at the Church of the Annunciation. We prayed the Mystery of the Annunciation in the entrance to the cave where the Angel actually said the words “Hail Full of Grace, the Lord is with you.”

After a tour of this site and my talk “A Day in the Life of the Holy Family” we drove back to Tiberias. On the way back I used my iPhone to do an interview with Catholic Community Radio. What fun! Our whole group yelled, “Wake up Baton Rouge!” We always try to have the second day easy for the pilgrims to regroup, process the whole thing and to rest.

So, everyone had the rest of the afternoon free to swim in the sea, walk into town, rest, go to confession (every day available), pray, have a glass of wine on the shore watching the fish jump and the birds fly or whatever they want. Dinner was delicious as always and a free evening for everyone.

All arrived safely. No lost luggage. Our seminarian is still on his way from Ethiopia. Our Australian pilgrim arrived along with six other Americans, some from Italy where they were visiting. All the others landed in Tel Aviv this afternoon. We picked them up and, except for our seminarian, all are sound asleep after a great meal. (Seminarian arrives at 3 AM.)

We are excited to start another group. We are grateful to the Community Catholic Radio in Baton Rouge for sponsoring and getting a lot of the pilgrims to join the trip. We have a full bus and had to turn people away. It will be a great pilgrimage. Our itinerary is based on the life of Our Lord and Rosary of Our Lady.

Today I received an e-mail from a man whose Protestant friend just returned from the Holy Land a bit disillusioned and skeptical. Here is the e-mail I received:

Hi Steve, Here’s the question in brief (read more if you have time). How do we know that the sites such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are authentic?

A Protestant friend of mine recently took a trip to the Holy Land and when he returned we had some discussions about the sites. He raised his doubts about the authenticity of some of the sites, and in particular about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He made some disparaging comments about “the liturgical church” and how they build churches on top of everything (in a tone as if they have been ruined or desecrated), and how they don’t even know that they are the real locations.

So my question to you: How do we know that these sites are authentic. I’m sure you don’t have time to give a full dissertation, but if you could point me to a good book or website I would appreciate it. Thanks for all you good work.

I responded briefly below. I had no time to craft my response carefully but wrote it in the few minutes I have. My next group is arriving and there is a lot to do here in Galilee to get ready.

Historical Progression of Church of Holy Sepulchre

Greetings from Galilee and the AUTHENTIC sites of Our Lord and Lady. I wrote three articles I hope you find helpful:

1) Holy Sites: Are these the Actual Locations.
2) Holy Ground: Thoughts on Visiting Israel.
3) Archaeology: The Stones Cry Out

My guess is your friend had a Jewish guide and like most of them he was an unbelieving skeptic. I listen to them speak to their groups and it is too often a travesty. People often leave with less faith than when they arrived due to the way the guides belittle Catholic sentiments, turning a tour into a political trip.

The site of the birth of Christ and Calvary and the Tomb are NOT up for questions (thought some Protestants have their own alternate site which is obviously not authentic, read about it in my book St. John’s Gospel). The Catholic sites are historically, archaeologically and biblically certain. They have been from the first centuries.

Our Group at Holy Sepulchre Learning and Praying at Authentic Sites

Most Protestants dislike them because they are “liturgical,” very Catholic and Orthodox. Protestants are the Johnny-come-latelys and as such they feel neglected and out of place in most of the holy sites. While Catholics celebrate the age-old Mass in the holy sites like we’ve done for 2,000 years, the Protestants are relegated to sitting under a tree reading the Bible and singing hymns, learning from their guides why no one really knows anything for sure.

Once I heard a Jewish guide say to a Catholic group in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: “Here we are at what some people believe is the place Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead (he actually believes neither). No one knows if this is really the place. It is all a matter of your faith. OK, look around and let’s go to the next site.”

The Real Place the Resurrection Took Place

With our groups we give the reasons we KNOW it is the site based on good evidence and history and archaeology, we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries and gather in front of the Tomb for a Mass and as the priest comes out of the Tomb with the consecrated host we see Jesus come out of the Tomb again sacramentally.

I understand your friend since I see it every day. I feel sorry for those who’ve spent a lot of money to see this land and understand their faith and often go home less sure then when they came. It is not ALL groups but is all to frequent. I don’t want to hear from the exception to this travesty since I know there are exceptions, but I see the other far too often.

You can be sure about the sites (at least the major ones) and when I lead a group people are in tears and full of joy and discovery and go home better Catholics, sure of their faith and ready to die for Christ if need be.

We just dropped off one group and today pick up another group at the Tel Aviv Airport. We are excited to show them the sites, watch tears well up in their eyes, see daily conversions with a deeper love for Our Lord and Lady. We never tire of doing this because we BELIEVE and KNOW what we are doing is true, authentic and has an eternal weight of glory.

(I may be criticized by some for my disparaging comments. I do not intend to disparage but to get the pendulum back where it belongs. I want people to know what they are seeing and know why some come home more skeptical than they left.)

COMMENT JUST RECEIVED FROM A PAST PILGRIM:

Martha wrote: “Hello Steve: I can relate….the first time we went to the Holy Land I felt somewhat the same way. However, 4 years later we returned, this time with Steve and Janet and everything became crystal clear…truly life altering. Hope to return soon, so much to absorb and learn with the right guides and teachers ( once again). Thanks for this refresher course!”

Today I took off for 8.7 miles along the eastern coast of the Sea of Galilee. I have only a few segments left to complete my run around the whole sea. However, since I have a torn meniscus in my knee (operation on May 23) I had to refrain from running on this segment and could only “walk very briskly”).

I started out at Kursi where I left off last time. Kursi is a national park that commemorates the place Jesus cast the demons out of the man of the Gadarenes. It is directly across the sea from Tiberias. I provide lots of videos and pictures along with commentary.

It is the month of Sivan in the season of Nisan when the wheat is harvested. I recall the story of Jesus with his disciples eating wheat along their journey and the story of Ruth gleaning the wheat fields. I demonstrate both.

I also found lots of bugs, a turtle and a dead (and deadly) viper. Without any cover at all I was caught in a thunderstorm which is unusual in May. The sea arose with rough waves.

It was a great hike and I hope you enjoy the maps, videos, pictures and commentary. Click on the image below to join me on my Jesus Walk.

Click on this image to join me on this walk with Jesus

What I do when I can’t run :-)

Goofy little video clip :-)

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