Pilgrimage to the Holy Land with John Edwards and Fr. James Clark

We depart on an overnight flight from Memphis or New York City to Tel Aviv. Dinner and breakfast will be served on the flights. Optional premium economy and business class upgrades are available upon request, starting 120 days before departure. We work with group airfares, which do not permit us to assign specific seats. If assigned seating is essential for you, please book your own air travel and arrange land-only accommodations with us.

Upon arrival in Tel Aviv, we collect our luggage and proceed to the arrivals area to meet our excellent Christian tour guide. We relax as we drive north to our hotel in the Sea of Galilee area, where Jesus spent much of his public ministry. We celebrate Mass, followed by dinner and an overnight at our hotel on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Meals: D

Following our buffet breakfast, which is included each morning, we begin our day in Nazareth. We visit the Basilica of the Annunciation and pray at the Grotto where the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary (Lk 1:26-38), then tour the Church of St. Joseph, where we celebrate Mass. Our next stop is the Synagogue Church, where Jesus announced the beginning of his public ministry, and Mount Precipice, where his own townspeople rejected him (Lk 4:16-30). At the Wedding Church in Cana, the site of Jesus’ first miracle (Jn 2:1-11), couples will have the opportunity to renew their wedding vows. We walk a section of the Jesus Trail, the ancient path believed to have been used by Jesus on his way from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee. The day concludes with a visit to the recently excavated Synagogue of Magdala, where Jesus is believed to have taught and first encountered Mary Magdalene. Dinner and overnight at our hotel on the Sea of Galilee. Meals: B.D

After breakfast, we board a boat and sail on the Sea of Galilee. We view the Galilean fishing boat, also known as the “Jesus Boat,” dating to the time of Christ and discovered in 1986. We then celebrate Mass at the Church of the Transfiguration atop Mt. Tabor (Mk 9:2-8), one of the most magnificent panoramic sites in the Holy Land. For lunch, we enjoy a traditional meal of St. Peter’s fish. In the afternoon, we explore Caesarea Philippi (Banias), where Jesus declared Peter the rock of his Church and entrusted him with the keys of the kingdom (Mt 16:13-20). Dinner and overnight at our hotel. Meals: B.L.D

We drive to Capernaum to visit the ancient Synagogue where Jesus offered the Bread of Life discourse (Jn 6:35-59) and the House of Peter, the home Jesus used as his base during his Galilean ministry. Here, we celebrate Mass and offer a prayer of healing in this sacred place. Next, we travel a short distance to the Mount of the Beatitudes, where Jesus proclaimed the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:1-12), followed by a stop at Tabgha to see the restored Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, where Jesus fed the multitude (Mk 6:30-44). Our day ends at the Church of St. Peter’s Primacy on the seashore, where the Risen Christ commissioned Peter to shepherd his Church (Jn 21:1-19). Dinner and overnight at our hotel. Meals: B.L.D

Leaving Galilee, we travel southward into Samaria, stopping first in Burqin to visit the Church of the Ten Lepers, which commemorates Jesus’ healing of the ten men who called out to him on his journey (Lk 17:11- 19). We then visit Jacob’s Well at the Orthodox Church of St. Photina, where Jesus met the Samaritan woman and offered her the gift of living water (Jn 4:1-26). We are refreshed from the same well from which Jesus drank. Traveling into Judea, we arrive at Ein Karem to visit the Church of the Visitation, where Mary greeted her cousin Elizabeth and sang the Magnificat (Lk 1:39-56), and the Church of John the Baptist, marking the birthplace of the Forerunner. We celebrate Mass in Ein Karem before entering Jerusalem. Settle into our hotel, enjoy dinner, and overnight in Jerusalem. Meals: B.L.D

A short drive takes us to Bethlehem to visit the Basilica of the Nativity and bow before the grotto where Jesus was born (Lk 2:1-7). We celebrate Mass at the Church of St. Catherine in the cave of St. Jerome. We continue to Shepherds’ Field Chapel and Grotto, where the angels appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of the Savior (Lk 2:8-14). After lunch, we shop for olive wood and mother-of-pearl keepsakes at a Christian cooperative store and, time permitting, visit a local orphanage supported by pilgrims who register for this trip. In the evening, we enter the homes of Bethlehem’s Christian community for our special “Sharing the Bread” dinner, a deeply personal encounter with the living Church in the city of Christ’s birth. Overnight in Jerusalem. Meals: B.L. Sharing the Bread Dinner

We travel to Bethany to visit the Church of Martha and Mary, where we celebrate Mass and then enter the Tomb of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead (Jn 11:1-44). We descend to the Jordan Valley and stop at the Qasr el Yahud Baptismal Site to renew our baptismal promises in the Jordan River, the very waters where Jesus was baptized by John (Mt 3:13-17). Driving through ancient Jericho, we stop at the Sycamore Tree of Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10) and enjoy lunch. We then visit Qumran, the Essene community center where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947, and take a float in the Dead Sea. Be sure to bring a bathing suit. After our full day, we return to Jerusalem for dinner and overnight. Meals: B.L.D

Our day begins with a visit to the Sanctuary of the Palms at Bethpage, atop the Mount of Olives. On our Palm Sunday walk, we visit the Chapel of the Ascension and the Church of Eleona, where Jesus taught his apostles during his final week and where the Lord’s Prayer is inscribed in dozens of languages (Mt 24). We explore Dominus Flevit Church,

Early this morning, while the Old City is still quiet, we pray the Stations of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa, walking the path Jesus took as he carried his cross to Calvary (Jn 19:17-18). We celebrate the Mass of the Resurrection at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built over both Calvary and the empty tomb. After breakfast, we travel to the Western Wall, the holiest place in the world for the Jewish people, where we tuck our prayers into the ancient stones as St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict, and Pope Francis have done before us. Our next visit is to the Church of St. Anne, the medieval Crusader church honoring the parents of Our Lady, and the Pools of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the paralytic (Jn 5:1-9). Before our farewell dinner, we visit the newly completed Pentecost Room at the hotel. Tonight, we enjoy a special farewell dinner with locally produced wine at the rooftop Wine and Cheese restaurant, giving thanks for all we have seen and received. Overnight in Jerusalem. Meals: B. Special Farewell Dinner

From Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, we fly back home, filled with the joy of the Gospel, a deeper love for Jesus, and memories that will last a lifetime.