In 722 BC, the Assyrian army swept down into Israel. They captured most of the people of the northern kingdom and forced-marched them into exile, scattering them among foreign territories. These are the “lost tribes” of Israel; they never returned. In 587 BC, Babylon conquered the southern kingdom of Israel, known then as Judah. They destroyed the […]
COME INTO THE WORD: A Healing Encounter With Jesus (Mark 5:22-43)
The mural fills an entire wall of the Encounter Chapel, which is built on the first-century stone floor of the marketplace at Magdala by the Sea of Galilee. In it, sandals crowd the floor and linen robes brush against the legs and ankles of the men who throng around Jesus. He is a man on […]
HOW DO I LOVE THEE? A Lesson from Tabgha
Six heart-shaped rocks line the shore at Tabgha on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galiliee. They may have been pulled from an ancient quarry, remnants of old synagogues which traditionally had two heart-shaped columns at the rear corners. Sometime in the fifth to ninth century AD, they were placed in a colonnade commemorating […]
THE COURAGE OF MARY – The Annunciation
A year ago I sat, awed, a few feet from the place where tradition has it, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. The enormous Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is built over a small grotto – part of the house where Mary is said to have lived. The column that stands in it today […]
A TREE GROWS IN JAFFA: are you (spiritually) a “potted plant”?
Hidden in a courtyard in the winding, cobbled streets of Jaffa*, near Tel Aviv, is a hanging orange tree. Seen through a nearby arch it looks surreal, as though it’s trying to break out of the giant suspended pottery egg that holds it. Some miracle of engineering must keep it fed and watered, or someone […]
AS TENSIONS MOUNT IN JERUSALEM: A PRAYER FOR PEACE
We gathered behind the wooden cross two weeks ago, four of us carrying it and the remaining pilgrims lining up behind, ready to walk the Via Dolorosa – the Way of Sorrows – the way Jesus may have walked through Jerusalem to his crucifixion. Suddenly, a hail of small explosions peppered the air. We looked […]
ROCKING AT THE WAILING WALL
I went recently to pray at the Western (“Wailing”) Wall in Jerusalem. It is a sacred place where Jews from around the world gather to pray, often leaving written prayers tucked in the spaces between the great stones. In contrast to the Temple Mount itself, which allows access to non-Muslims for only a few hours […]
