Thursday 24 September ..... Went first to the "Jesus Boat" Museum, located right beside our hotel at Nof Ginosar. Only item displayed is the "Jesus Boat"!!! a 2,000 year old boat discovered in 1986 at the bottom of the Lake (close to the shore) during a drought. Dates from between 50BC and 50AD, so it was a kind of boat around in Jesus' time. Then went on an "ordinary" boat for a ride to the middle of the Lake where we stopped for about 30 minutes just to pause, look, reflect. Calm and very hot (even at 10 am). Looking towards the "Galilee Triangle" - the area where Jesus would have spent most of his ministry in Galilee: the area between Capernaum (excavations now), Chorazin (nothing extant) and Bethsaida (nothing now). Still, this is the area for the ministry of Jesus. The Mount of Beatitudes is most beautifully situated and landscaped. Maybe the Beatitudes were spoken on a mountain like this (Matthew) or on a plan (Luke). Doesen't matter! The memory is preserved here. We had open air mass which I led in a small area (tent overhead) looking down over the lake. Had lunch in Hospice (Guesthouse) afterwards. Menu included "Peter's Fish" which I declined! Stuck to pasta (surprise), salad and fruit. Then on to Capernaum: extensive sites of a Jewish synagogue (later than Jesus' time), and also part of the excavated house of Peter, Andrew and Peter's mother-in-law). Jesus would have visited often (when mother-in-law of Peter was ill, etc) and went to the synagogue here. Boilng hot this afternoon; probably 39 degrees. Then the Primacy of Peter by the Lake: a small church stands here over the site of a Byzantine 5th Century Church, preserving the memory of Peter (On this rock I will build my church, etc). Beside the church, is the Benedictine Monastery of Tabgha (where I will be staying for a few days in October). This has the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves - keeping the memory of the miracle. A long, long day, and then a drive (always spectacular) through the lush north into the Judean Desert "UP" to Jerusalem. Our guide for the 3 days in Galilee was a young Italian-born Jesuit priest who is studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He was good.
