The Leper

One of the lepers has been cured! Normally they stay on the fringe of the city yelling "Unclean" "Unclean". As children we where always told to stay clear of them for they have sinned terribly. Even Moses condemned them. Now there is one of these lepers dancing around saying he was healed and people with all manner of afflictions are crowding round Jesus

Lukes Gospel
 And having brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him. [12] And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy, who seeing Jesus, and falling on his face, besought him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. [13] And stretching forth his hand, he touched him, saying: I will. Be thou cleansed. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. [14] And he charged him that he should tell no man, but, Go, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing according as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them. [15] But the fame of him went abroad the more, and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. 

 The Pharisees are grumbling again, they do not like this prophet. I heard that he was almost thrown off a cliff in the town where he was raised by his Mother and Father because the people in Nazareth didn't like what Jesus was saying to them. He is only another prophet telling us about the promises of the Kingdom of God. "repent for the Kingdom of God is close at hand" well Moses has been telling us this for years. What harm can this prophet do? Its not as if he is changing the laws we live by.

We went to the house of one his many friends, he is so popular everyone wants to be his friend. I want to be his friend. I have tried to get nearer but this place is crowded out. I am sitting here now hearing what he said because its being repeated by the Pharisees, still grumbling at him. There is a bit of a noise behind us, and this man is being carried on his bed. Perhaps they think that Jesus can heal the poor man, well he healed the Leper man.
It doesn't look like they are going to get near him today though, they will never get the bed through the door. Someone is taking the roof off, I don't believe what I am seeing! Someone is actually taking the roof off the house and lowering the bed into the house. I have to edge closer to see whats going on, I just have to see this for myself.

The man has been lowered to the floor, I am perched on a water just peering into the window, hope my jug doesn't topple over. I will hold onto the frame for safety's sake. Jesus is talking to him, the man on the bed.
"Get up your sins are forgiven" he says to him.
Wonder why he said that! its forbidden by Law of Moses to forgive sins, who is this prophet? he heals lepers, cures fevers, casts out demons and forgives our sins. He must be a special person, is he Elijah reborn as some say he is, I feel unholy in his presence now. My clothes are ragged, my feet are bare and I am poor, surely this man would think so little of poor ones, he is after all talking to Lawyers and Pharisees and this house has wealth. I feel ashamed at my poverty.
He is talking again now "Which is easier to say, thy sins are forgiven thee or to say, Arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins," he is looking down at the poor bedridden man. "I say to thee, Arise, take up they bed, and go into they house," and then to our astonishment the man who was bedridden just got off his bed, rolled it up and I jumped off the water jug and ran from the house. This man healed the cripple and the man got up and walked out of the house with no roof. I am hardly worthy to be in his presence, he walks and talks with the rich and yet he has healed the poor, the leper, the unclean and the afflicted. I am shaking with fear, I look up to the clouds and wonder, wonder why he calls himself the Son of man for he must be Elijah, I will live my days in the Synagogue praising the lord, discovering who is this man.

 Lukes Gospel
[16] And he retired into the desert, and prayed. [17] And it came to pass on a certain day, as he sat teaching, that there were also Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, that were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was to heal them. [18] And behold, men brought in a bed a man, who had the palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. [19] And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in, because of the multitude, they went up upon the roof, and let him down through the tiles with his bed into the midst before Jesus. [20] Whose faith when he saw, he said: Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.
[21] And the scribes and Pharisees began to think, saying: Who is this who speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? [22] And when Jesus knew their thoughts, answering, he said to them: What is it you think in your hearts? [23] Which is easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Arise and walk? [24] But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say to thee, Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. [25] And immediately rising up before them, he took up the bed on which he lay; and he went away to his own house, glorifying God.

Note well.
As I write I am sharing in the mystery of the Lord as a Jewish woman, I decided to write her as a young woman, not yet betrothed or wed, living in the commune with her poor family her mother and her father, sharing with the commune what they have. How would you feel if you pictured yourself in that existence, and here is a man so powerful, so loved and welcomed into rich houses, and eating with Lawyers and Doctors and people who's shadow never even falls on you, how would you feel seeing what others saw. To try and witness it all in the eyes of one who saw it all and followed him and heard it all first hand. Frightened, poor and timid, questioning what Moses Law had taught her and afraid to step out into the light. It would be romantic fable to write myself in as one of the important players of Jesus' life, I would rather be in the shadows and write it as I can only imagine it could be written by one who saw but was unknown to Jesus, except as one of those many followers. "Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me, but weep for yourselves" so my part is as a Daughter of Jerusalem the bit players or the extras that no one knows or cared to know about.

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Down by the Sea of Galilee

An anecdotal walk back in time with Jesus today.

[The bible is at its best confusing, each writer/disciple writes in their own fashion and the internet fails to provide a really good version of all of the comings and goings of Jesus, so we may edit this or rewrite it completely.
Note this an anecdotal take on what could have happened to a member of the crowd that could have been following Jesus, it's not supposed to be gospel its a Lenten Reflection.
Using the word I, or we, is a way of reflecting personally on what is happening rather reading about my experience you can interpret yourself into the story.]


Just spotted the one they call Jesus talking a group of  people, can't get near him such a crowd of folks around him. He is walking into the water now, and going out to some boats. Wonder why he did that, at least the crowd is not following him.

He climbed into the boat and now he is sitting there talking to the crowd, wonder what he is saying.

We heard rumours that his cousin, the one that baptised him John the Baptist they call him, just heard that he has been arrested.

Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, he keeps saying this over and over again.

There are also some mutterings about him healing the sick, seems like this Prophet has a lot going for him. He is from Nazareth, where ever that is, somewhere in the hill country probably.

Now the fishermen are taking him further out to sea, they seem to be paying out their nets. Lots of mutterings in the crowd, the Pharisees are gathering now, glad its not the Sabbath. Just heard some women talking that he was practically thrown out of Nazareth for what he said, and Simon's Mother is here, she is saying that a fever left her only yesterday when he laid his hands on her head.

Oh wait!
The fishermen are calling for more boats, looks like they have a haul of fish out there. I thought we had overfished our Sea! Gosh the crowd are going crazy now, cheering and yelling, muttering, its cacophony of noise right now.

According to Luke you can read it all here.

Everyone is coming back to shore now we are moving off towards our homes, the hour is late, I wonder where he sleeps. Perhaps he is staying with Simon Peter he seems quite fond of him and Andrew, a couple of other men are following him.

Next Day.

Woke up to rumours that half the men folk have left their jobs and boats and gone off with Jesus, the town is in disarray right now. Must go and follow them and see where they are going and what this prophet has to offer that we have never heard of from other prophets. The Pharisees are well out of sorts at this news.

We found him with a crowd of people listening to his message, going to sit on the bank and listen with them.

In The Desert the Temptations

I wrote this up in hindsight thinking that I would easily locate the desert, the wilderness that Jesus' spirit was led to, not so, the closest I could even get to it was a geographical guess.

Jesus was baptised by St John in the River Jordan and near by is a Wilderness, of course it has changed, that is the nature of nature and sadly the nature of war and poverty and loss of life.


So let us take a look at those photos and see if they strike a chord in your hearts, a place to witness or just meditate on his 40 days in the Wilderness.

Each and everyone of us has a desert in our Lives. That emptiness that fills us up with hopeless and despair, what is the point of this or that you ask yourselves. Then you see the wonders of God and you are filled with hope.

When it all gets too much we stand on a pinnacle and wonder where its all going and we think. How can I change this life? Small steps, off the pinnacle, reflect, think and most importantly pray. Oh Jesus, I trust in you, just as you trusted in your Father. Let Gods will be done not mine, do as you will not as I will.

One of the temptations we in our secular lives fall into so easily is wanting, desiring and having it all. But if we have it all, are we happy? Are we still hungry for more when is enough ever enough to satisfy our needs. Enjoy a little, let someone else chase the kingdoms.

And Lead us not into temptation.

When we hunger for more and we are tempted to take more that we have, we turn rocks to stones. How many of us, ourselves included wanted something so badly we remortgaged the house, won a promotion at all costs and landed our self in debt and misery. Jesus was tempted, he trusted in the Lord God his Father. Trust in him when you are tempted, say no to loans, second mortgages, expensive holidays abroad. Live a reasonable, frugal life your reward will come, the time of eating nuts and berries will pass to better things. I am the bread of life, anyone who eats this bread will live forever.

End it all and its all over. When we get to the lowest point in life, how easy and how very sad it is to say to just give up, not through submission but through utter despair. Jesus was tempted to throw himself from the highest point and yet he trusted in his Father. When we, you or your loves ones are in such desperation call on God. God Help me, let these feelings pass away. In sleep they pass. Mild, Moderate and Severe Depression is all part of living in a wilderness alone, secular society can make our lives so lonely, our friends shallow and our life meaningless. Fill your life with other things, seek a church, a society, call on God, don't stay alone in your wilderness forever, beyond the sand there is a new world waiting for you. God knows everything about you Lord Help Me and he will.





A Quote from biblegateway.com

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted^[a] by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’^[b]”
⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’^[c]”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’^[d]”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’^[e]”
¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Some beautiful art work we found on the three Temptations.

Jesus Alone

Alone and in need of his father, knowing what he has to face in his future accepting it all.

Loneliness leads to temptation.

You are hungry turn these rocks to bread.

I will give you the Kingdoms of the World

Throw yourself down and you will be saved.

The Moral of these Temptations is a simple one, Do NOT give into Temptation.
Jesus told us we cannot worship God and Money, one will have to go and he was sad when the rich man loved his money more than God.

Falling

My none spiritual life has pulled me away from my task. Since visiting Bethlehem and Cana I have had difficulty trying to decipher the chronological order of everything.

The Wedding Feast at Cana, the first Miracle.
Jesus' Baptism in the River Jordan
Jesus' time in the wilderness

I feel as if I have been in my own personal desert searching at a loss for the chronological order of where Jesus went, what came first, and in what path do I follow him. First Google maps are very sketchy, searching for the usual photographic evidence is also difficult, so I have decided it is time to follow the Bible, the Lenten message that my own church lives by.

I have been blessed to attend two wonderful services in my home town of Liverpool, at Christopher Grange Chapel.
Last Wednesday we went to celebrate the Feast Day of St Joseph, Jesus' Foster Father and yesterday we celebrated Marys Annunciation. Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let your will be done.

So it seemed only fitting that we should get right back on track with our Lenten Retreat using a different method.

I am sure if I were in an organized tour with a trip to the Holy Land it would not be such a difficult task to set oneself or retreat into Jesus' life.

I have decided instead to abandon my tour as it is, and relive life in the Wilderness to go back in time, using my imagination and all the technology of today, to relive his adult life through the eyes of the scriptures instead of modern times.

I think my time spent in Cana was a real eye opener as to what is real and what is not, and how easy it is even for a virtual Pilgram to fall into the traps of secular society, and to see the Feast of Miracles as nothing but some sad and very expensive tourist attraction.

The Tourism view of Cana.

Shown here, because we found it quite shocking and I am so glad I was on a virtual tour and not a real life tour, this would have upset me, as it does to see other miracles paraded as tourist attractions. Are we not standing on Holy Ground.

No, I would not thank you for a bottle of this, to me it is a mockery of a really beautiful miracle. Hence my reasons for not wishing to continue with the retreat even virtually.

This is why I would visit Cana and for no other reason. To see, to pray, to worship.

Friday Reflection

We have been on our "Pilgrimage" for over a week now, its one week of Lent six more to go to Good Friday.

I just want to reflect on our trip.

We went into Nazareth because we knew that's where Jesus was conceived, not knowing that we would see such wonders and meet such wonderful sites, stay in beautiful places, spiritual and holy places. Eat such delicious exotic food and be that hungry, that hot or that tired.

We left Nazareth for EIN Karem to visit the place of John the Baptists Birth and we discovered such wonders, the beautiful churches, the spring, the mountains everything was such a wonder of colour and beauty.

Then we backtracked to Nazareth, stayed the night at the Rosary Sisters' guest house and then traveled to Jerusalem, the safest way to get to Bethlehem is to take a taxi cab from Jerusalem to Bethlehem expensive but safe. We wanted to walk like Mary and Joseph did and take a donkey, but it's just not safe.

We saw Jesus' birthplace, the Chapel of the Nativity, Palestine in disarray, barriers of protection and of war. Tourists, one side and bombs and bloodshed the other. Afraid to say much about the unsocial unrest we left Bethlehem.

We didn't have to escape for our lives like Mary and Joseph with their baby, we didn't have to travel into Egypt to protect our babe from Herods wrath, we didn't have to divert or skirt around Jerusalem, we were able to travel home, to Nazareth, back to the Rosary Sisters Guest House for much needed sleep and rest and reflection.

So that's how we did it, on a Google map, although we never really left our home for this reflection except for Church on Sunday at Christopher Grange. Although we never really traveled to Israel we feel as if we have been on a journey of discovery.

We discovered so much about our faith and how venerable and adored Christ is.

The rest of our Journey starting on Monday will begin with Cana, and then on towards Galilee to visualise the boats and the gathering of fishermen. "I will make you fishers of Men, " he said and they followed him yes, right up to his death.

Yes from now on we will follow Jesus the Man.

Bethlehem

Goodness, I wonder if it was this difficult for Mary and Joseph to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

Albeit it was cold, they had a donkey, a heavily pregnant lady, footsore and weary, they had to travel through brigand country. Poor Joseph was still betwixted and between about his duty to this Lady, another mans child, goodness he had very little understanding until the angels set him right. What then? What was the poor man thinking.

What about Mary, and all her troubles, her pain, her giving birth. Albeit she had been at her cousin's birth, so she knew what to do, but still, she was going to go through what Elizabeth had gone through. She had great faith, let us pray that we have great faith in times of trouble.

Today, goodness knows what it looked like during Marys day.

At Night

The Terrain to Bethlehem must have been treacherous, no roads, a path probably for the carts to rumble through, milling with  people and noise what a frightening world for a pregnant lady and her husband Joseph.

An image of what Palestine looked like before the unrest we hear of today.

A current Map of Bethlehem for Tourists

An ancient map courtesy and copy write of Dreamtime.

What Palestine Women wore to keep cool and for modesty.

Below the Gate of Humility.
I don't know about you, but I would require strength and faith to pass through a very small hole, knowing that, it was my only means of escape would conjure up terror for me, I am so afraid of small places. Thank goodness, then I am in my home.
I would akin the fear I feel to the utter terror those poor people in Palestine felt when the soldiers thundered down the streets of Israel and Bethlehem, slaughtering all the children under two, killing their mothers as well, mowing down anyone who got in their way all because Herod didn't want his throne threatened.

The inside of the fearsome entrance, is it not worth a moment terror just to see this site of wonder.

To see our Kings Royal Birth place, anointed and blessed with candles and holy oils.

I couldn't think of any more humbling, a small babe, born here over 2000 years ago, I hear the skeptics amongst you yelling "allegedly". Yea of little faith, Tens of thousands of pilgrims come here to worship him, and why not. I care nothing for science or the term "allegedly" God made us and we have been given the grace to believe in the Saviour and his birth place.

I have had my faith tested, humanity or lack of it has tested it, yet I see from my visit and reflection so many wonders. Put your hand here and doubt no longer.

Monday in Ein Kerem

Following on from our visit to the Church of the Annunciation, we decided to follow the path of Our Lady and go to her cousin's home in EIN Kerem. Since this is a "desktop" pilgrimage or a virtual, it is very easy to hop from one place to another.

It's an hour's drive from Nazareth to EIN Kerem, and worth a stopping point. For practical reasons, if you were travelling in reality you would probably do this as part of a round trip, Nazareth, Cana, Galilee, Jerusalem and EIN Kerem. We don't need to do it that way, as we wait to follow what Jesus did, even the unborn child.

This wasn't our original plan, but we have 40 days to spare, so we have time to go from his conception to his death. In reality, no one could afford to do it this way.



We visited the Church of the Visitation in EIN Karem, thanks to Google there were plenty of photographs to enable us to show you what it looks like. It's quite a step, in the real world a considerable climb to the top but worth it.

What a beautiful Church to be sure.

Below is a photo of the floor it looks like tapestry, I am sure it is very beautiful

The church of the Visitation is said to be built upon the birth place of St John the Baptist, and here is a photo of his birth place, how beautiful to see this in reality.

The rock said to be the one that protected St John from Herods Army as they massacred the innocent children.

This church is worth a visit, but it is quite a step up to it,