This was our last full day in the Holy Land and the Pilgrims were looking forward to a busy day seeing some of the important sites in and around Lake Galilee. This is always a very special day for me as I love the places that we see around the Lakeside, all of which are…
Read more 'It certainly made me think and see things in a fresh way.'
The Revd Canon Wendy S Robins, Southwark Diocesan Director of Press & Communications, writes… In a little over five and a half weeks time the group of Pilgrims will set off on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and I will be part of the party, accompanying the Bishop of Southwark, as I am also his…
The Rt Revd Paul Hendricks, Auxiliary Bishop in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark writes… A few days ago, I happened to be reading through the prophet Zechariah and noticed some verses from one of our weekday readings. ‘And many peoples and great nations will come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem and…
Read more “We want to go with you, since we have learnt that God is with you”
The Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Southwark, writes… It is always a privilege to be able to visit the sacred places of the Holy Land. I have recently returned from accompanying an international group of Roman Catholic Bishops on their annual visit there to support the local Church and promote dialogue and peace. Known…
The pilgrims have arrived and as we collect our baggage at the carousel we break into our groups: red (Peter) and green (Paul). It is at this point that one of the constants of a pilgrimage begins. We count the number of people in each group and then we count again and, if necessary, we…
Sue Keeler from Purley reflects on Day 1 ‘It was especially moving to stand in the dungeon where Jesus was held the night before his death. In that dank, cramped space, I could only imagine how fearful and alone he must have felt, anticipating the ordeal that awaited him.’
It is the evening of Ash Wednesday as I write and I can’t help but think about where I and the pilgrims with whom I am travelling will be this time next week. We will all just have experienced our first full day in Jerusalem and will have seen our first Holy sites. For some…
Revd David Adamson reflects: Just before I moved to Southwark to start my curacy, the Dean, Andrew, came to visit me at Mirfield where I was finishing my training. His clearest memory from that trip is not how beautiful the college was, or how ready I was for my ordination. No, his clearest memory is…
Today, as we set off to enter the Old City and begin the journey of the stations of the cross walking the Via Dolorosa, we entered the old city by a different gate. Walking past the gate that we usually use we headed to St Stephen’s Gate, which has a new walkway to the pool…
The first day of the Pilgrimage is always full of anticipation as people bundle onto the coaches for a day of visits for the first time. It somehow feels a bit like a school bus as people begin to figure out where they will sit on the coach – and likely stay there the whole…
Read more 'It brings into focus some of the realities of the Holy Land…'
We arrive in Ein Karem and walk to the Covent of the Sisters of Zion. It is quite a long walk and the sun is hot as the Pilgrims make their way to the beautiful gardens in which the convent is situated. After lunch we have some time to spend sitting in the garden if…
The lunch in the Armenian quarter is always a good one and today was no exception and after lunch we set off on foot again to go to the Dormition Abbey. The Dormition Abbey is an absolutely beautiful place built in the early 1900s. In the crypt there is a huge sculpture of Mary in…
We were expecting to go to Bethlehem to visit the Basilica of the Birth…. but sadly our plans had to change. So, as well as not being able to see the church, we were unable to send half the group to L’Arche, Bethlehem which is one of Bishop Christopher’s Lent Call projects. As a result…
This is what Jackie Lamaro has written about visiting the Comboni sisters: As we arrived at Bethany we were greeted by rain. In many cultures rain is seen as blessing. Bethany was the place where Jesus was welcomed with open arms by his friends and so I felt the same joy Jesus felt as the…
It is an early start as we begin the day which sees us move from Jerusalem to Galilee. Our bags are to be outside our rooms by 7.30am if we want someone from the hotel to carry them for us. Then it is an early breakfast so that we can be ready to go to…
The Anglicans in our group had hoped to be able to join our brothers and sisters at Christ Church Nazareth for our Eucharist today but it became clear to us last night that this would not be possible. Instead Bishop Christopher presided at the Eucharist in the meeting room at the hotel. It seemed good…
Morwenna Orton reflects: On Friday, the fourth day of our Pilgrimage, we had hoped to visit Bethlehem, but sadly this wasn’t possible. Part of the visit for some of us would have been to visit L’Arche Bethlehem, a project for people with severe learning disabilities which Bishop Christopher has asked people in the Anglican Diocese…
Sue Keeler reflects on three days of the pilgrimage: Thursday 5 MarchOld Jerusalem Standing among the ruined columns of the Pool of Bethesda, it was easy to imagine the lame man sitting there, waiting for the waters to be stirred. Jesus challenged the man asking if he truly wanted his life to be changed, just…
All of the rooms at the Ron Beach Hotel have a view of the Lake which is why the hotel is to wide and means it can take a long time to make it from the dining room to some people’s rooms. This means that most people get an uninterrupted of the sunrise and people…
We had all loved seeing the sunrise over the Lake during our stay at the Ron Beach Hotel and we had not known as we watched it on Monday morning that this was to be our last opportunity on this trip. Some of us had even planned a sunrise swim before we left the hotel. …
Read more Thanks be to God for all that we have seen and done.
