we are an Easter people

 

Years ago, I traveled to Turkey on assignment with an interfaith group of Catholic and Muslim faith leaders. Not only did we visit historical and Biblical sites throughout the country, we were also invited into family homes where we broke bread and shared faith with one another. 

 

For me, their open, loving, generous hospitality was truly humbling. And disarming! 

 

The questions we normally have about those we label as “Other” were being asked. But this time, they were being asked of me. 

 

I was the “Other.”

 

Why are there different Christian religions? Do all Christian families go to church? What do Christians believe? How do they practice their faith? As they asked question after question, genuinely desiring to understand a culture and a faith radically different from theirs, I could see and tangibly grasp our common humanity. 

 

I was also struck by how easily we separate ourselves from what we don’t understand—or are ignorant about. 

 

A different language. A different tradition. A different history. A different faith. A different experience, and of course, a different political view. 

 

We easily slip into an “us” versus “them” mentality and ignore our shared reality. 

 

Truth is, we all live what we know. 

 

We all die, eventually. 

 

We are all, literally, in this together. 

 

And I understood that I share a common vision with believers who are devoted, committed and faithful to their own faith experience, no matter what their religion.

 

For example, their call to prayer--their commitment to stop and pray throughout the day, made me look for ways that I could incorporate prayers into my own daily routine. Saying the angelus at noon. Contemplating the Divine Mercy chaplet at 3. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours Night Prayer as a family every night. 

 

I was genuinely surprised by their love, admiration and respect for Mother Mary, and this has given me much to ponder. 

 

In Ephesus, Mary’s house is a pilgrimage site for Muslims and Christians alike. It is holy ground, a place where we all gather to honor the mother of Jesus. How can *I* grow in my relationship with Mary of Nazareth? Can I incorporate and share with my family a holy reverence for the mother of our Lord?

 

One of the main concerns of the parents that we met was how to pass on their faith to their children, and what kind of world they will inherit from us. Like me, these parents ultimately pray and hope that their children have a vibrant, personal and intimate relationship with the God who created us. 

 

As we discern what it means to live what Pope Francis calls, “the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity,” the challenge remains not to lose who we are and what we believe as Catholics-- under the guise of unity. 

 

Instead, we are asked to live our own faith fully, to strive to become saints. 

 

For Catholic Christians, this means being Easter people, who believe our faith transforms all, even death. 

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Note: An edited version of this post was published in the “Just Live It” column of the April edition of Liguorian Magazine. 

 

if a picture is worth a thousand words...

The Areopagus and the Acropolis in Athens

Standing at the Areopagus overlooking the Acropolis was a dreamlike experience.

In classical times, the “Rock of Ares” or Areios Pagos, north-west of the Acropolis, functioned as the high Court of Appeal for criminal and civil cases in Athens.

To my right , the famous collection of ancient Greek  buildings on the hill, including the Parthenon.  In front and to my left, the modern city of Athens.

It was not difficult to picture the Apostle Paul standing on this sacred rock, delivering his speech to the Athenians. I closed my eyes, felt the June warmth and the wind across my face, and imagined Paul saying:

“You Athenians, I see that in every respectyou are very religious.For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. 

The God who made the world and all that is in it,the Lord of heaven and earth…it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.He made from one the whole human raceto dwell on the entire surface of the earth,
and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,
so that people might seek God,
even perhaps grope for him and find him,
though indeed he is not far from any one of us. 

For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’as even some of your poets have said.” 

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If a picture speaks a thousand words, how much better is it to be in the picture? 

Imagine --not only reading Scripture, but standing where Jesus stood and being where Mother Mary lived.

Come and see for yourself -- join national missionary Fr. Bruce Nieli and I on a pilgrimage of Israel and Turkey, walking in the Footsteps of Mother Mary!

November  4-16, 2013

Questions? Contact me: mymaria@me.com  

¡cuida tu planeta!

Antigua, Guatemala

2011

"Please, I would like to ask all of those who have positions of responsibility in economics, political and social life, and all men and women of good will: Let us be 'protectors' of creation, protectors of God's plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment."

~Pope Francis, March 19, 2013

at his inaugural Mass

Sea of Galilee, from Mount of Beautitudes, Israel

2012

Antalya, Turkey

2007

Lago Atitlán, Guatemala

2011

Pamplona poppies, España

2003

Orange County, California

2006

Upcoming pilgrimage: in the Footsteps of Mother Mary!

Wailing Wall, Jerusalem, 2012

Have you ever dreamt of seeing and walking where Jesus and His Mother lived? Do you want a chance to experience the Gospel stories through your own eyes?

Why don't you join me? 

From November 4 to 16, 2013, my dear friend and Paulist priest Fr. Bruce Nieli and I will be leading a pilgrimage to Israel and Turkey, where we will visit the sites of all major milestones in Mary's life and, therefore, in Jesus' story.

Because of obvious political unrest, the only place we will not be able to visit is Egypt, where the Holy Family migrated during Jesus' early years.

Our journey -- In the Footsteps of Mother Mary-- will begin in Nazareth, celebrating Mass at the site of the Incarnation. Yes, the place where the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, saying:

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” 

We'll experience the region surrounding the Sea of Galilee, where so many of the Gospel stories take place--including Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes, and Sepphoris, birth site of Mary's parents, Anna and Joachim.

on replica boat, Sea of Galilee, 2012

If that's not enough to get you excited, our pilgrimage will include Bethlehem, Ein Karem (birth place of John the Baptist and site of Mary's visit with Elizabeth), the Jordan River, floating in the Dead Sea, and the barren desert, where Jesus went to pray for 40 days before beginning his ministry.

We'll also spend three days experiencing the holy sites of Jerusalem before flying to Izmir, Turkey, through Istanbul. If you're wondering why we've included Turkey, let me explain.

Mary's house, Ephesus

A few years ago I had the blessed opportunity to visit Ephesus, where tradition tells us Mother Mary lived the final years of her life with the Apostle John as her companion. Mary's home is a humble stone house where the presence of God was as tangible as rock. The grave and baptistery of St. John the Evangelist, to whom Jesus entrusted his mother, are on a nearby hill. 

Meryem, as Mother Mary is named in Turkish, is honored as the mother of Jesus and as an example of “purity and beauty, like a beautiful flower.” Her home is considered a holy site for Muslims, who, like Catholics, are encouraged to practice the spiritual practice of making pilgrimages.

I learned that Mary’s House in Ephesus is, therefore, the most important site in the world common to both Christians and Muslims.

When planning this pilgrimage walking In the Footsteps of Mother Mary, I could not ignore this important and holy site. 

Ephesus, city centre, façade of library

Five miles away from Mary's house survives the actual city of Ephesus, where the third ecumenical council of the Church took place in 431. On my visit, I stood in awe at the layers of history and centuries of faith tradition that color that landscape. 

The impressive two story façade of the Library of Celsus, built in 114-117 AD. The remains of a temple built in honor of Hadrian’s visit to the city in 123 AD. And underneath the Roman columns and stone paths that we walked, Greek ruins dating back to 1200 BC—all set on the foothills of Mt. Panayir (Pion) along what once was the shores of the Aegean Sea.

The largest archaeological site in Turkey and one of the most important in the world, Ephesus is one of the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation. It was also visited by St. Paul on his second and third journeys, and it is there that he wrote his letter to the Galatians. 

From now on, I will be regularly posting here stories from my visits to these amazing sites -- hoping to get you excited and willing to join me in this wonderful upcoming pilgrimage! 

Old city, Jerusalem, 2012

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please leave me a message here -- or contact me directly. And please, join me in praying for this pilgrimage starting now, may all who feel called to join us answer the call, and may God's will be glorified through it.

All I can add is, Y'allcome!