By the rivers of the Jordan

This morning we visited the excavations of the ancient city of Dan - where one of the twelve tribes of Israel settled. This place was an important centre of worship in the north after the division of solomon's Kingdom after his death. We saw a huge entry gate made out of very large rocks, as well as a sacrificial altar. From here we could see the hills of Lebanon.
We then went to the nature reserve nearby which is watered by a tributary of the Jordan river. We found a lovely watering hole where we stopped to reflect, pray and remember our baptismal vows. Richard, who was celebrating the 15th Anniversary of his ordination, blessed the water for us and after we renewed our promises, he sprinkled us all with this holy water.
It was a very special and symbolic liturgy.
We then travelled to Banyas (Caesarea Philippi, and visited the place where Jesus asked his disciples "who do you say I am?" and where he said to Simon Peter: " You are Peter, and on this rock you will build my church". This occurred on the site of another ancient temple - the Shrine of Pan.
After lunch, we headed back by the Golan hills. We stopped at an observation point at the very northern point of Israel where we could see an Israeli intelligence and observation point on the hill, a UN base below and the border with Syria. It was so sad to see all the military vehicles around here, and to imagine all the terrible things that have happened and continue to happen so close to where we were standing.
In the late afternoon we had a special Mass on the shores of the Lake, celebrated by Richard. The gospel reading was the one where Jesus asks three times "Simon Peter, do you love me?" three times. Richard spoke of his journey through cancer and how our pledge of love to God may take us to where we may not want to go but that we always need to trust that God will be walking beside us all the way. We sang some lovely reflective songs ding Ubi Caritas, Will you Love me? and we finished with the Galilee song which was very moving and very appropriate. Sadly we leave Galilee tomorrow and head back to Jerusalem. It has been a very special time for us all here.