On Friday morning, October 6, 2023 at 2 am we all hopped on the bus and headed out for the airport. We arrived at the airport with a hefty line to check in. I began to get nervous.
We arrived at the airport with a hefty line to check in. I began to get nervous. We made our way through the line, sending students out as soon as they got their ticket (for another hefty TSA line awaited them). I waited for the last student who needed to check a bag, which required yet another line. We were close to boarding time.
I turned into an anxious mother. We were not going to miss that flight! As soon as he was done, we ran ahead of the TSA line, hoping to find a worker to let us through. I turned around and looked at the woman in line with eyes that must have looked desperate, for she immediately motioned for us to cut the whole line and go right into TSA. We made it with a few minutes to spare.
Aboard the plane, a young Isreali Jewish woman was seated in between a student and me. We had some good conversation about culture. Her English was excellent. I told her we planned to go Jerusalem. She looked amazed and informed me how dangerous it was there. She would never step foot near Jerusalem unless she had to. I considered her perspective. I had forgotten how war-torn the place has been in the past, but didn’t think much more than that. The student I was with and I gently brought God into the context of our conversation, hoping to plant some seeds of faith. Before I knew it, we had landed.
We hopped off the plane into the blazing sun. It was so hot I thought I was going to melt on the tarmac. I cringed at the thought of seven days in the blazing sun like this. A bus picked us up and brought us to the terminal. We got through without any problems and found Fr. Anthony, our guide and chaplain for the trip, waiting for us. After roll call, he quickly led us to our bus where we made our way to our first destination - Emmaus, home of the Community of the Beatitudes’ missions.
Tired and hungry, but excited we were led off the bus in a short forty minutes. We kissed the ground. We touched it with our hands. This ground. This sacred ground that Jesus, the Messiah, the God whom the Heavens could not contain, walked upon.
We walked along the Emmaus route in silence. It is the road where Jesus met the two disciples as they walked away from Jerusalem (Luke 14:13-35) after His Resurrection. I fell to the back and tried to take in the reality of where I was walking and that I was actually here in the Holy Land. God is true to His promises.
Lunch was an assortment of Isreali foods, most of which I could not name. We had some time to explore and have Eucharistic Adoration at the sight of the “Breaking of the Bread" (Luke 24:13-35). This is where Jesus revealed Himself to the two disciples when He shared the Eucharist with them (broke bread with them) and their eyes where opened to recognize Him. They exclaim, "Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke to us on the way," (Lk 24:32).
While some packed the bus up with food and supplies for camping, I had a chance to go for a pleasant walk through the grounds. By the time I got to adoration at this famous sight, I was quite over-heated and exhausted from a night with no sleep. But I leaned into the Lord. My eyes did not feel open like the disciples but my heart knew better. Jesus was present before me in the Eucharist in the same way He revealed Himself almost 2,000 years ago. I let my heart rest on faith amidst my physical exhaustion. During adoration, we learned and sang some new and fun Israeli songs. Then we headed back on the bus, journeying to our next stop, Nazareth, the sight of the Annunciation and Jesus’ hometown.
- Sr. Lisa Marie Shatynski, T.O.R.
