Recovering from pilgrimage

I and the other pilgrims returned from the Holy Land and Rome on Saturday. Jet lag behind me, I can now devote some time to the blog. It passes belief that the Holy Season of Advent is before us!

The highlight of the time I was there was to celebrate the Holy Eucharist on the very tomb of Christ while the group was in the outer room of the aedicule (the structure around the Holy Sepulcher).

The picture shows the north transept of the basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. While we were there, a rather disedifying fight broke out between a Greek and a Russian Orthodox priest. Unfortunately, I was not in that part of the church at the time to witness this sight. Although our guide did try to find me, it was over and the priests taken away by the police before I could get there.

One thing that comes out of a pilgrimage such as this is that the plight of the Arab population under the Jews is insufferable. No one protests the Israeli right to protect themselves. It is just that they have taken a big bite out of lands that don't belong to them. It is to long to go into here, but it is time for the Israelis to start abiding by some international laws in this regard.