It’s true when people said, your faith will grow stronger once you witness where Jesus lives and experience his life in Jerusalem. I was born Catholic and I grew up with teachings of Jesus. I admit that I’m not a Bible reader but I listened to gospel readings every time I go to church. I’m just an average person who believes that God exists and Jesus is his Son our Savior. It’s been a while since I posted a blog on our website and our recent travel is not just a vacation but an unforgettable experience and pilgrimage. Our recent travel reminds us that our faith truly exists and gives us the strength in our hearts that Jesus is here with us.
Since it’s almost Christmas, I will post a series of blog about our experience in Holy Land from Day 1 to Day 11 and will give you our insights, opinion, and reflections about the places we visited. Our pilgrimage is a 12 days experience from November 6 to 17, including travel time.
We started our journey from San Diego and fly for 20 hours to reach Amman, Jordan. We visited 3 places in Jordan, like Petra, Mount Nebo, and Madaba. Then we crossed the border to Israel and finish the rest of our Pilgrimage there.
In Israel, we visited several mountains like Mt. Tabor, Mt. of Beatitudes, Mt. Carmel and Mt. Olives. Also, we visited different cities like, Cana, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jericho and of course Jerusalem.
We also experienced an Ancient boat ride in Sea of Galilee, been baptized in River Jordan and float at the Dead Sea. Finally, we visited different churches and holy places like St. Annes Church, Basilica of the Annunciation, St. Peter’s house in Galilee, Stella Maris, Magnificat Church, and the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Every day we celebrated mass with Fr. Joseph Tabigue, we called him Fr. Joe for short. A priest with a wonderful voice and pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary, a very beautiful church in San Diego, located in Little Italy. Every place we visited, our tour guide explains the history and gives us the verse in the bible where it really happened then Fr. Joe gave his reflections.
I can say this is really in the top of places we’ve been through not just because of the beautiful mountains, cities, and churches but the story of Jesus, and the people in his life that tells you they were there. My wife and I are so blessed and thankful that we experience this Holy Land Pilgrimage. We know a lot of people can’t come here and because of the situations of our fellow Christians in Jerusalem, we don’t know how long can they preserve this Holy Places in Jerusalem.
