Spiritual Preparation
To
visit the Holy Land is not just a touristic trip.
The benefit of this trip, the depth with which you
will live it, depends in good part from the interior dispositions
in which the pilgrim arrives to the Holy Land. This interior
preparation is as important as all the practical preparations, limke
having the flights and the hotel booked and the photo
camera ready.
In the following lines we will offer some advice,
that can help you in this interior preparation, covering basically
two elemnts: A- To get familiar with the Holy Land (cultural
element) and B- The actual spiritual preparation. A- To get familiar
with the Holy Land
- Get familiar with the history and
the present situation of this Land. 3000-4000 years of history have
deeply marked the Israel of today. In order to understand
this Land better as you visit it, it is worthwhile
to learn a little bit about its history and its
culture.
- Basic geographic knowledge. Usually the Bible, or the
New Testament, have maps illustrating how the land looked at
the time of Jesus. If you do not have one
at hand, an atlas, or even an encyclopedia might help. It is important to remember that the
Land was divided into three main regions at the time
of Jesus: Galilee in the north, Samaria in the centre,
and Judaea in the south. Do not miss the places
that are frequently mentioned in the Gospels: the River Jordan,
Lake Tiberias, Jerusalem. Of course, try to localize the towns
and cities that are most prominent in the Gospel narratives,
such as Capernaum, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jericho. Hopefully you will
also be able to find Mount Tabor, Mount Zion, the
Dead Sea, and the Mount of Olives. after identifying these
sites on the map, you will be in a much
better position to understand the places you will be visiting,
and thus enjoy it much more and get more out
of it.
- “The Holy Land is
the only place in the world whose ‘tourist guide’ is
the Bible” In it all the events that took place
in this Land before Christ and also during the life
of our Saviour.
It would be enough to read
one of the Gospels either Matthew or Mark, Luke or
John. It will not take more than one or two
hours. Your could even underline the places that are mentioned,
find the in the map in getting an idea of
which events happend in which places. Up to this point you will have received a preparation which we
could call ‘basic’ or ‘cultural’. But without doupt the central
preparation has to be the spiritual one. B- Spiritual Preparation
One’s spiritual preparation and experience are the most
important aspects of a pilgrimage, because it is what differentiates
it from any other journey you are likely to do. A pilgrimage to
the Holy Land means to come with the desire to
meet Christ – the living and risen Christ of our
Faith. The search can take many forms, as many as
the ways by which people encounter Christ in the Gospels.
Some of those who approached him were blind, imploring him
to restore their sight, others were possessed by demons wishing
to be freed from their unclean spirits; others were just
curious and approached his disciples saying “we want to see
Jesus”. Whichever situation you find youself in, as you are
planning this pilgrimage, there are two things that we would
highly recommend: PRAYER and SACRAMENTS. There is certainly no doubt that the
closer one gets to Jesus, and the more one experiences
his presence, the more one becomes attuned to him. The
best way to be attuned to Jesus is to live
in grace and in accordance with his will: “If anyone
loves me, he will do what I say”. Certainly, an optimal way of preparing your soul for a
valuable and unique experience in the Holy Land would be
to spend a few moments in prayer in the days
preceding your pilgrimage, or to read the Gospel and pray
together with those friends or family members that will accompany
you on your journey. Add to this a good confession,
or the intention to go to confession during your stay
in Israel, and you will surely attain your goal. I have heard
many people say: “my pilgrimage to the Holy Land marks
off a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ in my life”. I
believe that this truly happens. But it happens to the
extent that you desire it, and in the measure that
you are well disposed for it.
Jesus awaits you in His Land! May
you be the fertile soil where Jesus can sow once
again the seeds of his love, his Gospel and his
grace. Prepare yourselves well for your pilgrimage to the Land
of Jesus!
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