Chapter 25 - Amen

Seeing the sights of the Holy Land through the eyes of another, I have enjoyed this journey, a journey that I believe has brought me closer to Jesus.

In the concluding chapter, Father Martin summarizes the paradox of pilgrimage:  some of the sites are clearly authentic (Capernaum, the Pool of Bethesda, Golgotha, Gethsemane) while others are less certain (like some of the stations along the Via Dolorosa).  Still others sites are legendary, like the Upper Room,  which very likely is below ground.

The mix of authentic and legendary typifies the Holy Land.  Pilgrimage to the places where Jesus stood brings elation and occasional disappointment.

As a Christian on his pilgrimage, I daily seek to find my way through the paganism, superstition and atheism which pervades the society in which I live.  Through the morass of stimuli in this entertainment and media driven culture, I seek to find Jesus and try to keep the faith.

It's not always easy.

I am grateful to writers like Father Martin who, in the spirit of the Lord, invites us to take a closer look, to "come and see."

Having finished this book, I'm considering re-reading the Gospels, with a fresh memory of Father Martin's experiences to enrich the experience.

As we say our "Amen" I say thanks to my colleagues who have contributed their reflections:


Connie Cannella
Bill Casey
Sharon Erkman
Deacon Mike McKenna
Lucy Premus








To Ponder and Discuss:

Looking back on our pilgrimage--with the Gospels, in the Holy Land and through the spiritual life--what was your most meaningful discovery about Jesus?  Now that you know Jesus in a new way, how might you respond to the question, "Who do you say that I am?"


Steven Olson

Chapter 24 - Tiberias

This chapter is about one of Jesus’ post resurrection appearances and for that reason one of my favorite scenes from the New Testament.  It is certainly one of the most joyful encounters between Jesus and his disciples.  Both because it is so reassuring to see and hear from Jesus after the crucifixion and because of his human nature on display as he fixes a breakfast on the beach for his friends, frustrated by an unprofitable night of hard work.    Fr. Martin points out that the story starts out with the disciples, returning to their old ways.  They are out fishing but have caught nothing.  Conclusion, they can’t accomplish anything on their own.

Fr. Martin then moves us into the heart of this story form his point of view, that is, its focus on the necessity of forgiveness.  We are reminded of Peter’s denial of Jesus.  Three times Peter swore that he didn’t even know the Lord.  This is as serious a sin as it gets.  By human standards probably unforgivable.  There is a lesson here for all of us as we work our way through the last few weeks of Lent.

Jesus knows what Peter needs and he seeks him out to make him whole again, to set things right.  Jesus want to restore him to ministry.  Fr. Martin makes note of the fact that with God forgiveness comes painlessly, no humiliation, no revenge.  God’s mercy proceeds from his love and bound up in it.  Unlike human beings who struggle to forgive and never seem to forget, God does both.

The Lord’s final words to Peter are the same ones he started with three years before “follow me”.  The evangelist John wants the readers of his Gospel, ourselves, to be drawn into the mystical work of the Holy Spirit, acting through Jesus, the work of moving through forgiveness to restoration onto mission.

This is what it means to be a Christian, being drawn to Jesus as the source of the Father’s love acting in our world, drawn to him in spite of our sinfulness,  like Peter jumping off the boat to greet the very one he had betrayed.  We are drawn to Jesus as he calls us ashore to join him in his work of making the Kingdom of God present in our lives and those we meet.  “It is the Lord” says John at first sight, calling us to “follow me.”

Questions to Ponder

1. When was the last time we felt the presence of Jesus close at hand offering his unlimited mercy?

2. Are we able to approach the Lord as a wronged friend seeking his forgiveness or is something blocking our way?

3. When faced with a difficult time feeling alone and abandoned with our problems did we finally take notice that the Lord was there all the time just waiting for us to see him? 

Deacon Mike McKenna

Chapter 23 - Emmaus

In the first few pages of the chapter, Father Martin describes the frustration he and his friend George experienced in trying to locate and visit sites related to the Gospel story of Emmaus.  He ends the description of their abortive efforts by relating them to the Gospel story itself, saying “It too is a story about confusion and suffering.”

Father Martin then begins to analyze the interaction of the Risen Christ with two of his disciples (“Cleopas and his friend”) by noting the sadness the disciples feel when Jesus first approaches and questions them concerning their conversation.  Unaware of who has addressed them, they reveal their own confusion and frustration over what has so recently transpired concerning Jesus.  Father Martin relates the disciples’ words “We had hoped…” to the sorrow all of us experience when our expectations are dashed and we fail to see our loss and disappointment in the context of God’s plan for our lives.

The Gospel story then recounts the disciples’ invitation to Jesus to stay with them and Jesus’s revelation of himself in the breaking of bread, after which “he vanished from their sight.” Notably, Father Martin suggests that “the disciples came to understand the Resurrection not only through direct experience but also by reflecting on it together, as a community.”

As Father Martin goes on to consider the mystery of why the two disciples could not recognize Jesus, he quickly and reasonably dismisses the “natural” explanations: “that Jesus might have purposely hid his face” or “the dazzling sun prevented them from seeing him,” and he presents a more “supernatural” explanation, while also explaining the shortcomings of the idea of “a shared memory” to explain the disciples’ experiences of the Risen Jesus.  Simply remembering Jesus is not likely to have enabled the disciples to overcome the terror that they felt in the wake of Jesus’s crucifixion.  “The appearance of the Risen Christ,” he suggests, “was so dramatic, so unmistakable, so obvious—in a word, so real—that it transformed the formerly terrified disciples into courageous proclaimers of the message of Jesus.”

“And what they saw was Jesus, raised from the dead.”

Father Martin goes on to discuss the puzzling question of what the Resurrected Jesus looked like, or “the difficulty of describing the most profound of all spiritual experiences.”  In dealing with this question, he refers to the theological idea of a “glorified body,” one that is “created anew by God” and “will never die.” He also makes the following observation: “The Resurrection shows us there is always hope.  Whether or not we see it, it is there. Or, more precisely, he is there.”

Father Martin then recalls his own prayerful meditation about this passage when he was facing a difficult time in his ministry.  He related his own failure “ to look for God even amid the sadnesses of life,” to the inability of Cleopas and his friend to look beyond their current disappointment to see God at work.  These two disciples “seem on the brink of walking away…from all they have experienced with Jesus.”  However, as Father Martin observes, “Perhaps in their ‘talking with each other about all these things that had happened,’ they tried to make sense of things,” and in so doing were opening themselves up to Jesus’s revelation of himself; and then when they offer hospitality to a stranger by inviting him to stay with them, they recognized him.

Returning to his and George’s inability to find Emmaus, Father Martin concludes by noting “that even in our confusion God is with us.”

Points to Ponder

1. The disciples on their way to Emmaus hear Jesus reveal the truth about himself in his word, and experience the presence of Jesus in the breaking of bread.  Are we open to God’s word and presence in the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist?
2. Despite the sadness and disappointment all of us must sometimes face, can we embrace the truth that the Resurrection gives us hope in any circumstance.

Bill Casey