Friday 12 April 2013

Holy Land Journal. Sr. Jo.

Dear Josephine,

Thank you, your Journal is collected here in 5 Email.

Following your Holy Places, is a great sharing in your experiences.

It it is a joy to view up-to-date pictures, and the News, Obama was visiting the next day.

You will now be looking back o the FMMs in Nablus Road.

Yours ...

Donald .

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Jo McG...Sent: Thursday, 11 April 2013, 16:41
Subject: Journal

Mon. 25thMarch

8.30-12.15 Mary continued her very interesting and lively lectures on JOHN'S GOSPEL

and explained that she desires to complete his Passion and Resurrection

Narratives before the Easter Triduum,hence so many lectures in such a short

time.

2.30 VISIT to ST.ANNE'S St. Anne's Church, Jerusalem

This is French property and the French authorities entrusted its care to the

WHITE FATHERS. It stands,most probably,on the site of the Pool of

BETHESDA spoken of in the story of the paralytic man in John 5:1-18.

The vast pool,13m.deep,was dug in 200 BC to collect the local rainwater

and form a reservoir for the nearby Temple.Bowls and medicinal baths cut

into the rock have been discovered in the area indicating that it was a

healing site.The excavations reveal the remains of a Bysantine Church

built in the 5th century.

The Crusaders used some of the stones from its ruins

Believed place of the Birthplace of Mary under the Church of St Anne

to build the simple but lovely church of ST.ANNE.There is a crypt which

shows the house considered to be that of Joachim and Anne. We were

privileged to be shown through their Museum which is still being developed

and is not generally open to the public.

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Jo McG...

Palestinian Christians celebrate Palm Sunday under occupation,
East Jerusalem, 24.3.2013

1364158254‑pilgrims‑celebrate‑palm‑sunday‑in‑jerusalem_1903928.jpg

Christian pilgrims hold palm fronds during the traditional Palm Sunday procession

Subject: Journal from Jo

PALM SUNDAY PROCESSION

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trlKvq3A-qA

After lunch,I left alone and walked the ten minutes to the Kedron Valley. As I looked up at the steep side of the Mount of Olives,I thought,"I don't think I can make it so I can sit quietly at the Garden of Gethsemane and wait for the procession to come down!" It was very,very hot!!

Just then,several young OFM's came striding by and I decided to follow them as far as I could. Lo and behold I made it to the top and down the last km. into BETHPHAGE which was traditionally the beginning of the Palm Sunday journey of JESUS. The crowds were unbelievable - parish groups, pilgrim groups, troops of scouts and guides, so many religious,priests and prelates in their various garbs.....and they seemed to have come from every corner of the globe! I shall never forget the sight of this colourful universal gathering wending its way down the Mt. of Olives (with their bands,

banners,and flags) waving their PALM and OLIVE BRANCHES while joyfully singing their

praises to JESUS CHRIST, OUR KING.

Subject: Fw: Ecce Homo

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Jo McG...
To: N......
Sent: Wednesday, 10 April 2013, 19:36
Subject: Ecce Homo

Dear Noreen and all,

I am now with our Srs. in Nablus Road as our program finished yesterday. So it is time to rewind back to PALM SUNDAY.

At 9am, we left for the ISRAEL MUSEUM

which is in two sections, one illustrating the whole prehistory and history of the Holy Land up to the Bysantine Age and the second, showing Jewish life through the ages.

Attached to the museum is THE SHRINE OF THE BOOK, displaying the documents discovered in and around QUMRAN which we will visit later.

In the centre of the shrine stands a vast roller with a complete scroll of the book of ISAIAH ,made up of 17 pieces of skin sewn together and with beautiful, legible writing. They date back to the first century BC and are the most important of the Qumran finds.

From there, we walked over some lovely pathways and found ourselves looking down on a wonderful model ( 1 to 50 ) of JERUSALEM in the time of Jesus. Our guide explained everything and pointed out what and why changes had taken place over the years.The roads,buildings,walls, etc. were so clear that it was easy to visualize Jesus there - walking through the narrow cobbled streets, going up to the Temple, walking up the Mount of Olives, praying in Gethsemane,.....

I couldn't resist staying there for some time while the others went off to see other recommended exhibits. It was a very special time and a very appropriate lead into the afternoon.

---- Forwarded Message -----

From: Jo McG............
To: N....
Sent: Monday, 1 April 2013, 16:39
Subject: Ecce Homo Lectures

Friday, 22nd of March....Dr. Walter Vogels was back with us for three lectures on

ISAIAH in preparation for further lectures on the Servant

Songs.

- Center for Biblical Formation – Notre-Dame de Sion - http://biblicalformation.org/eng -

CV’s

Posted By EG-Admin On November 5, 2011 @ 8:34 pm In | Comments Disabled

CV FOR PROF. WALTER VOGELS,M. A:

http://biblicalformation.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Walter-Vogels.jpg

Prof Walter Vogels is an internationally renowned biblical scholar, who has had many years of experience as Professor of Biblical Studies at St. Paul’s University Ottawa. He has been a visiting lecturer and guest speaker at universities and academic institutes around the world. His publications are numerous, in English, French and in Dutch.

He is editorial consultant and advisor for various academic journals and periodicals. He acts as a consultant in several committees of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Canada. Professor Vogels is a member of the Society of the Missionaries of Africa. A popular teacher who is at ease with his students and at home with his subject, the Bible, about which he is deeply committed and passionate.

CV FOR PROF. MARY COLOE, PBVM

http://biblicalformation.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Coloe-webphoto.jpg

Dr. Mary Coloe is an Associate Professor in New Testament at the Australian Catholic University, Melbourne Campus. Her specialist research area is the Gospel of John and she is the author of two books and numerous essays and journal articles on this Gospel.

She regularly teaches a summer course at Boston College and in 2011 is teaching one semester at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA. As part of her work at ACU she regularly conducts Biblical Study Tours of Israel for ACU students.

From 1999 to 2008 he has taught Exegesis of the Hebrew Bible at the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology in Shkodër (Albania), and from 2001 to 2009 New Testament History at the Jerusalem branch of the Pontifical Biblical Institute. Since 2009 he teaches Exegesis of the New Testament at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.

Article printed from Center for Biblical Formation – Notre-Dame de Sion: http://biblicalformation.org/eng

URL to article: http://biblicalformation.org/eng/?page_id=853

Click here to print.

In the afternoon, we went to join our Jewish brothers and

sisters at the KOL HANESHAMA SYNAGOGUE for their

Evening Prayer. I found it less formal than I expected but

very prayful, mostly sung or chanted. They were very

welcoming and we all enjoyed the experience.

Sat. 23rd of March.........A marathon day!!

8.30 -12.15 SERVANT SONGS -3 Lectures

These were a great preparation for HOLY WEEK.

2.00 -5.30 Our first three lectures on JOHN's GOSPEL

given by DR. MARY COLOE pbvm, an Associate Professor

in New Teatament at Australia Catholic Unuversity.

6pm...A beautiful MASS for PALM SUNDAY in our Basilica.

So we now enter into Holy Week. May it be a blessed time

for all.

Love, Jo. fmm

Sent: Saturday, 30 March 2013, 16:55
Subject: Fw: YAD VASHEM

Happy Easter to all.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Jo McG...
Sent: Saturday, 30 March 2013, 14:53

March 21st......8am Preparation for visit to YAD VASHEM by DR. DEBORAH WEISSMAN, A Jewish educator.

[ Visiting Yad Vashem? - yadvashem.org

www.yadvashem.org/museum

Virtual tours and photo galleries of the museums. Plan a visit today!

http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/museum/index.asp?WT.mc_id=200964WT.cg_n=g.en ]

8.35 Departure for Yad Vashem - the central HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

We started with individual walks around the spacious gardens where hundreds of trees have been planted each one with the country or name of those who played a part in saving the Jews or contributed to the building of this beautiful museum. We then assembled at THE CHILDREN'S MONUMENT with the entrance sign, "The soul of a person is God's candle". It was very dark inside so we had to hold on to a cord rail to guide us.At one point, I couldn't sense the person in front of me and I thought," If this cord ends, I am lost and I cant turn back!" A frightening moment but nothing compared to what those children must have felt in their total darkness and no way out!! One and a half million had been killed!! FORGIVE US, LORD. I looked up towards the ceiling and beheld thousands of stars ( tiny lights ) signs of hope that light will fill our world so that all children will be loved and cared for.

After that, we wended our way through the General Museum which has 10 sections, each leading into the next one so we had to pass through all of them. Again I had the feeling of "no turning back" and feeling lost in the midst of so many alcoves and exhibits! It began with an audio-visual of Jewish life in Europe before world war 2 and immediately after, some evidence of the end, the so called "FINAL SOLUTION to the JEWISH PROBLEM"! Then came thousands of exhibits - videos, interviews, photos, letters, documents, huge piles of shoes and Jewish books that had survived the burning, .......and what impressed me most of all, THE PERSONAL STORIES OF SURVIVERS,

[ Testimonies - The Holocaust - Yad Vashem

www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/resource.../item.asp?...4...

Holocaust Survivors are our main medium for the story of the Holocaust. Their testimonies play a central role in the understanding the events of the Holocaust as ...]