This Sunday's Gospel takes place in Capernaum, a city on the northern shore of the Sea of Galillee. It was the site of Saint Peter's house, which was Jesus' base of operations for His Galilean ministry.
When I was on pilgrimage in Israel in December of 2005, I had the privilege of visiting this shrine with my classmates. There is a modern church there which looks a little like a flying saucer . . .
. . . suspended over the archeological site of St. Peter's house.
Upstairs, in the church proper, there is a hole cut in the floor so that you can look down . . .
. . . into the remains of the home:
This means that when you are praying in the church, you are in the exact position of the faith-filled friends in the Gospel, who climb onto the roof, cut a hole, and lower their paralytic friend at Jesus' feet.
Upstairs, in the church proper, there is a hole cut in the floor so that you can look down . . .
. . . into the remains of the home:
This means that when you are praying in the church, you are in the exact position of the faith-filled friends in the Gospel, who climb onto the roof, cut a hole, and lower their paralytic friend at Jesus' feet.As you can imagine, this was a particularly moving place for me to pray for all of my family and friends . . . and I thought this Sunday's Gospel gave me the chance to share these pictures, and assurances of my daily prayers for all of you.
2 comments:
Thanks for reminding me that when you're in that church, you're in the position of the four friends. I've been there, but that hadn't occurred to me. I think a new thought has just entered tomorrow night's homily!
Thanks for the fun trip back to Capernaum. I've been on pilgrimage Palestine too, but have to admit that I'm not too partial to the flying-saucer church. Still, the ruins of Peter's home, the gardens, and the Sea of Galilee nearby are fantastic! It was one on my favourite places there!
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