It was wonderful to share with all of you who attended the Fourth International Ecumenical Pilgrimage of True Life in God through Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
(Editor?s note: Have your Bible at hand because whether you went on the Pilgrimage or not, these contributions by Father Vinke are enriching for everyone and show how Biblically enriching going on a TLIG Pilgrimage is. The next one is on the Mediterranean at Greece, etc., in 2007).
Here are some Biblical quotations related to some of the sites visited.
Some of us could see the famous cedars of Lebanon, referred to in a few Psalms. For instance: “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon” (Ps 92, 13; cf. 29, 5-6; 37, 35-36; 72, 16; 104, 16; 1 Kings 5, 12 Song of Songs; Is 2, 13; Ezek 31; Song 3, 7; 4, 8.11).
We were near the legendary cities of Tyre and Sidon, mentioned in the Old Testament (cf. Ezek 26-28) and in the Gospels…”Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgement, than for you.” (Mat 11, 21-22; Luke 10, 13-14). “Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts…” (Mat 15, 21-28; Mark 7, 24-30).
We saw from the hill where stands the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mantara, the village of Sarepta, also mentioned in the Old Testament (cf. 1 Ki 17, 7-16) and in the Gospels… “And he said: Verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land. But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow” (Luke 4, 24-26).
From different outlooks we saw Mount Hermon, referred to in Psalm 133: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is…as the dew of Hermon, as the dew that descendeth upon the mountains of Zion…” (Ps 133, 1-3).
We were in Damascus, the city Saul was journeying to when he was surrounded by a great light… In the New Testament there are several accounts of Saul?s conversion and how he took the name of Paul (cf. Gal 11, 11-24; Acts 9 1-25; 22, 4-16; 26, 9-20). It was very impressive visiting Ananias? house, finding oneself before the walls of the old city, from where he was lowered in a basket by his disciples…Very impressive also to find out that John the Baptist?s head is kept and revered in the famous Great Mosque of Damascus (cf. Mark 6, 14-29; Mat 14, 1-12; Luke 3, 19-20; 9, 7-9).
We dipped our hands in the waters of the Jordan River, in the same place, presumably Betania, or “Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing” (John 1, 28; cf. Mark 1, 9-11; Mat 3,13-17; Luke 3, 21-22; John 1, 29-34).
As we approached Petra, we visited the source of Meribah, referred to in the Book of Numbers (cf. Num 20, 1-13) and in the Psalms (cf. Ps 95, 8). One of the most moving moments during the Pilgrimage was the visit to the funerary monuments of Petra, city mentioned in the Old Testament (Is 42, 11). Petra was the capital of Edom, so many times mentioned in the Old Testament (for example: cf. Isaiah 21, 11-12). It was the city of the Nabatean, the descendants of Nebajoth, mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the son of Ishmael, and therefore Abraham?s grandchild (cf. Gen 25, 12-16).
We went up to Mount Nebo, where Moses had a glimpse of the promised land (cf. Deut 32, 48-52) and died (cf. Deut 34, 1-5).
On the last day we made a stop by a stream called Jabbok, mentioned in the Book of Genesis during the episode of Jacob?s fight with God: “And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.” (Gen 32, 22-32).
Finally we walked among the ruins of the Roman city of Gerasa, where Jesus, according to Mark and Luke?s Gospels, performed an exorcism (cf. Mark 5 1-20; Luke 8, 26-39). Contrary to this, Matthew?s Gospel places this episode in Gadara (cf. Mat 8, 28-34) which is far more likely, because all around Gerasa there is no lake as the one referred to in that episode, when the herd of swine “ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand) and were choked in the sea” (Mark, 5, 13).
Warmest
greetings,
Father Ram?n Vinke, Venezuela
