Father Dave's Journal

posted: Friday, February 16th, 2000

Well we had yet another full day here in old Jerusalem. We started with mass in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and then moved on to the Shepherd's field to see a cave where the shepherds in Jesus' time might have stayed. Then we headed to the Dead Sea, it started to rain so swimming was not as attractive as it was first thought, but this group is from Wisconsin, so Jeff Davis, Jerry Berning, and Doug Schmitz went in for a swim. They of course, floated since the salt content makes the water heavier then the human body. But I have to tell you that last night was the best. After a hard day of touring, a large segment of our group went to Ein Karem, the place I lived when I studied over here, and we went to a small cafe, beer garden for some light refreshment. The gang, 27 of us, sang songs, told jokes, and even did the participating song YAROOSHELA. I'll explain when I get home.

Tommorrow we head to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site of the tomb where Jesus was buried on Good Friday and we will celebrate mass at 6:00am. Then we will walk the true way of the cross and see the historical sites in the Old City. Tommorrow afternoon we will be on our own to discover the sites of the old City and explore. What a great opportunity.