“Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem... While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’” Luke 24:13, 15-16, 30-32
Today we got to sleep a little longer, but by 9:30 am, we were on our way to Emmaus. Eusebius, one of the Church fathers, identified Emmaus Nicopolis as being the Emmaus from the Bible.
Cleopas was one of the two that identified Jesus on the way to Emmaus, and his house is there. The community of the Beautitudes runs this place which is absolutely beautiful. It would be such a perfect setting for a retreat.
We were blessed that five Belen Emmaus sisters were pilgrims on this journey. What a special gift to share this amazing experience together, as well as with all the new friends that we have made on this journey.
The Emmaus mass was very special. We started by singing the Emmaus song “Are not our hearts burning within us...” The main reading, of course, was the Emmaus reading from Luke 24:13-35.
In his homily, Father Willie shared two stories. The first one was from when he was a student at Belen. They went to Arroyo La Vieja, in the Dominican Republic, to build a road to connect to the town. There was a huge stone in the middle of the road that obstructed the passage. Father Willie and the other boys that were there, decided that they had to remove the stone if they were going to succeed in building the road. They tried to break the stone with picks and shovels. They were exhausted, all sweaty, and the stone would not budge. In the meantime, the campesinos that were with them, sat on the side of the road, and they were laughing at them while watching them struggle. Eventually, another group of campesinos came over, and they started setting a place around and in top of the stone that looked like a barbecue. Father Willie for sure thought that they were going to have a cookout. Then they turned on the fire. Little by little, the stone began to get red and very hot. The stone was on fire. This time, it was Father Willie and his Belen friends who were sitting down on the side of the road, looking at the show. When the stone was as hot as it could get, the campesinos came with buckets of very cold water, and they threw it at the rock. And just like that, the huge rock broke apart.
Right now, our hearts are on fire because of this amazing ten-day pilgrimage that we just completed. But tomorrow, we return to Miami. Our friends and family did not experience this pilgrimage, so they will not understand the “high” that we are feeling. When we try to explain it to them, we are going to get hit with a bucket of cold water. This will quench the fire that we are feeling. So what should we do to keep our hearts on fire?
Father Willie shared with us another story. Years ago, he took a group of students on retreat to Spring Hills College in Alabama. On one of the nights, they had a very special and touching ceremony with candles. One of the boys asked him: “Father Willie, here we are with our hearts on fire, but what happens when we return to Miami?” Father Willie had the perfect answer to this question. He told them that in order to keep their hearts burning within them, they had to pray daily; they should go to mass more often than just on Sundays; and they should read the Bible to learn the Scriptures.
He felt very good about his answer, when Gaby, a football player who was not the sharpest tool in the shed, raised his hand. Father Willie thought to himself, “Oh no, here comes Gaby. He’s going to ruin the momentum.” But he allowed him to talk.
Gaby says: “Father Willie, I was thinking that earlier, when we had our candles lit up, the wind was threatening to blow out the candles. I had to cover them with my hands, block the wind with my body, in order to keep my candle from being turned off. I was thinking that it’s the same when we return to Miami. We will need to block off the people and things that are threatening to turn off the fire in our hearts.”
Father Willie was very excited with Gaby’s analogy. But Gaby wanted to keep talking. Father Willie wanted to tell him to stop talking while he was ahead, but Gaby added: “And I was also thinking that if my candle was blown out by the wind, all I had to do was turn to the person next to me, and light my candle with his. It’s the same when we return to Miami. We need to surround ourselves with people whose hearts are on fire, so if our fire gets turned off, all we need to do is get near them so that they can relight our fire.”
Father Willie was jumping with joy. Gaby had hit it right on the nail.
He also told us that as married couples, we are called to help each other to keep our candles lit. If my fire is running low, I need to turn to my spouse and allow him to help me keep the candle lit. If he’s candle is turning off, I need to help him turn it back on.
As Father Willie finished his homily, a yellow butterfly flew behind him. What a perfect ending to this amazing pilgrimage.
Afterwards, we walked around the gardens, and we found the Adoration Chapel. We had to climb to an attic. The Blessed Sacrament was exposed below. It was beautiful, and peaceful. God has been present throughout this entire trip, but here at Emmaus, He was present in a very special way.
Afterwards, we went to have lunch at Notre Dame. Finally, we had a different type of lunch. We ate a delicious baked chicken with mashed potatoes, and they had a huge selection of desserts.
Notre Dame is a towering French cathedral and guest house located across from the Old City’s New Gate.
It has a gorgeous chapel on the second floor.
They also have a very interesting museum with a replica of the Shroud of Turin. Only a small group of us went to the museum, and it was perfect because there was no one else there. Father Willie gave us a private tour and an explanation of everything we saw there.
While the exhibit at Notre Dame doesn’t claim conclusively that the Shroud belonged to Jesus, it shows the suffering of a man tortured and crucified in the same manner as Christ, according to Gospel accounts. “What matters for the believer, is that the Shroud is a mirror of the Gospel,” the late Pope John Paul II said in 1998. “The image it presents has such a profound relationship with what the Gospels tell of Jesus’ passion and death that every sensitive person feels inwardly touched and moved at beholding it.”
The exhibit contains an actual-size copy of the Shroud plus vast information on its history and the scientific research done on the material and the sufferings evidenced on it. From the studies they have done, they have been able to determine the type and size of the instruments that were used to cause the injuries that are engraved in the Shroud. They have on display, the crown of thorns;
the nails used at the crucifixion;
and the whips that were used during the Flagellation.
Regardless of whether the Shroud was the one used to embalm the body of Jesus or someone else’s, the exhibit helped us to become better acquainted with the suffering Jesus went through in this very city.
The biggest revelation came when Father Willie removed a cloth that was covering a life size statue made in bronze which was casted from the image revealed in the Shroud. It showed the type of man that had been crucified and later covered with that particular Shroud. We all felt that we were looking at a statue of Jesus.
After such a powerful exhibit, we went to wait for the bus, but traffic was horrible, worse than Miami during rush hour. It was taking too long for the bus to return, so a group of us walked back to the hotel which was about a twenty minute walk. This gave us some time to rest, and pack, since tomorrow, we will need to wake up at 2 am.
Before dinner, we had an award presentation. We each got a rose and a diploma for completing the pilgrimage at the Holy Land.
We were blessed that five Belen Emmaus sisters were pilgrims on this journey. What a special gift to share this amazing experience together, as well as with all the new friends that we have made on this journey.
The Emmaus mass was very special. We started by singing the Emmaus song “Are not our hearts burning within us...” The main reading, of course, was the Emmaus reading from Luke 24:13-35.
In his homily, Father Willie shared two stories. The first one was from when he was a student at Belen. They went to Arroyo La Vieja, in the Dominican Republic, to build a road to connect to the town. There was a huge stone in the middle of the road that obstructed the passage. Father Willie and the other boys that were there, decided that they had to remove the stone if they were going to succeed in building the road. They tried to break the stone with picks and shovels. They were exhausted, all sweaty, and the stone would not budge. In the meantime, the campesinos that were with them, sat on the side of the road, and they were laughing at them while watching them struggle. Eventually, another group of campesinos came over, and they started setting a place around and in top of the stone that looked like a barbecue. Father Willie for sure thought that they were going to have a cookout. Then they turned on the fire. Little by little, the stone began to get red and very hot. The stone was on fire. This time, it was Father Willie and his Belen friends who were sitting down on the side of the road, looking at the show. When the stone was as hot as it could get, the campesinos came with buckets of very cold water, and they threw it at the rock. And just like that, the huge rock broke apart.
Right now, our hearts are on fire because of this amazing ten-day pilgrimage that we just completed. But tomorrow, we return to Miami. Our friends and family did not experience this pilgrimage, so they will not understand the “high” that we are feeling. When we try to explain it to them, we are going to get hit with a bucket of cold water. This will quench the fire that we are feeling. So what should we do to keep our hearts on fire?
Father Willie shared with us another story. Years ago, he took a group of students on retreat to Spring Hills College in Alabama. On one of the nights, they had a very special and touching ceremony with candles. One of the boys asked him: “Father Willie, here we are with our hearts on fire, but what happens when we return to Miami?” Father Willie had the perfect answer to this question. He told them that in order to keep their hearts burning within them, they had to pray daily; they should go to mass more often than just on Sundays; and they should read the Bible to learn the Scriptures.
He felt very good about his answer, when Gaby, a football player who was not the sharpest tool in the shed, raised his hand. Father Willie thought to himself, “Oh no, here comes Gaby. He’s going to ruin the momentum.” But he allowed him to talk.
Gaby says: “Father Willie, I was thinking that earlier, when we had our candles lit up, the wind was threatening to blow out the candles. I had to cover them with my hands, block the wind with my body, in order to keep my candle from being turned off. I was thinking that it’s the same when we return to Miami. We will need to block off the people and things that are threatening to turn off the fire in our hearts.”
Father Willie was very excited with Gaby’s analogy. But Gaby wanted to keep talking. Father Willie wanted to tell him to stop talking while he was ahead, but Gaby added: “And I was also thinking that if my candle was blown out by the wind, all I had to do was turn to the person next to me, and light my candle with his. It’s the same when we return to Miami. We need to surround ourselves with people whose hearts are on fire, so if our fire gets turned off, all we need to do is get near them so that they can relight our fire.”
Father Willie was jumping with joy. Gaby had hit it right on the nail.
He also told us that as married couples, we are called to help each other to keep our candles lit. If my fire is running low, I need to turn to my spouse and allow him to help me keep the candle lit. If he’s candle is turning off, I need to help him turn it back on.
As Father Willie finished his homily, a yellow butterfly flew behind him. What a perfect ending to this amazing pilgrimage.
Afterwards, we walked around the gardens, and we found the Adoration Chapel. We had to climb to an attic. The Blessed Sacrament was exposed below. It was beautiful, and peaceful. God has been present throughout this entire trip, but here at Emmaus, He was present in a very special way.
Afterwards, we went to have lunch at Notre Dame. Finally, we had a different type of lunch. We ate a delicious baked chicken with mashed potatoes, and they had a huge selection of desserts.
Notre Dame is a towering French cathedral and guest house located across from the Old City’s New Gate.
It has a gorgeous chapel on the second floor.
They also have a very interesting museum with a replica of the Shroud of Turin. Only a small group of us went to the museum, and it was perfect because there was no one else there. Father Willie gave us a private tour and an explanation of everything we saw there.
While the exhibit at Notre Dame doesn’t claim conclusively that the Shroud belonged to Jesus, it shows the suffering of a man tortured and crucified in the same manner as Christ, according to Gospel accounts. “What matters for the believer, is that the Shroud is a mirror of the Gospel,” the late Pope John Paul II said in 1998. “The image it presents has such a profound relationship with what the Gospels tell of Jesus’ passion and death that every sensitive person feels inwardly touched and moved at beholding it.”
The exhibit contains an actual-size copy of the Shroud plus vast information on its history and the scientific research done on the material and the sufferings evidenced on it. From the studies they have done, they have been able to determine the type and size of the instruments that were used to cause the injuries that are engraved in the Shroud. They have on display, the crown of thorns;
the nails used at the crucifixion;
and the whips that were used during the Flagellation.
Regardless of whether the Shroud was the one used to embalm the body of Jesus or someone else’s, the exhibit helped us to become better acquainted with the suffering Jesus went through in this very city.
The biggest revelation came when Father Willie removed a cloth that was covering a life size statue made in bronze which was casted from the image revealed in the Shroud. It showed the type of man that had been crucified and later covered with that particular Shroud. We all felt that we were looking at a statue of Jesus.
After such a powerful exhibit, we went to wait for the bus, but traffic was horrible, worse than Miami during rush hour. It was taking too long for the bus to return, so a group of us walked back to the hotel which was about a twenty minute walk. This gave us some time to rest, and pack, since tomorrow, we will need to wake up at 2 am.
Before dinner, we had an award presentation. We each got a rose and a diploma for completing the pilgrimage at the Holy Land.
We also gave a wedding gift to our amazing tour guides, Shuki and Ana, who are getting married on May 14th. Maria found a beautiful wedding card in one of the shops, and she bought it for them. Manny wrote a special message and Jewish prayer in his beautiful calligraphy, and we all signed it. We gave it to them with a generous gift.
And we pray that they have a beautiful and long marriage together, because not only do they make a beautiful couple, they complement each other perfectly.
We also thanked our two awesome priests, Father Willie and Father Frank. We were so blessed to have them both on this pilgrimage. And last but not least, Patricio, our tour guide from Miami, who did an amazing job of organizing 73 pilgrims. Everything, from the hotels we stayed in, the meals that were provided, the buses, the places we visited, and our private masses, was planned to the last minimal detail, thus enhancing our experience.
We had dinner at hotel on this last night, which gave us the opportunity to share some good anecdotes with our fellow pilgrims.
We had dinner at hotel on this last night, which gave us the opportunity to share some good anecdotes with our fellow pilgrims.
No comments:
Post a Comment