Cesarea Phillipi, the confession of Peter and Capharnaum

Good afternoon everyone! I am writing before dinner today as we have a bit of free time. Today we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at 7 a.m. and then boarded our bus to go to Cesarea Phillipi. It was about an hour drive from Tiberias. It was in Cesarea Phillipi that Jesus asked His disciples: "Who do you say that I am?" Peter responded: "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" After Peter's confession of belief in the Divinity of Jesus, Jesus gave Peter, then called Simon his new name: Peter, for as Our Lord said to him, "You are Peter (rock) and upon this rock I will build my Church!" We know that this is true in two senses. First, Peter was the first pope and the clear leader of the Apostles, especially after Pentecost. All the popes that have succeeded in the office of the papacy have been entrusted with the great responsibility that Jesus first gave to Peter. Second, we know that St. Peter's Basilica (the primary Church of all Christendom) at the Vatican in Rome literally sits atop the tomb of St. Peter! Jesus did build His Church on Peter!
We then boarded the bus for a mountain outlook to get a view of Syria and the valley that separates Israel and Syria. Back in June of 1967 the 6 Day War took place between Israel on one side and Egypt, Syria and Jordan on the other. The latter countries had begun to put their armies at their boarders with Israel and it looked like they were all ready to attack Israel, possibly at the same time. Israel decided to strike first and they defeated the armies of these countries with their superior air power. At the end the of the war Israel kept some of the land it had taken from Syria (Golan Heights) and Egypt (Gaza Strip). Israel now occupies the West Bank (of the Jordan River - formerly controlled by the country of Jordan). Where we went today we could see the demilitarized zone that now separates Syria and Israel. This zone is maintained by the United Nations. On the top of the hill we were on there was a bunker made by the Israeli army, presumably from the time of the conflict of June, 1967.
After a time of looking viewing the countryside from this spot we went to nice restaraunt for lunch. I enjoyed a great sandwich that was more like a gyro. We then went to the ruins of the city of Capharnaum. This is the place Jesus called home during His public ministry. It is also the home town of several of the Apostles, including: Peter, Andrew (Peter's brother, both fishermen); James and John (also fisherman, with their father if I remember correctly) and the tax collector, Matthew. We saw the spot where Jesus drove out the demon while in or near the synagogue in the city. He also cured the paralytic here. Importantly, Peter's mother-in-law lived in this city and was cured by Jesus here.
The church commemorating the spot of the house of Peter's mother-in-law's house is built over, but not resting on top of that spot. The church is held off the ground by several large pillars. This was done so as to meet the Israeli law requiring the preservation of antiquities, whereever they found. We celebrated Holy Mass in that church. I offered Holy Mass for a special intention. I also included Mary Fayerweather, my family and all of you in my intentions for this Holy Mass.
After Holy Mass we walked around for a bit. The flowers are beautiful right now in this area of Israel. There is a plant called the Bouganville flower that is in full bloom and it is beautiful! We also went down near to the Sea of Galilee and took a few pictures. Our group has taken a lot of pictures -that is an understatement:)!
Tomorrow we will go on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee at 9:40 a.m. (you should be sleeping at that time:)!) We will celebrate Holy Mass on Mt. Beatitude (one guess what happened there:) We will then visit the Church of the Primacy of Peter (I thought we would do that today, but it was switched) and then have lunch at a local restaraunt. We will have some free time tomorrow afternoon before our big day on Monday and our flight home Monday night. Wow! Time has gone by so quickly! It sure is blessing to see and be at these places! It is also a blessing to be able to share them with you! I think it increases the blessings somehow.
Thank you for all your prayers! My cough is completely gone - except for the dust that is getting kicked up by the strong winds today. I am praying for all of you!
God bless you and your families!
In Christ through Mary,
Fr. Kasel