Cana, Nazareth, Caesarea and then... home!

Good afternoon everyone!
I have have arrived safely back to Minnesota. I am writing this segment from my office at the parish. Two weeks is a long time to be gone (at least it seems like a long time:)!
Our last day in Israel was a great one - but it was also a long one! We started the day early with a 6:15 a.m. wake up call, breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and at the bus at 8:15 a.m. and leave at 8:30 a.m. We had to have our luggage ready to go that morning and check out of our rooms before we left.
Our first stop was Cana in Galilee. We visited a a beautiful church in Cana that marks the spot where the Wedding Feast at Cana took place. This was the first of Jesus' public miracles. It began with the intercession of Our Blessed Mother on behalf of the wedding couple. During the feast in celebration of the wedding the wine ran out. As stated in the Gospel of John, Mary mentioned to Jesus that they have no more wine. Jesus asked Mary what concern this was to Him as His hour had not yet come. Mary simply responded to the waiters: 'Do whatever He tells you.' We know then the Jesus commanded the waiters to fill the ceremonial washing jars (they are big - holding 20 - 30 gallons each) with water. Jesus then turned the water into wine. It was better wine than the first wine served - which amazed the head waiter. There need not be any amazement for us, however. Jesus is most generous and wonderful with His gifts:)!
While at Cana, all the married couples renewed their wedding vows and received a blessing from Bishop Sheridan in this church. It was a blessed and moving experience for all!
We then traveled to Nazareth where we visited the Church of the Annunciation. This was one of my three favorite stops for the whole pilgrimage - along with the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Nativity in Bethlehem. There is an altar that marks the exact spot where the Incarnation of Jesus took place in the womb of Mary! I could feel the holiness of that place. We celebrated Holy Mass just next to the small niche and altar of the place of the Annunciation. After Holy Mass we gathered near the spot of the Annunciation and prayed the Angelus. As you might imagine - it was awesome to pray the Angelus at the very spot where it took place! I am thinking to myself even at this moment: WOW! Knowing and believing in the mystery of what took place and being there to experience the place is a great blessing (even those are inadequate to describe extent of it)! I wanted to stay and pray for a time, but I could not afford to as the group had already moved on and I had to catch up. It is truly one of the most blessed spots on earth!
After visiting the entire Church of the Nativity, we took a few minutes to patronize a Christian religious good store. There are not many Christians remaining in Nazareth or in the Holy Land in general. We did our best to show them our support through patronizing their businesses. You might have guessed, I gave out some green scapulars as well:)!
We then left Nazareth and headed for Ceasarea. On the way we prayed the Holy Rosary. Ceasarea is a city founded by King Herod (the same one who tried to kill the infant Jesus) to a port city for encouraging trade in the area. He built a huge reef to break the water tide so that ships could anchor to drop off and pick up merchandise that was or would be traded. It was a great success in regard to encouraging trade in the Mediterranean area. The city has been built and destroyed several times throughout the past 2000 years. Now, the old city is nearly all in ruins, but some of it has been rebuilt with modern structure on or near the old ruins to attract and accomodate tourists who want to visit. It is a site mentioned in Sacred Scripture. For example, in the Act of the Apostles, St. Peter was summoned to go to Ceasarea to visit a man named Cornelius.
After we looked around a bit at Ceasarea (I wanted to put my hand in the Mediterranean Sea to simply feel it - we do not get the chance to experience sea water in Minnesota:) we went on to Joffa for dinner. We had a fine meal. There were three option for us: fish (with head on as I described a few days ago), chicken kabob and ground meat patties. If we wanted one of the latter two we could choose to have a sample of each and that is what I chose. After the meal we boarded the bus to go to the airport. We said goodbye to our wonderful Franciscan guide, Fr. David, and our excellent bus driver, Lavon. They are very good at what they do!
At the airport everything went well. We had the usual experience of many questions and strict security. I would rather have this type of inconvenience than have to face a very serious problem due to a lack of security.
The overnight flight went by rather quickly. I was able to get some sleep and watched some of the scenes of the 2nd and 3rd episodes of the Lord of the Rings between 'naps' (One does not really get to sleep soundly on a plane).
We then had about a four hour layover in Newark before our flight to Minnesota. The first thing I had in the airport was a Cafe Mocha at the coffee shop. I thought a little sugar and caffiene would keep me going.
Around 8:40 a.m. (EST) we boarded our flight for home from Newark. We arrived back in Minnesota around 12:00 p.m. We had some delays on the tarmac in Newark due to rain. Otherwise it was a smooth flight.
In reflecting on my experiences during my piligrimage to the Holy Land I think, from beginning to end, it was the best pilgrimage I have ever experienced. Being a pilgrim to the Holy Land is completely different from other holy places. These spots mark the very places where the actions God took to redeem us happened! The graces are very special and awe inspiring! I deeply filled with gratitude to God for this gift! I also thank you for your prayers (I have not any symptoms of a cough or cold for a week!:) I am also grateful to Bishop Sheridan, John Lang who put the pilgrimage together, my friends who sponsored me to become a member of the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre and all the other pilgrims on our pilgrimage. The blessings are many - more than I can count right now - and I am very happy that I can share them with you! May God bless you and your families! Let us continue to pray for each other that our pilgrimage toward eternal life may finally find all of us at the final Holy Place we all want to see and experience and never leave: Heaven!
In Christ through Mary,
Fr. Kasel