Holy Land pilgrimage a Thanksgiving to remember

On Nov. 17, 2022, 84 pilgrims boarded the plane and took an 11-day pilgrimage to Israel to “Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus” in the Holy Land. Their spiritual guides for the pilgrimage were myself and Father Moen, pastor of Sacred Heart in Minto and St. Stanislaus in Warsaw.  We were assisted by Deacons Ken Votava and Tom Geffre, both from Jamestown.

One of our pilgrims spoke of their experience and said, “I did not want to give up my Thanksgiving with my family, but I’m glad that I did as I came home a different person than when I left. I am ever grateful to celebrate Thanksgiving on my arrival home with new beginnings. This is an opportunity that anyone who gets a chance to make sure you go. Christmas and Holy Week will never be the same.”

I have now had the privilege of taking eight pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and was asked by a brother priest, “Why do you go there so often?” I told him there is more conversion on one hour of this trip, than you can have in many years of classroom experience. I love taking groups to see the sites because I can see conversion happen right in front of my eyes that I could not have had if I taught the same material to the same group of people in a classroom setting. They have to be able to see the distances and terrain, the places where our Lord lived, worked, taught, and healed. It becomes real in their hearts after they hear the gospel at each site, pray the rosary decades where they have occurred, and offered Mass at a Holy Site every day. We even blessed marriages at Cana, celebrated anointing of the sick in Capernaum, and renewed our baptismal promises at the Baptism site of Jesus.”

This was the first time any of my groups had a chance to celebrate Mass in the tomb of our Lord Jesus. The tomb only fits three people inside of it, and everyone else felt like Mary Magdalene waiting for our Lord in Holy Communion outside the tomb, just as she waited for his presence that first Easter. Whenever you can have Mass at the place of the Annunciation, the Mount of Beatitudes, the baptism site of our Lord, the upper room, or even Bethlehem, it brings a new perspective to the pilgrims. Many comment that it opens their eyes to the mysteries of the faith. Even though it is the same Lord we receive at every Mass in Holy Communion at home or in Israel, I like to explain to them to imagine if you were blind, and someone at home tried to describe a tree to you, how the tree’s leaves change colors, the branches break, soon new sprouts of growth take place. It is when you see it firsthand that it makes sense, and the response is that their faith is bolstered.

Father Moen has traveled with us for his third pilgrimage and said, “I love to go to the holy sites as I feel that Jesus is talking to me personally, and I can grow from those experiences to help others encounter the living God.”

Even though we just got back from this pilgrimage, we are already planning for the next one on Jan. 15–26, 2024. If anyone wants more information on this trip, they can reach out to myself or Father Moen for more information.