Blog for Sunday, October 23, submitted by Rev. Lynell M. Caudillo
This morning after a nourishing breakfast prepared by our hostess, Badeea, at the guest house in Ibillin, we ventured out to Bar’am National Park, which includes some ancient ruins of two synagogues that were built in the late fourth or early fifth century. Of greater interest to our group however, was seeing the remains of the town of Biram, the home of Abuna Elias Chacour. (The details of his story can be found in the book Blood Brothers.) We walked through the ruins as we listened to Nahida, whose family also is from the village of Kufor Biram. She now lives nearby in Gish. She recounted much of the history of families being removed from the village by the new state of Israel in 1948, to find refuge in nearby caves, confiscation of their land, and the later demolition of the village at the hands of the IDF. It is inaccurate and inadequate (in my opinion) to say that “Maronite Christians resided in Bar’am until their evacuation during the 1948 War of Independence”—the only reference to the events that occurred there during the 20th century, as noted the official brochure published by the National Park service.
Despite the sad and distressing story of this village, the Maronite Church still stands (though reconstructed) as a testimony of the resilience and perseverance of the faith of the people. There we experienced a meaningful worship service led by Rev. Charlie Lewis, Rev. Matt Paul, Rev. Don Dunn, Rev. Lynell Caudillo and Dana Wright, who brought a challenging message on “The Prophethood of All Believers”. Singing and praying for peace in this particular place was especially poignant. May God act in respond to our prayers!!
During our bus ride to the Sea of Galilee, “fast food” appeared! Our hostess had prepared manaeesh, served with cucumbers, tomatoes and apples. Delicious!
Having arrived at the Sea of Galilee, it was a short walk to the dock where David and his partner had moored two wooden boats, linked together and holding 12 passengers each. They are designed to represent those similar to the ones that the Zebedee brothers used when fishing on the Sea in Jesus’ day. Made of oak and pine, these weigh 6 tons, and are fully electric!
Once out on the water, David our captain was very congenial, explaining about the history of the area and where Jesus ministry took place along the shores of this beautiful lake. In spite of the heat and humidity, dangling our feet in the water was fun and refreshing. In reflecting on the trip so far, this was one of my personal favorite experiences!
Back on the shore we drove a short distance to three historic sites that commemorate particular events in the life of Jesus and the disciples. The first was Tabgha—the Church of Loaves and Fishes. The miracle of feeding 5,000 plus(!) from the sack lunch of a child, is remembered here through a beautiful mosaic, that one in particular is below the communion table featuring five loaves of bread and two fish. Elsewhere in the sanctuary are many more mosaics on the floors, featuring birds and plants which date to the Byzantine era. In 2015 this church was fire-bombed by settlers, inflicting significant damage to the church compound (which has now been repaired).
A short walk up the road is the Primacy of Peter Church (Catholic) that recalls –see John 21 and Matthew 16—two events: The Risen Lord’s ‘reinstatement’ of Peter, and the statement of Jesus that the church would be “built on the rock”– Peter’s name means “rock”. What was most impressive here were the ancient “steps” that in Jesus’ and Peter’s day led to the water’s edge where fishermen would bring in their catch, and pay taxes. This brought us very near to the “real” place where Jesus and his disciples likely walked!
The third and final stop of the day was Capernaum—the ruins of the town have been preserved by a branch of the Catholic church. This was most impressive—the remains of a synagogue, homes, and more. Given their age, there are “ruins upon ruins”. For instance, under the synagogue are the remains of one built by a Roman centurion. The Gospel of John relates the speech of Jesus on the Bread of Life (John 6:59) to that synagogue. Whether that is accurate, it is probably safe to say that we walked in Jesus’ and the disciples’ footsteps today!
There is more that could be added about each place we visited today, but this will have to suffice. We were most honored this evening to experience more holy moments as Abuna Elias Chacour graced us with his presence! We listened and were inspired by his deeply spiritual presence and personhood as he recounted some of his personal story.
How blessed we are to share this journey of faith in this holy place!