Tomorrow, March 7, a group of pilgrims from Holy Comforter are making their way from Vienna, VA to East Jerusalem in Israel/Palestine. We will be embarking on a course called The Footsteps of Jesus offered by St. George’s College, the Anglican Centre for Pilgrimage, Education, Hospitality, and Reconciliation. St. George’s College is connected to St. George’s Cathedral, which is the Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem and offers services in English and Arabic. From that home base we will join up with other pilgrims and spend 10 days exploring the sights and scenes of Jesus’ life and ministry. A course director and a chaplain travel with us. The aims of Footsteps of Jesus course are:
To study the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, including the historical contexts and cultures of the land of Jesus’ ministry;
To explore the Holy Land as Christian pilgrims by integrating biblical and contextual studies with spiritual reflection;
To encounter the roots and traditions of the Christian faith as they were formed in the Holy Land;
To engage local Christian communities, Jewish and Muslim perspectives, and contemporary issues in Israel and Palestine, including its problems, hopes, and aspirations; to share these experiences with people back home;
To return home renewed in faith.
It is sometimes said the difference between a tour and pilgrimage is that on a tour, you move through the land; on a pilgrimage, the land moves through you. We will be sending reflections back from our journey so you can experience vicariously some of what we’re doing.
Shalom! Salaam! Ann+