Finally Home - wherever that is! (Friday 4th Oct)

It has been an amazing few days since arriving back into Tasmania on Wednesday morning.

We arrived into Australia on time but because Libby, Peter and I were near the back of the plane it took us forever, or so it seemed, to get off. We headed towards the Duty Free area and I stopped to get some Gin and so lost track of the other two as they continued on through passport control to get their baggage.

When I got to the baggage area I waited for some time for my case to appear and even after nothing came through I waited and then my case appeared - I don't know what happened but I got it and headed off through customs. I had a small wooden Nativity Piece which I declared but that was ok and when I got out I couldn't see any of the others so headed off to the Qantas desk to book through to Hobart.

Sent a text to Libby and Peter then waited for Gay to arrive in the departure lounge. She and Libby arrived a little later and we chatted for a time before boarding and heading to Hobart.

It was coldish when we got off the plane and after getting our bags we were picked up by Majella Kelly, a Presentation sister, who dropped me off at the Royal Hobart Hospital where Mary Murray was waiting to pick me up.

She dropped our friend Sandy, who originally was to pick me up at the airport, at the hospital a little earlier. After putting my bags n the car I headed off to say hello to Sandy who was waiting to have some tests but I was so tired I could only stay a short time before heading to New Norfolk.

After a long shower I started to feel a little normal so I did a few things but by mid afternoon I hit the sack and had a good long sleep.

On Thursday I did a few things but still went fairly slow. I phoned a number of people and caught up with the news and dropped fund to see how Sandy had got on yesterday but she will be waiting a few days for the results. I also started putting titles on some of my photos so I know where they are from but by late afternoon I was ready for bed.

Sadly I didn't get too much sleep so today has been a long day. 

I heade out on my Communion round this morning and caught up with everyone and added a few more to the list - quite a number of Ne Norfolk people have been in hospital these past few weeks so catching up was good.

The trip back to Queenstown was ok - managed to catch up with all the crew at Derwent Bridge so that was good too.

My drivers Licence expires this weekend so called into Service Tasmania when I arrived in Queenstown but had forgotten that because it was Burnie Show Day everything was closed so will have to do it on Minday.

Did a few things round the house, had a meal and now time for bed - hopefully to get a decent sleep which after last nights effort shouldn't be too hard.

And so the journey ends.  I'll go back to blogging on my Daily Lving Blog which can be found at mikeadelaney.blogspot.com.au

Thanks for being part if this incredible journey and especial thanks to all who made it possible.

Traveling Home - Day 2 (Tuesday 1st)

After our long stay in Dubai we managed to find a Qantas desk in a part of the Emirates section of the airport so we got our boarding passes - joe is staying over in Melbourne for a few days but Peter, Libby and I got passes throug to our final destination (Peter & Libby to Launceston and me to Hobart). Gay is going on to Honart but here was some difficulty with her seat so she said for the rest of us to head off and we didn't really see her until we were about to board the flight.

Peter, Libby and I have sat together in 3 seats all the way from Tel Aviv with a slight change of order depending on circumstances.

On the flight I managed to watch 3 movies - The Heat with Sandra Bullock, Man of Steel with Henry Caville and Russell Crowe and The Sapphires with Jessica Mauboy - so it was an interesting flight back.

As I am writing this part of the blog we are over the Great Australian Bight with just over 90 minutes flying time to Melbourne arriving just a little ahead of schedule at 5.20am.

Then it is through the Duty Free area to get some things before getting our bags and heading to customs and then onto have our bags checked through to our final destinations and then I'll update the blog later in the day when everything is all 'over'.

Traveling Home - Day 1 (Monday, 30th)

Today has been a really long day.

I woke early and finished packing before heading down to breakfast and then started the long process of goodbyes. Even after I'd said goodbye upstairs it seemed that people came down to the Reception area in case they'd missed somebody.

We headed down to Lion's Gate to catch the taxi which was due to arrive at 8.30 to get us to the airport at Tel Aviv in good time for our flight but things got a little dicey as we waited and waited. My patience when that sort of thing happens starts to get a little frazzled so by 9.10 I was getting a big bit worried and then when the taxi/people mover arrived he couldn't turn in the tight lane so we reversed all the way back down the hill which took quite some time because, of course, there was traffic coming  up the hill and down the hill as well.

The driver told us that he'd been stopped a number of times and his papers checked - just another example, sadly, of what many Palestinians go through each day.  Anyway, after all that we managed to get to the airport in time to get into line to have a big bags x-rayed and all 5 of us managed to have something in our bags that needed to be explained. The system is good because they put a barcode on your bag then if it needs further exploring they check the barcode and it brings up the item/s that need checking and exactly where it is in the bag.

Then It was time for a drink before heading through passport control and thankfully none of us needed to do too much explaining about where we had been nor what we had been doing. The flight to Amman was a little late leaving, which after the late taxi, made me wonder if we were going to have a repeat of the trip over with everything being late.

We had an 6 hour wait in Amman before the flight to Dubai so after wandering around the shopping mall and then getting something to eat Libby, Joe and I joined Gay and Peter in a little cafe where they had ordered a meal. There was wifi available and so we basically stayed there for the afternoon with purchases of tea, coffee and biscuits at various times to keep the 'business' satisfied.

Then it was off to Dubai and the plane left almost on time so that was ok. It was a 4 hour flight and I was able to watch one movie and still have a chance to doze but although I was getting worried because I now had an upset stomach and was desperately needing to get to a Pharmacy in Dubai to get something to make life a little easier.

We had quite a deal of wandering round in Dubai before we actually got to the lounge we were booked into for 4 hours but in the end we got to the right place and we settled in for a slightly better place to relax during our stay of over 9 hours.  I got some tablets and didn't eat anything in the lounge or afterwards to give my stomach a time to settle.

A long day and an even longer flight back to Australia leaving at 9.50am (Dubai) time to look forward to.

Jerusalem Day 28 (Sunday 29th)

Today had a slightly slower and quieter start than the past few days.  Breeakfast was later and we headed down to reception to leave by 9.00am.

Today we headed to Abu Gosh - one of four places that have been considered the Emmaus of the Gospel. It is not considered (today) to be the site of the exchange between Jesus and the two disciples for many reasons but like every other holy site which is disputed it still has  something special about it.

The Church we visited is in the midst of a village/suburb outside of Jerusalem but is really an oasis - quiet, peaceful and peace filled. There is a community of Benedictines who have a public Solemn Mass on Sundays which attracts people from all over, pilgrims, tourists and locals. The liturgy is in French, the singing of the Mass is briliiant helped tremendously by the acoustics of the Church and the Mass was a real celebration of how a Sung Mass might be celebrated in a place where the Liturgy is important to the life style of the people.

After Mass we met a Sister of Sion who now lives the life of a Hermit. She told us of how she came to her decision ot leave the Apostolic Community but did not feel called to become a Contemplative. She told us of her journey and her life today and when we left quietly returned to her apartment close by where she lives within the grounds of another religious community - she told us their name but I didn't write it down.

Then it was back to Ecce Homo for lunch - as usual on Sunday was a picnic lunch. There were several of us around so we ate on the terrace before people wandered off to do things before we were to gather again at 6.00pm.

This afternoon and evening has been a really joyous but also sad time which began in Salle de Sion for Prayer and a Sending forth. Again, this was something that was done well with the opportunity to remember people who had touched our live during these 28 days at Ecce Homo and throughout the Holy Land.

 

Tony Mullins (Ireland) thanking Sr Bernadette Lynch on behalf of the group. 

After Prayer we went in to the dining room for our Celebratory Dinner and enjoyed a lovely meal. Tonight I sat with jacinta Forde (Ireland), Gay Morgan (Hobart), Rosemary O'Brien (Launceston), Sr Bernadette Lynch (Ecce Homo), Bernadette Fleming (Queensland) and myself.  It was a lovely meal with great craic and great food once again.

 

Five of the young people who work at Ecce Homo and help serve the meals and wash-up (with the 'assistance' of some members of the program) after meals.

Then it was back to the terrace for some singing, laughter and farewells. Tony Brennan provided the music and for some of with our iPad's provided the words for quite a number of songs.

Tony Brennan (Hobart) and his trusty (mini) guitar

A couple of people are leaving during the night - Mark Garnsey (Ulverstone) and Chris Utri (Melbourne) at the end we said goodbye to them and we've quietly wandered off to bed, happy for our time together but also aware that it is likely we will not see many of our group again.

These are some of our group from the terrace last evening. 

Peter Santamaria (Launceston) and Maria Karajovanova (Toronto, Canada)

Rosemary O'Brien (Launceston), Sr Carmel Street (Townsville) and Bernadette Fleming (Brisbane)

Our three Irish friends - Sr Carmel Solon (working in London), Sr Jacinta Forde (Dublin) and Fr Tony Mullins (Limerick)

Patricia & Rodney Dearing and Chris Utri (all Melbourne)

Sr. Gerri Boylan (Mt Magnet, (Western Australia), Fr Edward Linton (USA) and Sr Bernadette Lynch (Ecce Homo)

Sr Bernadette, Fr Frank Hanley (USA), Gay Morgan (Hobart) and Peter Santamaria (Launceston)

During the program to assist in knowing where people were especially when we were heading out on an excursion, the bus leaving from anywhere or heading back to Ecce Homo we had a buddy to check with - Fr Frank Hanley was my buddy and we managed not to get lost or lose each other during the entire 28 days - well done team.

Now bed. We have an 8.30am taxi trip to Tel Aviv in the morning. Our first flight is to Amman and there we have a number of hours waiting for our flight to Dubai with quite a number of hours there (thankfully in a lounge for part of it) before the 14 hour flight to Australia arriving at 5.30am on Wednesday morning. 

Will tell you then what happened on the way and whether we managed to meet Jesus who opened our eyes to more of the story of being a disciple.

Jerusalem Day 27 (Saturday 28th - AFL Grand Final Day)

Well the Grand Final has been run and won by Hawthorn so there will be quite a few people who will be walking tall for a day or two - in some ways I'm glad I'm not around as I'm sure there would be a few people who would be only too pleased to remind me that they beat Geelong last weekend.

Anyway, back to Israel.

This morning we headed off early to go to Jericho. Not long after leaving Jerusalem we picked up Elias, our guide who had been with us on our trip to Bethlehem and Hebron earlier in our time. Because he is a Palestinian he is not allowed to guide in Jerusalem and in fact is not allowed into Jerusalem at all.

We went first to Wadi Kelt, a little site above a valley which was quite desolate, and there we reflected on Psalm 63. It is part of the story of this land, especially whenever people travel into the Palestinian areas, that as soon as a bus or tourist vehicle of any kind stops, then people are there trying to sell trinkets or scarves of some sort or other.  We were to have 25 minutes of quiet time but it was a little difficult as the young children especially tried to get into the best position so that as soon as omeone moved they could be there to offer their wares. The scenery was so desolate that it almost defied belief that people could travel through these hills and not get lost.

 

From there we travelled to a Monastery of St George on the way from Wadi Kelt to Jericho. It was also in a desolate place, built on the side of a hill but there was a water course that ran along the valley floor so there was some form of support of life available. Apparently there are only 4 or 5 monks living there so it would be interesting to know how they manage - it would only be with the support of some outside benefactors as there didn't seem to be any space for anything to grow.

As we headed back up the hill we were almost involved in an accident as an off-road vehicle came round the corner at speed and only just missed collecting the bus who had nowhere to go to avoid him. A few seconds later 4 more vehicles came round the next corner but we had a little more time to get ready for them - our bus driver gave them a little bit of a talking at - but we were safe from there.

Our next stop was the Mt of Temptation. When we arrived at the Centre below the Mt we found a sign saying that Jericho was the oldest city in the world - not necessarily continuously lived in - but it's been around for 10,000 years anyway.

To get to the top of the mountain, thankfully, we caught a cable car system. as we travelled up we saw below us some buses and a line of people making their way up the hill. When we got to the end of the cable care ride we still had quite a serious climb in front of us so we then became doubly glad that Ecce Homo had paid for us to get that far. There were three gondolas in each pod and their were 4 pods so that there were two up and two down which made life easier.

The little chapel of the Temptation is run by the Greek Orthodox and it seems that there are only two or three monks there - we saw two - and much of the building is unused. Sadly it had been redeveloped in the period just before the 1st Intafada and travel to the Palestine territories was restricted and not as many pilgrims come to the Holy Land anymore.

The iconography within the Chapel was impressive and we were able to go up to a little room where Jesus is reputed to have sat after his sojourn in the desert and where he was tempted by Satan to change the stones into bread. Sadly the picture isn't as clear as I would have liked but it shows the stone seat.

Back to the gondolas and the ride back down to the bottom of the Mt and then we walked to Elisha's spring - one of the reasons that Jericho has been a place where peole have lived for so long.

We had two more stops before lunch. The first was a Romanian Church which also has some amazing iconagraphy both in the church and in the crypt below. I've included a couple of photos here because the work was so amazing.

The icon in the cupola upstairs was brilliant.

    Daniel in the Lion's Den

   Ananias, Azariah and Mizael saved from the burning furnace.

Before we got to lunch there was a short stop at the Sycamore that Zaccheus was reputed to have climbed in order to see Jesus. After having used the story so many times with Children and for Reconciliation services all I could think off was that Zaccheus would never have been seen by Jesus today as the tree is so tall.

Lunch was a meal of pita bread, salads and chips and was a pleasant little conclusion to out time in Jericho. The photos show that we weren't missing out on anything.

After getting off the bus I managed to find a money changer so that I could get some Shequels - I was almost broke - and I was able to add some to the Sisters of Sion Education Fund so that was good.

There is Mass tonight for the French Course who finish their program tomorrow so quite a few of us are going to be there in the background. Then after tea we are heading out to a Light and Sound Show up at the Tower of David so will add something about that later.

Jerusalem Day 26 - Concert (Friday 27th)

Well did we do good tonight.

The Salle de Sion was set up (initially) as a cabaret style lounge but it wasn't too long before people started to move things around and all the space we had created us changed. In lot's of ways that was ok too because people felt more comfortable moving from place to place.

The evening started with the cutting of Carmel Street's birthday cake (her birthday is on Sunday) then, of course, the party began.

Tony Brennan sang his song about Jerusalem and then we had more songs, jokes, stories, poems, skits and laughter and everyone seemed to enjoy the craic immensely.

Some of the group, including the Sisters of Sion and some of the volunteers, didn't always understand the nuance of some of the stories or words but joined in the laughter.

Again, my camera didn't work all that well or maybe it was my skill (or lack of it) behind the camera but none of the photos were really in focus.

So that's the report on the concert - suffice to say there are some extremely talented people in our group and it is going to be difficult to say goodbyes one Sunday night and Monday morning.

Jerusalem Day 26 (Friday 27th)

Today is the anniversary of my parents wedding and so it has been a day of reflection for me.   It started early because one of my brothers managed to send at text acknowledging the fact that there is a 7 hour time difference between Jerusalem and Australia for a shared remembrance at 8pm Australian time (1pm here) but he sent the text at about 3am here so I was well aware of what was going on. As it happened the best I could do was to have an ice-coffee just before 1pm so I hope that was good enough.

As I mentioned yesterday we started with the Stations at 5.55am this morning in the Listostrophos - and we were all on time.  It was quite amazing walking the streets and stopping at the stations at a time when most shops were shut and not too many people were about. Over the weeks we have been here we have passed many groups walking the stations and almost all of them have caused all sorts of difficulties for everyone else as they clog the narrow alley ways.

After breakfast I headed back to my room for a short time and then headed off to walk to the Garden of Olives. As I was walking down towards the Lions Gate (the way out) there were Police and Army everywhere. After negotiating the exit point I headed up towards the Garden and managed to visit the Church whilst Mass was being celebrated.

 

An ancient Olive tree in the Garden.

From there I headed up the hill and came to the place of the Ascension. Elio Passeto had mentioned it on our 2nd day but I hadn't had a chance to visit it - it is a tiny place with almost nothing to tell people how important it is.

 The Building.

 The top of the hill of the Ascension.

From there I travelled back down the hill a wee way to vsiit the Pater Noster Church and found the English Translation amidst all the others that are placed on every wall and space in the area.

There is a photo of the Lord's Prayer supposed to go here but I can't get it in

Not sure what happened to the Our Father but it is big and that just the way it should be. As Pino shared with us in class the Lord's Prayer is central to Chapters 5-7 of the Gospel and all aspects of these three chapters can be found there.

Whilst I was there I met Jacinta (Forde from Ireland) and she said that she was going to Bethany - a walk of about 4 kilometres. So I decided that I would go with her and so we headed off down the hill and got as far as Bethfage where we found the little Church which we learnt is the starting point of the Palm Sunday Procession.

From there we were told that we would need to go back up the hill and then turn down the hill to get to the checkpoint which we walked through without anyone looking at anything at all. Immediately we got through the gate we were approached by a Taxi Driver who would get us to Lazarus' tomb for 10 shequels each and since we'd already walked some distance that seemed ok. 

The Church was beautiful and well appointed and from there we headed for Lazarus' tomb - unfortunately just as we were about to have a photo taken the lights went out and so the photo didn't work. The photo below is the mosaic on the wall of the Church and looks good.

The streets of Bethany are not as bad as we saw in Hebron last Saturday but there was almost no activity (then I realised that it was Friday and all the Muslim shopowners were at prayer). 

We travelled back on the bus and got to the checkpoint and I think I almost caused a stir as all the men got off and I sat there and the soldier checking the papers kept looking at me but when he'd checked our papers he got off the bus  and all seemed well.

When we got into the city we had to get out before the bus terminus because the soldiers had closed the roads because they thought there was going to be some problems. I haven't heard whether anything has happened but I'm sure we'll hear later on.

From there we headed round to the Centacle which was good because I didn't think that it was likely to be closed. Luckily I was able to get a photo taken without too many people crowding round.

 

From there we headed round to the Dormition Abbey and arrived whilst it was closed for prayer so that's when I had my drink for Dad & Mum's anniversary. After our ice coffee we visited the Church (I have a report on my visit to the abbey on Saturday 14th) and then we headed off down the hill to visit Oskar Schindler's grave - a remarkable man who saved the lives of many Jewish people during the Nazi reign of terror.  His grave (like so many we've seen) was covered with rocks to indicate that many people have visited the site.

From there we headed off to visit the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu - where Peter was when he denied Jesus 3 times. The Church is beautiful and there is more than enough there in the Church to keep anyone occupied for hours.

From there we walked back to Ecce Homo and although there were plenty of soldiers and police around we had no problem getting back into the Old City.

Before tea we joined the Community of Sion and the Chemin Neuf Community for their Friday night Peace Prayer time. It is almost time for the evening meal and then we're heading off to Salle de Sion for a party/concert/entertainment - so I'll add something about that tomorrow morning.