Mary of Nazareth

I am privileged to be a member of a church that sponsored a showing of the new movie "Mary of Nazareth" in our town.  It was one of only two showings in our entire state!  What a great Christmas gift for the people in my area!  The theater was sold out and I sat in joyful anticipation with my family.

May of Nazareth did not disappoint!  If you have a chance to view it, I would highly suggest it!

I try to never miss a chance to see a movie version of any of the stories from the Bible.  Even if I don't agree with the way the director and actors have depicted various events or people, I can almost always glean something spiritual from watching.  Sometimes a lot, sometimes just one little nugget, but I believe God is pleased with this attempt to tell the story of the Mother of His Son. 

The actress who played Mary (Alissa Jung) did a fantastic job!

Mary's faithful "yes" throughout the entire movie is spectacular!  At various different times she will frown in confusion, and then smile the most lovely and peaceful smile!  She trusts God to take care of things however He wishes and she just accepts whatever is happening as His will!!  It is beautiful!!!


I was overjoyed to see the Annunciation scene was set having Mary in a downstairs room making bread when the Angel Gabriel arrives. She stands and backs up in surprise - right into a small stairway!  A lot like the one I was fascinated with when I visited the Grotto of the Annunciation!  I have to say it really made my heart sing as I sat in the theater!!!  It made both the movie and my visit and the real event all connect for me!

Grotto of the Annunciation - Nazareth, Israel

When Mary is perplexed at the Angels' news, she leans back into the staircase for support for a moment before smiling that serene smile and telling the Angel that she is the "Handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to God's Will" - I loved it!

Mary never waivers in her faith from that moment on.  She might be puzzled a moment, but she trusts God completely and continually assures others that all will work out according to Gods' Will.

One scene that really stands out in my mind is the way they portrayed Mary's Magnificat.  All the movies I have ever seen have Mary standing and mono-logging the prayer to Elizabeth.  But in this depiction, when she arrives in Ain Karim (or Ein Karem) to see Elizabeth and begins to share her news, she is very happy and goes joyfully from one person to another - all around the room with excitement and smiles - happily delivering her news!

For the first time ever, I understood why it's called the "Song of Mary"!! 


One scene which really opened my mind was when Jesus is preaching and someone in the crowd says that his mother and brothers are outside.  

While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him.

(Someone told him, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.")

But he said in reply to the one who told him, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?"

And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers.

 Matthew 12:46-49

Jesus barely hesitates before announcing that "who are my brothers?  Who is my mother?".  I never understood that, but after watching it in the movie, it made total sense to me!!  Yes - no one is more special to Jesus/God than anyone else!  He loves us all equally!  He wants salvation for us all equally!

Although the others in the scene get upset, Mary totally gets it.  She looks hurt at first, but then she understands.  She tells the others that he is correct.  Of course, the other family members are all scandalized and want to leave, but Mary insists on going in and sitting amongst the followers and listening to Jesus talk.  Jesus shares a look with her, and she smiles her understanding and he smiles back. 

The others try to talk her into leaving (Jesus has just disowned her in front of everyone!) and she says she's going to him because he is "My Lord"...WOW!!  So powerful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another scene I identified with was the evening of the Last Supper, right before they began.  Mary and Jesus have a conversation in the courtyard outside the Upper Room and it is very much like the   Cenacle which I visited on Mt. Zion.

The Upper Room (Cenacle) - Mt. Zion outside Jerusalem, Israel

I know that there is no Biblical reference to this scene, but I enjoyed it thinking that Jesus and Mary did enjoy many private moments together as Mother and Son, despite His public ministry (above).  As the mother of a grown son with his own life, I know these are precious times to be cherished, which I'm sure Mary did.

I personally only have one scene I did not like, and that was during the scourging of Jesus.  Although Mary was not present at the beating, in this movie she experienced each lash - falling to the ground in physical pain.

This is also not Biblical and I don't agree with the poetic license in this case.  I felt like it took away from the suffering Jesus did for us to have Mary experience his pain physically!  Our Mother would never want us to turn our eyes away from what Jesus did for us!  In fact, I believe she is mortified if anyone aligns her grief and heartbreak at His death with any of the suffering He did to save us.   It was just an unnecessary addition to the movie in my opinion.

The movie ends when Mary sees her risen Son and that smile, that grace-filled look of understanding and joy.  A perfect way to end such a wonderful movie experience!!

I thoroughly enjoyed Mary of Nazareth and would recommend it to anyone, of any faith!

Celebrating St. Anne and the Immaculate Conception

During Advent, we meditate on the events that happened before our Savior, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem.  The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is December 8th and just happened to fall on the Second Sunday of Advent this year.

This is a very confusing feast to most, Catholics included.

Here it is in a nutshell:  The Immaculate Conception does not have anything to do with the Annunciation and the conception of Jesus;  the Immaculate Conception is referring to the conception of Mary in the womb of Saint Anne.

Just as we would never put our most precious processions into any kind of filthy storage container, neither would God allow his Son to come to us by way of a sinful human.

Mary was not like us, she was not a human being like any other human in history.  She was the Mother of God.  His blood mingled with hers in her womb, he formed in the amniotic fluid of her body's making.  The idea that the Lord of the Universe would reside in an impure body is ludicrous.

We don't know much about Saint Anne and her husband Saint Joachim.   But tradition of our church calls them the Grandparents of Jesus.


There is a church dedicated to Saint Anne just inside St. Stephen's or the Lion's Gate in Jerusalem.  It is traditionally held that this is where the Virgin Mary was born and lived as a child with her parents Anne & Joachim. 

St. Anne's Church, Jerusalem

It stands inside a garden courtyard which also contains a lot of ruins (including the Pools of Bethesda) looking very tall and strong-looking; sturdy and magnificent compared to many other ancient buildings and structures in Israel. 

 

This is because it was not destroyed in 1192 during one of the many captures of the city, it was instead used as a Muslim school, so it was saved.

The garden of St. Anne's is an oasis from the narrow, crowded streets of Old Jerusalem on one side and the bustle and traffic of the modern city on the other.

Here we were given time to rest in the shade and take in the beauty of the flowers and surrounding architecture.  Fr. T read from scripture, but sadly, I cannot remember which passage he read to us.

It is a lovely, restful place (with clean bathrooms) and many benches in the shade.

I enjoyed spending time there, although I spent more time marveling at the flowers (see what I call "Israeli Kudzu" (bougainvillea) in the photo above).

This was a good place to refill water bottles and chat with the priest-caretakers of the site, The White Fathers.

The are Missionaries of Africa and are called the White Fathers due to the color of the habit they wear.

The Church of St Anne is the best-preserved Crusader church in Jerusalem. It marks the traditional site of the home of Jesus’ maternal grandparents, Anne and Joachim, and the birthplace of the Virgin Mary.

We entered the Church through a gorgeous medieval-looking door and walked into the very high-ceiling Sanctuary.

Another pilgrim group was inside singing.  The Church of St. Anne is renowned for its remarkable acoustics and reverberating echoes. The voices of even a small choral group can sound like a large congregation in a vast cathedral.  Although the church was designed for Gregorian Chant, it is said that you can "play" it like a musical instrument with your human voice.

I was really looking forward to hearing Fr. T sing with his gorgeous voice, but he would only sing with the group.  (I have noticed off the altar, outside of participating in Mass, he seems very humble of his beautiful voice and won't usually sing.)

The high ceiling and construction did make everyone sound just beautiful and like there were many more people singing than actually were.  *btw - anyone can sing, but only religious songs are allowed!

It would have been fabulous to have Fr. T say Mass there!

After our song, we walked around the sanctuary.

Main Altar - St. Anne's Church in Jerusalem

In the back of the church was a lovely statue of St. Anne with little St. Mary.

 

Look how sweetly little Mary appears here.  And St. Anne looks over her with obvious love in her face, but I also see something else.  Protection?  Wisdom?  Knowledge?  Surely she understood that this little one was special and different from other children?

Like St. Anne, I am a Mother and a Grandmother.  How very special it is, how very blessed I am.

Lastly, we descended into the crypt which held the remains of the house of Anne & Joachim.

You can see the roof is the natural rock of the cave.

Inside is a painting which shows St. Anne and St. Joachim with newborn baby Mary.  The Greek initials on the top-left side is "ΜΡ ΘΥ".  ΜΡ is "Mary" in Greek and ΘΥ is "God-bearer".  

Also in the cave is an altar dedicated to Mary's birth behind an ornate gate.

This is a closeup of the icon behind the gate. 

I have searched the internet for several hours and cannot find any information regarding this version of this event.  There are lots of similar paintings out there, but so far I have not been able to find anything on this one. 

As we came up the stairs I could hear another group singing on the altar with some angelic harmonies that echoed beautifully throughout the room.  I could see the bright sunshine though the doorway and smell the fresh air blowing in.

 What a lovely place!  What an oasis of grace it must have been when Mary was growing up here! 

In the courtyard garden of St. Anne's Church, Jerusalem

Advent Thought

 

I stole this from the Divine Mercy Facebook page!!!   www.facebook.com/thedivinemercy

Anticipation on the First Sunday of Advent

This Sunday at Mass really gave me a lot to think about for the First of Sunday Advent.

As I mentioned in my Mass & Life Are Wiggly post, we sit at Mass each Sunday with 4 of my grandchildren.  We usually then go out to lunch together, but with busy lives and so many activities/work/school pulling our families in different directions, it generally means that we only see each other on Sunday.

We usually arrive at church ahead of our grandchildren and save nearly an entire pew for our large family near the back of the sanctuary.  Waiting for them to arrive- the expectation of seeing my Daughter and her family & of hugs and kisses before the Liturgy begins- is a sweet anticipation to be sure.  :)

On this First Sunday of Advent though, my Daughter's van would not start and they did not make it to the service we all usually attend together.


As we sat and waited, Mass began.  Even though I was able to completely focus on the Liturgy since I had few distractions, I realized I was unconsciously listening.   I was participating in the Mass, but was also completely aware of the door to the sanctuary behind me.

I could hear the ushers open it for late-arrivals and my ear was tuned for any familiar whispered voices.

My peripheral vision was acutely aware, scanning for the tiny heads bobbing up the aisle toward me.

Every time I sensed a movement behind me, I turned to see if it was my lovies arriving.

I found myself thinking of the people of the Old Testament.  How they awaited the arrival of the Messiah.  How they were hanging on with trust and hope in God.

Were they going about their days in constant anticipation of the Messiah's arrival?  Did they find themselves semi-distracted with any possibility of fulfillment?

Obviously Mary was very in-tune with the idea that the Messiah could come at any time as she was quick to understand the angel's words and seemed to have no doubts in the notion that prophecies were being accomplished. 

King Herod also believed in the real possibility of a new King coming for the Jews, or why else would he have taken such desperate measures?

Like me in the church, longing for the grandchildren to arrive, it seems the people of Israel were yearning for their Savior to come.

I just wonder at the expectant frame-of-mind the faithful of Israel had, the desiring, the craving, the hope.

 

God, during my time of waiting, please let me remain faithful in my Hope and faithful in my Trust of You and Your Plan.  Amen.

God Bless the "Land of the Morning"

I know the emphasis of this blog is about the liturgy and my travels, and maybe this post still qualifies in a way....but the truth is, I can't really focus on the normal, spiritual texts as my heart is just breaking for the people of the Philippines.

Typhoon Haiyan

I lived in the Philippines for 2 years back in the late 60's.  My Dad was stationed at Clark Air Force Base during the Vietnam War at the USAF Hospital there.  We lived off-base in a mostly-American housing area in Angeles City, but I was still able to experience a lot of the culture of the Philippines and her people.

I loved it!

1967-ish

I was 8-10 year old in a land of perpetual summer!  Or mostly.  I was outside most of the time, but even inside our house was like living on a porch as there was not even glass on the windows!!  Just wooden slats that shut for privacy.  Our yard had banana and papaya trees and even pineapples!  It was so wonderful.  Our next-door-neighbors were Filipino and had a pet spider monkey!  Oh, it was nothing like the sterile environment of the Air Force Bases I lived on in the States!!  I learned to love many things about this tropical place and it's people, and I know my experience there has impacted my life and is part of what has made me who I am.

If I was to use a word to describe the Philippines, it might be Green.

Green in all it's shades and hues. 

My first sight of the Philippines was from an airplane window in the Spring of 1968.  I was only 8 years old.  After a long, 18 hour flight with my parents & 3 younger siblings (my poor mother!) I gazed out the window to get a glimpse of my new home for the next few years.

 I will never forget.

My memory....I put together three photos from Wikimedia to make this

As we descended down through the blanket of clouds, and popped out beside a mountain terrraced with rice paddies.  It could have been a travel movie for the perfectness of it!  It had been raining, but the sun was setting? rising? and was shining below the clouds.  Everything was SO GREEN!   Or maybe it just seemed that way to my mind since I had just left the winter browns and grays of the U.S. 

And just when I thought it couldn't be more beautiful, the plane turned and I was presented with the glorious gift of a beautiful, full-spectrum rainbow!  Oh My!

I was completely charmed by my new home!!

To compare that cherished memory with the devastating video I am seeing on the news of the destruction of Typhoon Yolanda is breaking my heart!

That beautiful, colorful country - wiped out!

Those beautiful, colorful people - so many lives lost!

I cannot imagine the hardships that the survivors are enduring either!  I was in Hurricane Hugo in Charleston in 1989 and although the South Carolina coast was ravaged we had all the rest of the U.S. to come to our aid.  Or to run to.

So much loss of life.  So much suffering now.  I feel so helpless here in my safe, warm, dry, secure home.

More than half of my fellow pilgrims to Israel, and both priests are Filipino.  I imagine that in a group that large people have lost friends and family.     : (     And those with surviving family in the islands must be beside themselves with worry for their loved ones in their need for the basics like food, water, shelter and medical attention!  The stress and sadness for the people I came to know and love last year must be great.  My heart breaks for them all!

Lord, please watch over the Philippines!  Please take care of the people and end their suffering.  Please be with them as they wait aid.  Please be with the aid workers to be swift.  Please open the hearts of anyone who can help so that they do all they can as quickly as they can.  Lord, please be with the littlest survivors, especially the new orphans!  God Bless them all and give them hope and peace!  

And God, please be with my fellow Pilgrims.  Give them hope and peace for their loved ones and their homeland.  Amen.

Mass & Life are Wiggly

Jesus Our Risen Savior Catholic Church, Spartanburg, South Carolina

Each Sunday we arrive at Mass early and claim one of the pews in the back of the Sanctuary.  I don't like sitting in the back, but it's the right thing to do when you have 4 small grandchildren with you under the age of 7!

I have learned that during this season in my life, Sunday Mass is a micro-study in "The World" of today...so many distractions.

Not that my grandchildren are in any way bad in church, they are not!  They are so so so good!  But they are children.  They want to be held.  They fall off the kneeler.  They need to go to the bathroom.  They ask a question at the most in-opportune time.  They need assistance getting off and on the pew.  They have "wardrobe malfunctions", getting stuck in coats, bows fall out or shoes fall off.  They can't control their whisper.  They want help to find the song page.  They want to sit on my lap.  They wiggle.

It might not even be my loved ones distracting me, it might be the people in front, beside, behind me.  They are in my "radar scope" and I see them from the corner of my eye - a noise, a blur, a bump, a wiggle.


Just like the World.

Busy, insistent, noisy, attention-stealing....our lives are wiggly.

We are headed in one direction when something wiggles in the peripheral of our vision.  Our attention is altered.  We are distracted.  We change direction, move to something else.

First thing you know, the day is over and we have spent time doing things we never intended, no matter how well-meaning or good, still - it was a distraction from the other activities we wanted/needed to do.

Jesus warned us in several parables to be ready, be prepared.  Basically:  Keep Your Eye On The Ball.

Hard to do in today's World.  Satan LOVES the World.  Satan loves to distract us with the World.

It's an effort every single day to stay focused.  To turn back from the distractions and set your eyes back on the Altar of God.

We want to pray, we want to go to daily Mass, we want to participate in Eucharist more often, we want to attend bible studies, Adoration, Reconciliation.

"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak"...only the second half of Matthew 26:41.

It's a battle every day to stay focused on the Lord.

Dear God, help me to pay attention to you.  When I am distracted by the pull of daily life, turn my face back towards you as soon as possible.  Help me to be strong to ignore the World as background noise and keep my heart centered on You each day.  Amen.

As we move through the busy, out-of-focus, noisy, wiggly world, let us work hard to stay focused on Jesus and our path to Heaven to be with Him and His Father.

Oh...and the first part part of Matt 26:41?  

"Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test."

 

The One Year Anniversary of My Trip to Israel

2012 Pilgrimage to Israel from Jesus Our Risen Savior Catholic Church, Spartanburg, SC and St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Lodi, NJ

Hello to all my Fellow Pilgrims!

It's hard to believe a year ago, I was blessed to be with all of you, taken on the most profound experience of my life - to visit the area where Our Lord and Savior lived and died. 

I can't thank my Mother, Rosemary, enough for the great gift of this trip.  I don't know about all of you, but it changed me.  I cannot go a single day without thinking about some event or building or view or place that we visited.  I find I can relate to the Bible like never before, I can picture a lot of the Gospels right where they happened.  It's almost overwhelming - wonderful & awe-inspiring at the same time!

At the time I was told of the trip, I began to try to keep a journal and although I attempted multiple versions, multiple times, I was not able to find a way or the time to write down all that I saw and did, my observations and thoughts, while we were in Israel.  But after I returned home, I finally began to write it down.  Not in chronological order, but liturgically.  

As the Gospels were read in church on Sunday, I would be inspired to write down my thoughts regarding the trip pertaining to that scripture reading.  Not every week, but first thing I knew, I had filled almost an entire book! 

My journaling has not been steady (I could not hardly write a single thing during Lent or the Easter season for some reason!??).  I have lots of memories that are incomplete and have not quite come together to date and which are only half-written.  And I feel like there is a lot more to come. But I have posted my impressions and completed thoughts to date here.  

If you are interested, you are welcome to go scan over them.  I didn't use anyone's real name, except the tour people.  

I would love, love, love for you to post your comments or reply to me regarding your memories of the places I have posted about!  Whether spiritual or not, just your impressions as you experienced it.  I'd love to hear them to see how your experience differed from mine!!!

In any case, I just wanted to let you all know that I think of you all often and will always hold a special place in my heart for all of you!!  As our year approaches Thanksgiving, I am giving thanks that all of you were there with me last year.  The trip was what it was because of each person involved.  It was wonderful and tiring and exciting and scary and happy and sad and profound and spiritual and frustrating and just the best ever in my opinion!  : ) 

I am praying for you all, always!

Love ~ Kathy

Holy Mass on the Mount of Beatitudes

ORDINARY TIME

Mt 5:1-12a

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.”

View from the top of the Mount of Beatitudes looking down to the Sea of Galilee

Yes, I know. This isn't a Sunday reading, but the daily one for November first.  I loved the Mount of Beatitudes so much though; I will always remember it as so peaceful.

The word beatitude literally means "happiness" or "blessedness". 

Well we were certainly blessed the day we visited.  It was gorgeous, with a wonderful "blue-bird sky" as my husband calls it, and perfect temperatures.  I did take some notes that day....

"Mass on the Mount of Beatitudes - listening to the Gospel story with the breeze on my face and the birds singing, sunshine so bright and flowers blooming - it could not have been more precious.

 The sermon was perfect, but I can't remember the words - oh how I wish I had a better memory. 

 As Fr.  N. held up the host, it was backlit by the sun!  It glowed with light and looked radiant to me.  Bees buzzed and birds chirped and it was p.e.r.f.e.c.t.

I look out now over the altar that we used and can see the Sea of Galilee below me from this mountain, I see banana trees and palms down the mountainside to the water.  It is an amazing place to be, how blessed am I."

Fr. N. delivers a "sermon on the mount"

I just cannot convey how absolutely peaceful it was on the mountain for me that day.  Mass was just beautiful.  It was outside, right on the side of the very mountain where Jesus gave the Beatitudes to all Believers.

Fr. T looks to be deep in the spiritual moment of this beautiful place

We were out in the sunshine, under the trees just as the people might have been that very day so long ago.  Looking around, I wondered if some of the rocks were the very ones the people had rested on as they heard His words!

Rocks on the Mount of Beatitudes

Bougainvillea blooms overhead in the outside chapel area

Birds were singing and when I looked up, the dappled sun shone down on me through the gorgeous Bougainvillea flowers and my heart was just bursting!

I kept picturing Jesus teaching the people on this mountainside and being so glad in the providence of God that allowed us to be outside for Mass rather than inside the chapel.

Sermon of the Beatitudes - James Tissot

I'm guessing that at most of the holy sites we were allowed the great gift of celebrating Mass, our priests attempted to have our services indoors the sacred and famous chapels and churches.  But it didn't always work out, and this was one time when I was glad to be outside to celebrate Mass.

Beautiful Mass in a beautiful place

 

Although we were given time to explore the grounds of the Church of the Beatitudes after mass, I went to a bench beside the altar and looked out over the hillside down to the Sea of Galilee (where we had just been earlier that morning).

I wanted to be alone and I could have stayed there and basked in my own happiness for quite a while.  and I knew I was blessed to be feeling so profoundly effected by this place.

View from the top of the Mount of Beatitudes

I looked down the hillside from my bench and the banana groves and palm trees swayed in the gentle breezes.  The sky and water were almost the same shade of blue, and Mt. Arbel was barely visible in the distance.

I remembered being told once at a retreat to close my eyes and let the sunshine warm my skin like the love of God shining down on me.  I sat in this wonderful place and reveled in trying to absorb the glorious feelings I was experiencing, the spiritual souvenirs I was receiving. 

Although I did explore the inside of the Chapel (and the gift shop too!), I will save that memory for another time.  I wanted to again savor the moment on that day in November 2012 when I was privileged to have spent time on the Mount and so today I will stop here in my reminisces about the blessings I received that day in that special place.

Thank You Lord for that moment on that day in that place.  And if it be your will, please let me one day go back and sit on that bench on the top of the Mount of Beatitudes.  Amen.

From the top of the Mount of the Beatitudes

2012 Pilgrimage to Israel - Day 5