Overview: Nukeib Overview, Capernaum, Mount of Beatitudes, Sea of Galilee

We took a short ride south to begin the day at the Nukeib Overview. This is the place where the Gerasene demoniac dwelled and the swine ran down the hill into the sea. While the place is not named in the scriptures, this is the only place matching such a description of the place. The demoniac there was cleansed and freed and when he requested to follow Jesus he was told to go back to his family and tell them what happened. Our guide then recalled the two miracles of multiplications of loaves and tied the accounts together. In the Jewish area where 5000 were fed, 12 baskets of food were left over to highlight care for the 12 tribes. In the Gentile area, 4000 people were fed and 7 baskets were left over. Why 7? Because there were 7 groups of Gentiles in the area! This is because Gentiles were already coming to believe in Jesus. How? The demoniac had done his job - he went back to the gentile area and told people about this Jesus, so when he was around, they came to see.

From Nukeib Overlook we headed up to Capernaum. We got to see the ruins of the house where Peter lived, the rebuilt synagogue where the Bread of Life discourse was given, and have a good long sit down to learn about the ministry of Jesus in Galilee. It is fascinating to see how close the places are that are mentioned in the Gospels. It always seemed far off in my mind, but most of the ministry of Jesus is within a day walking from Capernaum. We also learned some fascinating information about how Jewish families built their homes and communities that really breaks open the meaning of Jesus’ words in the gospels. It will surely pop up in a homily at some point!

From Capernaum we enjoyed a nice lunch and then continue on the Mount of Beatitudes. After Mass offered on the windy hillside (it took all three priests’ hands to make sure things didn’t fly away) we got to enjoy a few more minutes before heading to the Yigal Allon Centre. There we saw a boat discovered in the 1990’s that dates to the time of Jesus. It was fascinating to learn about it just from the details observed nearly 2000 years later. After the quick tour of the museum we hopped on a newer larger boat to enjoy a peaceful ride across the Sea of Galilee to our hotel. Tonight we have a little bonfire to enjoy and our bags to pack and then we will be south, going up to Jerusalem as the Scriptures describe it.

Prayer intentions have been dropped in various spots along the way - the Church of the Annunciation, the wall of the synagogue in Capernaum, Mount Tabor, and more to come - and kept in my heart in the Masses offered.

And lastly, I saw not one cat today. 😿