Faith Journeys Blog

We’ve almost made it to Easter. Many churches would be preparing for a special vigil service to begin at sundown. This year things are, of course, a bit different. This year, if we’re lucky, we await the coming of Easter in our homes, surrounded by our families. I suppose it is fitting that we are separated from our communities, huddled behind closed doors for safety. I would think it is the same way the followers of Jesus spent this night over two thousand years ago.

Today is Good Friday and we remember the Lord's crucifixion, death, and burial in the tomb. There have been so many places I've wanted to highlight for you in this blog; there are just too many. For today, I want only to share three places with you: the Church of St....

Today is Maundy (or Holy) Thursday and I wanted to write about the actual sites in Jerusalem that are associated with the events as we hear them unfold in the Bible. Today’s blog will focus on the Upper Room and the Garden of Gethsemane.

As we approach the Paschal Triduum (the period of three days that begins with the liturgy on the evening of Maundy Thursday), I would enjoy sharing about visiting Jerusalem.

Today, we visit the site of a well-known story from the Gospel of John where Jesus heals the paralytic at the Pools of Bethesda and walk to the Crusader church of St. Anne.

Today’s pilgrimage takes us to the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem, and is more of a story of the last time I visited there. While I will share some history, what I really want to do, as we approach Good Friday, is share with you what it felt like to be standing in a site that Jesus would have known, seen, and visited. So, come along with me to Jerusalem.

Today is Palm Sunday and most of us are accustomed to gathering to wave palm branches and shout “Hosanna to the Son of David” or “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Of course, this year is different and has not allowed us to do that with more than our immediate family. I have seen so many wonderful on-line offerings of services, with clergy and lay leaders doing all they can to fill the void. Each community is gathering in new ways, on this day, as we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

When I think of visiting one of the great Cathedral cities of England, the usual suspects always come to mind: Canterbury, York Minster, Ely, Wells, Salisbury… (the list could go on and on).There’s one Cathedral most people wouldn’t think to put on their list, though it is one of the most beautiful and emotionally stirring houses of worship in all of the United Kingdom. Coventry Cathedral is a site I could visit a hundred times and feel as if I wanted to go back for more.

About an hour south of Madrid is the city of Toledo. It was, at one time, the capitol of the Visigoth Kingdom, a conquest of the Moorish armies, a stronghold of the Knights Templar, and home to a solemn procession which dates from the 15th century, and is still celebrated today.