Day 4

Greetings everyone!

It’s Thursday evening as I sit down to write this entry. We had an absolutely fantastic day today and we’re a bit worn out from all that we saw and experienced. The pilgrims all love our guide, Isaac, and are trying to find a way to bring him home with us. His understanding of history, geography, and scripture is very impressive.

Today we visited the many areas where Christ performed many of his miracles. We feel blessed to visit the places that were so important to our Lord’s earthly life. Some of the places we visited include Caesarea Philipi where our Lord first granted Peter the primacy of the Church (Mt. 16:18-19).

In Tabgha we visited the beautiful church of the Beatitudes (Mt. 5: 1-12), the Dominican Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes (Mk. 6: 30-44) and the chapel for the Primacy of Peter where Christ asked Peter three times if he loved him.

We then took a break for lunch at a local restaurant where most of us ate a meal which included the delicious, commonly known as the St. Peter’s fish (Tilapia to us).

Capernaum, tte town that Jesus called his home as an adult, was where we we saw the ruins of St. Peter’s mother-in-law’s home (Mk 1: 29-31) and the synagogue where Jesus taught. We also traveled to the site where Jesus cast out the demons in two men from Gerasene (Mk 5: 1-20).
The culmination of our day was on the Sea of Galilee where we celebrated Mass on the “Jesus Boat.”

What a privilege to be here!

Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.


Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee


Our guide Isaac at Caesarea Philippi

Caesarea Philippi

Mount of Beatitudes
Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes
Father Rick reading scripture on the multiplication of loaves and fishes
Tabgha-The Primacy of Peter, Sea of Galilee
Capernaum-The Village Synagogue
Mass on the 'Jesus Boat' on the Sea of Galilee

Hava-Na-Gila on the 'Jesus Boat' after Mass

Day 3

After breakfast and Morning Prayer we began our day by traveling to Mt. Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8) where we conducted a prayer service.

We then drove to the beautiful city of Nazareth, the hometown of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Our first stop was the Church of the Annunciation, the largest Basilica in the Middle East where we observed the grotto where the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary asking her to be the Mother of God (Luke 1:26-38). What an incredible experience to walk and observe this holy area where Our Lady lived, Joseph worked, and Jesus grew up. While in the Basilica, we prayed the Magnificat. We had Mass onsite at the Church of St. Joseph where the Holy Family resided after their return from their exodus in Egypt.

The next pilgrimage stop was at the site of Christ’s first miracle in Cana, where Jesus, at a wedding, turned water into wine. (Jn 2:1-11) Here, in the Franciscan church dedicated to the Sacrament of Marriage our married couples renewed their wedding vows. Spouses who lost their loved ones were also remembered and wedding bands blessed.

Our last stop today was at the river Jordan where Jesus was Baptized. Our pilgrims renewed their Baptismal promises and many collected water to bring back home.


Sunrise from our hotel on Sea of Galilee.



Pilgrims walking to Franciscan church on Mt. Tabor.

On the road in Nazareth to Church of the Annunciation.



Church of the Annunciation, largest Basilica in the Middle East.
Praying the Magnificat.
The Nazareth street level that Jesus walked.
Renewing marriage vows.
Renewing our baptism vows.

Day 2

Arrival in Tel Aviv


Greetings everyone!

We finally arrived in Israel this morning after a ten hour flight. We met our guide Roni and immediately hopped on our bus heading to Mt. Carmel. The sunny and beautiful weather only adds to our excitement. In transit we prayed morning prayer together.

Once at the top of Mt. Carmel, we gathered together in a beautiful chapel, run by the Franciscans, for Mass. It was the perfect way to begin our pilgrimage through the Holy Land. Mt. Carmel was the site of the famous challenge between God and Baal (1 Kings 18:1-46). The surrounding area is filled with spectacular views, history, and biblical significance. We remembered our parish and book of intentions at the Mass.

Lunch was at a Kibbutz. Soon after, we travelled to Mt. Precipice which overlooks the town of Nazareth and the Yizreel Valley below. Mt. Precipice is the site where the people of Nazareth attempted to throw Christ off the steep cliffs located there. The panoramic views stretched from the Mediterranean to Jordan.

We’re all settled in for the night, have finished a wonderful dinner at our hotel overlooking the Sea of Galilee.


Mass at Mt. Carmel with your prayer intentions.



Our group of pilgrims at Mt.Precipice.


View of Nazareth from Mt. Precipice.



Views of Yizreel Valley stretching from the Mediterranean to Jordan.

Day 1

We're on our way!

We left from St. Bernard by bus at 5:00 am for Logan Airport. Spirits were high. We're presently in Newark airport and I've had the opportunity to meet the rest of our group. We will have 16 from our parish and 24 from Father David's parish in Massachusetts. We are blessed with terrific people. Now we simply need to patiently wait for our 4:00 departure to Tel Aviv. We will arrive in Tel Aviv approximately 9:15 am on December 1st, Israel time. Our time will be 7 hours ahead of EST time in Connecticut. Each day we will have different pilgrims post their comments and reactions to the sites visited.


We started with the St. Bernard Prayer at our beautiful church before we departed.

























Everyone have their passport?


















We made it to Logan, Newark is next!












Our "puddle jumper" got us safely to Newark on time.














Are we almost there?
















Fr. David chats with Cece and Judy.















Fr. Rick with Pilgrims















Here's our jet! Next stop Tel Aviv!

Welcome to our Holy Land Blog

Dear friends,

Welcome to our Holy Land Blog.

I am so excited that you will be able to journey with us, via this Blog, as we walk in the steps of Christ. Each day we’ll be sending you a journal entry on the sites, photos, and activities of that particular day. The first entry from the Holy Land won’t be up until we finish our first day’s adventure on Tuesday, December 2nd.

Pre-flight jitters are already hitting me as I scramble to get everything ready. Fr. David and I are preparing the homilies, liturgies, and prayer services that we’ll be using during our adventure. I already packed your prayer request so that I won’t forget them in the last minute rush. The booklet will stay with me wherever we go and there will be forty pilgrims praying for our parish.

Monday morning our pilgrimage begins at 5:00 am. The St. Bernard crew, along with yours truly, will be leaving the St. Bernard parking lot in a shuttle bus heading to Logan Airport. It’s a bit early but who’s going to be able to sleep anyways!

Please keep us in your prayers as you will be in ours. May God bless you and our beautiful parish.

With peace,
Fr. Rick