Last Sunday’s Gospel told us the story of the Transfiguration. If we place ourselves in that narrative and imagine experiencing it as Peter, James and John did, we come to understand why Peter reacted the way he did. Jesus, along with Elijah and Moses, really rocked Peter’s world.
Every Christian should know and share the kerygma — the proclamation of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus — because it is the Good News. It should be a story we are passionate about, know its details and be joyful in its telling!
During the recent Diocese of Camden Pilgrimage led by Bishop Dennis Sullivan and Father Robert Hughes, Vicar General, I traveled with my husband and 54 pilgrims to walk (and ride a bus) for nine days, literally “walking” the kerygma, a real life chance to be in the Gospel stories we know so well. We never quite got used to being in the same places as Jesus, Mary and the Apostles.
All the locations of the stories told in the Gospels — Jesus’ life and his miracles — are here to see and to touch. Mass was celebrated every day in these magnificent churches built upon these holy places. Though the pilgrims were together, each was walking his/her own personal journey with Jesus. He comes brilliantly to life in the Holy Land.
Every person had a number of experiences each held near and dear to their hearts. They brought these experiences home with them, changed by them.
As we waited in the airport for a delayed return to the U.S., we chatted about what moved us on this trip. A pilgrim who has traveled the world, yet never to Israel, is Rita Travaglione Wood from Christ the Redeemer in Atco. When asked about her most moving moment or her favorite place, she said she could not do it. “I want to really know what Jesus did between 12 and 30 now. How did Joseph meet Mary? Scripture is so much more powerful now … and I did love the peace of being on the Sea of Galilee, “ Wood shared.
Father Raymond Gormley, pastor of the Parish of the Incarnation in Mantua, said he was moved by the Mass celebrated at the Holy Sepulchre. In the early hours of this same day, Father led the pilgrims in the Via Dolorosa (The Way of the Cross) through the streets of Jerusalem before Mass here. This is the place where Jesus was crucified and buried. The area of the tomb is surrounded by an “edicule” and when Mass is celebrated, all the priests enter for the consecration.
On this day, Bishop Sullivan was the celebrant for the 6:30 a.m. Mass. At consecration, the priests enter the edicule. “Watching and hearing bishop say, ‘This is the Lamb of God’ at the tomb of the risen Christ, with the risen Jesus in my hand was an amazing moment,” Father Gormley said. He also loved being in the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter— where Jesus made breakfast for the Apostles after his resurrection.
We had a chance to visit Cana, the place of Jesus’ first miracle at the behest of his mother. All the married couples had the opportunity to renew wedding vows with Father Gormley presiding. My husband, Joe Britt, said it was powerful to be in Cana because Jesus and Mary were here, and we were now surrounded by our fellow pilgrims as witnesses. There were many important places and moments, but this one holds special meaning because “I was committing myself to my wife and to Christ,” he said.
We visited the Benedictine Church of the Dormition — a church built on the place tradition tells us Mary “fell asleep” and then was assumed into heaven. We sang Marian hymns around a life-sized image of the “sleeping” Mary statue. There was a beautiful mosaic on the ceiling depicting Jesus holding a baby girl in his arms over the sleeping (adult) Mary. The baby girl represents Mary’s soul, we learned, and it moved pilgrims in deep and powerful ways.
Joseph Biegalski, from Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Newfield, said, “Her dormition was a very different way to think about Mary. I had always assumed she was awake, alive. It feels more holy to me she was assumed this way — sleeping,” he said
Deacon Joe Kane and his wife Trish, of Holy Family Parish, Sewell, were on their second pilgrimage. Their first pilgrimage, six years ago, was almost overwhelming. Trish said a pilgrim to the Holy Land learns how much proof is available to a world continually denying Jesus.
As for me, I admit I am changed by the experience. So many places moved me, and some to the point of putting a little “dust in my eye” as my husband likes to say when no one should think you are crying.
I thought, going into this pilgrimage, that this trip to the Holy Land would be a one-time experience. I did not think I would ever consider another pilgrimage. But, that is changed now, too. I was open to what Jesus would gift me on this trip. The blessings are abundant.
Ed. Note: 206 Tours will be offering another Holy Land Pilgrimage hosted by Father Robert Hughes on Feb. 17-26, 2022. To learn more, go to: www.pilgrimages.com/frhughes
Donna Ottaviano-Britt is director of Discipleship and Leadership, Diocese of Camden.
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