Bagels

Good Morning / Afternoon / Evening / whatever time you read this!

I hope and pray all of you are doing well. I'm doing great over here in the Holy Land. Things have been pretty go go go the last few days, so I'm sorry I have not written more for my blog. I have been able to see and do a lot of amazing things since the last time I blogged. So I will share some of those with you.

I got to participate in the actual Stations of the Cross. Every Friday, at least during Lent, the Franciscans pray the Stations outside along the actual path Jesus would have walked to Calvary. I have to admit, it was hard to pray with so many people and with life in the city just continuing on around you, but to say I participated in it was the grace. To walk where He walked to Calvary is quite special.

Another thing was we visited the coastal city of Ashkelon. This was a long day since we hit a lot of traffic, but it is in such a beautiful area. It was right up against the Mediterranean Sea and the water was so blue!  We saw some bricks that were dated 4,000 years old and yet we're still intact, which is amazing that they lasted that long. We also saw some Crusader walls and visited in the park where I believe a Basilica would have been.

Today I saw 3 churches. We saw the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalen and the church in the Mt. of Olives which is the Church of the Agony in the Garden. The church of Mary Magdalen was nice to walk around. It had many many relics. The Church of the Agony was beautiful too. We were able to have Mass there. The person who built the Church made it in such a way that with the windows, art, and architecture, that it would seem almost night like, and as a result be able to set up a scene similar to what Christ would have experienced in His sufferings that night in the garden.  In front of the altar was the rocks where it is believed He prayed. The same person who built the Church of the Agony built the church of the Raising of Lazarus with stone that absorbs moisture so that the church feels cooler and almost like you're in a tomb to represent the tomb of Lazarus. Very unique and neat churches for sure. It's neat how they can build them to mimic what they are dedicated for.  Also, while on the topic of churches, I visited today too the Church of the Flagellation of Jesus. This I believe is where He would have been beaten before He made the Way of the Cross. It was powerful to be in there and to pray a little.

Now for another important part of the trip, the food!  The food has been pretty good in Jerusalem.  I have had Kosher McDonald's now. The frys are still the same!  I also found a cheap pizza place. This place is cheap cheese or vegi pizza, but it does the trick until I can get home to some Home Rum Inn Pepperoni pizza!  I also tried "Holy Bagel" today. It was delicious!   I love bagels. One of my favorite foods, but I hadn't had one since I arrived. They were pricy, but well worth it!  Overall as I mentioned, the food has been good, but I'm starting to miss home food. It'll be nice to get back to that, and to pay less money for it too!

Please keep me and my class in your prayers. We have a midterm on Monday. It will be a lot of material, but hopefully will be pretty straight forward. I can't believe we have just about two weeks left. The time has gone by rather fast. It'll be good to be home, but I'm going to try and enjoy these last days as much as possible. Take care everyone!

Oh, I almost forgot, here is the link to photos. I've updated it. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66858764@N08/with/9112948990/


-Chris