Speaker recounts Holy Land pilgrimage

CANFIELD -- Millions of people visit the Holy Land each year.

The most recent First Friday Club of Greater Youngstown speaker, George Beelen, PhD, discussed his pilgrimage there more than 10 years ago in his talk "Glimpses of the Holy Land."

"My wife, Betty, and I have traveled a good bit over the years. We have been to more than 60 countries and 49 of the 50 states. We missed North Dakota. Traveling to the Holy Land is something really special. It is something ethereal, spiritually awakening and historically awing," Beelen said.

Before starting his discussion, the former Youngstown State University history professor and history department chair handed out a map of the Middle East territory where the Holy Land is located. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, mostly in Israel and Palestine.

Referencing the map, he pointed out the path of their pilgrimage.

"We have the basic areas of the Sea of Galilee, the River Jordan, the Dead Sea, Capernum -- which is spelled and pronounced eight different ways I found through Google -- Nazareth, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Masada, Qumran and Jericho," Beelen said of the sites he discussed.

"Msgr. Peter Polando led our tour and we had Mass every day," he said.

They visited the following churches: St. Catherine's, Church of the Visitation, Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher and Franciscan Church in Cana.

Some of the sites had religious significance for more than one faith.

"On our first day in Jerusalem, we entered the Mount of Olives where we viewed the place of the (Lord's) Ascension. It is named for the olive groves that once covered the eastern slopes of Jerusalem's old city. It has been used as a Jewish cemetery for 3,000 years.

"Several key events in the life of Jesus, as related in the gospel, took place at the Mount of Olives. In the Acts of the Apostles, it is described as the place in which Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after his resurrection. Because of its association with both Jesus and Mary, the mount has been the site of Christian worship since ancient times. Today, it is a major site of pilgrimages for Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Protestants," Beelen said.

He explained that the area was the location of a fourth century Christian Church and Monastery that later became an Islamic mosque. He said the changing of a building from one religious denomination to another happens often in this part of the world. The structure has returned to being a church next to the original fourth century building and is now known as the Pater Noster, where Jesus is said to have taught the Lord's Prayer.

The pilgrimage also took the Beelens to the Zaccheus tree. The sycamore-fig tree is in Jericho, where the short-in-stature tax collector climbed so he could see Jesus. Jesus saw him and invited him to his home, where Zaccheus repented and then served the poor.

Recalling the sites that he saw on his trip Beelen said, "How could one take in stride the following experiences?"

He and his fellow pilgrims renewed their baptismal vows in the River Jordan. He and his wife renewed their wedding vows at Cana and renewed their physical bodies when they swam in the Dead Sea. They refreshed their faith following the footsteps of Christ.

He began his presentation with the slide of the Ben Gurion Airport where he and his fellow pilgrims from the Diocese of Youngstown landed, but he ended it with the photo of a beautiful planter with the inscription, "A joint creation by Arab and Jewish students."

Beelen pointed out that Israel will celebrate its 80th year of existence in 2028.

"Let us hope and pray that all people of the Holy Land can accept a peace that nobody wins and nobody loses and that all people can practice their faith and still be alive," Beelen said.