Galilee: Capernaum and two sites at Tabgha. In the afternoon we went to a museum to sea a boat from Jesus’ era that was excavated fro the mud of the Sea of Galilee and then ended the day at the Mount of the Beatitudes on the hill over looking the Sea at which the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is enshrined. It was a glorious day of prayer and learning.We began the day early with a stop at the Tabgha shrine called “The Primacy of Peter.” There are a number of interesting things at this site which commemorates the breakfast that Jesus prepared for his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in the Post-resurrection appearance recorded in John 21. Here also, Jesus had the discussion with Peter which is usually considered Peters “rehabilitation” after the denial of Jesus. As Peter had denied Jesus 3 times, Jesus asks Peter: “Do you love me?” three times. Each time, Peter responds ‘yes’ and is given the charge to feed the flock of Jesus. This text, together with numerous others recall the special relationship that Peter had with the Savior and the clear responsibility for leadership that with which Jesus charges this disciple after he is gone (we will go to Caesarea Philippi tomorrow – where Jesus gave Peter the “Keys to the Kingdom” according to Matthew 16).
Enshrined in the little basalt Church at this site is the stone on which Jesus prepared that breakfast cookout for his followers (It is called the Mensa Christi or Table of Christ). As always in John’s Gospel, the fish and bread breakfast is Eucharistic and we see the Lord’s providence for his followers in this prologue to John’s Gospel.Also within the gates of this shrine are two small outdoor chapels, which depict in mosaic, Popes
John Paul II and Paul VI, successors to the authority Peter received from Jesus. Here I said a prayer for Pope Benedict and his intentions. Interestingly, the mosaic of JP2 has the text “Ioanni Paulo II Polonia dicavit sEmper fidelis.” The “semper fidelis” got Fr. Steve, the former Marine Chaplain kind of excited. Hmmm… JP2 in the Corps…
The shrine of the Primacy of Peter is right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and pilgrims are encouraged to walk the few hundred feet fro the church to the water and to step into those waters that nourished the early Church. On that beach I had a strong sense of the call of Jesus to his disciples and his admonition to them after the resurrection: follow me.That was the mindset I was in when we next went to Capernaum to celebrate Mass at the House of St. Peter in that town. I had been told that the church “hovers” over the ruins of a previous
church building which had been built on the ruins of Peter’s house (Which seemed to serve as a kind of headquarters for Jesus and his disciples during their ministry in that region), but I was not prepared for what I encountered. The ultra-modern church is literally built over the ruins and does seem literally to hover. It looks like a science fiction spaceship on 8 legs which has landed in the basalt ruins of a deserted and ruined planet. It is a very effective shrine. The center of the modern church is a glassed in hole through which one can see the ruins below (you can also look at them from beside the Church).I was blessed to be the principle celebrant at our Mass at Capernaum. Having just come from the Mensa Christi and in that I was preaching to priests, I was moved to speak about the call of Christ to be shepherds of his flock. We can sometimes live too easily into the pedestals on which we are hoisted by our flocks and
forget that the demand of Christ 
for his leaders is that they become servants of all. The center of the ministry to which I and all priest sis called is manifested in the threefold command of Jesus to Peter in John 21: “Feed my lambs… Tend my sheep… Feed my sheep…” We are reminded of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (ostensibly in the house below this very Church) who having experienced the healing power of Jesus, immediately got up and served them. This is the call of every minister (indeed, every Christian): to give to others from the Glory we have received from God.After Mass we spent some time in the ruins of the beautiful synagogue in Capernaum (right next to the Church). According to the Gospel of Mark (1: 21), it appears that Jesus performed an exorcism in a synagogue in this town just before healing Peter’s mother-in-law. He did many other healings that same night in Capernaum and then, later healed a paralytic (Mark 2: 1ff) whose friends were so determined to get to Jesus that they went up on the roof and tore a hole in it and let down their friends mat.
We sat in the ruins of the synagogue and read these stories. I was able to reflect on them in the context of our discipleship. We are called to be those faithful friends who bring those in need of Jesus’ Love to Jesus. We are called to open our homes (hearts) to Jesus in such a way that they become places of healing and the casting out of evil. Who Jesus was and what he intended are the subject of tome after tome for 2000 years – but in the end, what we have about Jesus is the Gospels is the story of a man who claimed a remarkable relationship with the God of Abraham, I sac, and Jacob, a relationship typified by his insistence that God was his father His ministry in Capernaum does not “prove” that relationship to be true – the whole of Jesus’ life death and resurrection does. But here on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus did what he could to call others to faithfulness. He knew that this was only the “dress rehearsal” for Jerusalem, where all things would find their completion. Here, the promises of the Kingdom of God, the eschatological hope of Israel began to take shape not only in the teachings of Jesus, but also in his actions.
We went to two more sites today that would memorialize more of that eschatological fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth. We next went back to Tabgha to the Church of the Multiplication of the loaves and fishes. No place is more well-known for a mosaic than the little Benedictine Church of the Multiplication. The little mosaic depicting the bread basket and two fishes adorns everything from shirts to magnets, to post cards, to plates and cups, to mini-mosaics to caps, and more. Unfortunately, it is closed off to the public. You can’t get within 25 feet of it – so the photo to the left was down-loaded from the internet. Of course, this Church commemorates the miraculous feeding of more than 5000 people by Jesus with only a few meager resources. There are six miraculous feeding stories in the four Gospels, and depending how you read the Gospels, it may be the only story outside the Passion narrative to appear in all four Gospels. Why did this, among all the possible stories about Jesus inspire such literary remembrance? 
This story had eschatological implications: Jesus is more than just super-abundant provider. Jesus is eschatological provider. Jesus’ ability to provide here on the mountain of the Lord demonstrates that the Kingdom of God, in all its dimensions, is breaking forth in the person of Jesus. There is no promise anywhere that the Messiah will heal or cast out demons, or feed multitudes miraculously. But all of these things are sure signs of the in-breaking of the eschatological age. Jesus is taking the messianic understanding to a new level. In him every expectation of Israel is being fulfilled.In John’s Gospel, the feeding of the 5000 provides the occasion for one of Jesus’ most important teachings: that he is not only the provider of the eschatological banquet – he himself is the food of that banquet. Here near Capernaum, Jesus will give the bread of life discourse which will form 2000 years of Eucharistic understanding. Jesus, the eschatological provider, will give us his flesh for food and his blood for drink. This is perhaps the reality that leads to so many miraculous feeding stories in the Gospels: they prefigure the Eucharist. Like the post-resurrection breakfast on this same shore, Jesus’ actions are the actions of the one who ushers in the eschatological day of the Lord.
Another eschatological action is Jesus teaching. Up the hill from this site is another important site dedicated to Jesus’ teachings: the Mount of the Beatitudes.
(before going there, we also visited the basalt ruins of the Biblical city of Corazin and the museum of the Jesus Boat, but I will cover them in a separate post as to continue my discussion of Jesus’ eschatological ministry)
Among the more important discourses of Jesus in the Gospels, the Bread of Life discourse and the Sermon on the Mount may be considered pre-eminent. There was, as early as the 3rd
Century, a church just across the road from the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves that commemorated the Sermon on the Mount. The present Church is on the same hill much further up with some of the most beautiful vistas in the Holy Land. The octagonal church recalls that there are 8 beatitudes – and one is written in stained glass on each facet inside the Church. Situated in the center of the octagon is the altar surmounted by a tabernacle. Surrounding the altar in mosaic flowing like a river from the 
tabernacle itself and “floating” in the water are panels on which are written the 4 cardinal virtues (prudential, iusticia, temperantia, and fortitude) and the three theological virtues (fides, spes, and charitas) The eight panel is taken up with the words “Laus tibi Christi” (Praise to you, Christ). The entire building, situated on crest of the hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee, is surrounded by a veranda or porch. IT is among the more inviting shrines I have visited anywhere in the world. You can see pilgrims moving throughout the gardens and enjoying the warmth of the summer sun tempered by the stiff breeze from the Sea. It was wonderful!My classmates and I sat on the stairs outside the
Church and read the entire Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7). From the beatitudes, we moved onto to Jesus’ discourse on the Law, wherein he addresses Anger and hatred, divorce and adultery, retaliation and love of enemies, oath taking and promise making. From there Jesus talks about religious practices: fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. He talks about the divine economy, in which each follower is called to depend only on God (seek first God’s Kingdom…). He talks then about false prophets, about true discipleship, and about allowing his words to be the solid rock on which the house of our faith is built.This should be mandatory reading on a regular basis for everyone who calls him or her self a Christian. It is a great collection of Jesus’ saying. They are not easy admonitions to follow and some of what is said can be quite frightening if we take it seriously ( the measure with which you judge is the measure by which you will be judged… Even
some of those who claim to have prophesied in the name of Jesus will be denied by Jesus.) Sometimes, we can think that Jesus came to loosen up the restrictions of Jewish law and that sometimes those laws don’t apply to us. But Jesus did not offer a looser interpretation of the law (compared to the Pharisees), indeed he called for a stricter following of the essential law (hating is as bad as killing, lusting is as bad as adultery). What we see here is an eschatological teacher calling his listeners to the teachings of the eschatological kingdom. Everything about the life and ministry of Jesus here on the Shores of the Sea of Galilee are about teaching and living as a sign of the Kingdom of God. Having established himself as that sign of the in-breaking of the Kingdom here in Galilee, Jesus knows that he will have to take his ministry to the heart of the people of Israel, he will have to go to Jerusalem. His ministry is successful by every measure here in the north. As it is recorded in the Gospel, Jesus has been successful in word and deed of showing how the eschatological kingdom is breaking into the world in and through him.What a great day of reflection. Following on the day that began at Tabor, we have been given the opportunity to reflect more on the life and meaning of Jesus. Here, on this hill, the word of the Lord has come alive again. Our faith teaches us that Jesus IS the Word of God and that Word is written all over this shoreline.
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