Greatest Pics

View from the Acropolis in Athens

I had a wonderful pilgrimage to Greece and Turkey, in the Footsteps of St. Paul. Here are some of the photo highlights along with some thoughts from the trip.

The Erechtheum on the Acropolis

As our ship approaches Kusadasi, Turkey

John, our guide in Turkey, said we should do our best and than pray.

The island of Patmos where John wrote the book of Revelation.

The Basilica of St. Mark with the lion fountain in Heraklion, the largest city on the island of Crete

I was so surprised to find this Basilica de San Marcos, with the lion fountain (the lion being the symbol for the evangelist St. Mark) in Crete. It's important to be open to God's surprises and his plan. In Peter Walker's In the Steps of Saint Paul, a book I read to prepare for the trip, Walker writes:

Travelling with Paul was evidently a matter of constant prayer, trying to discern God's will at each moment. Much of the time this small group simply did not know what they were doing from one day to the next. They had to be ready for the unexpected.

On the Celestyal Olympia

This was a fun afternoon, soaking up the rays, and talking about what we would do if we won the lottery. Somehow in the course of the conversation, Peggy got the nickname St. Peggy of Wauconda!

Approaching Santorini, the most beautiful of the Greek islands.

In one of his homilies, Father Michael talked about conditional peace, the peace we have when things are going our way, when God is doing what we tell him to do! This is not the unconditional peace of God.

What looks like snow is the famous white-washed Greek houses.

Santorini

We prayed the Rosary most days of the pilgrimage. After one decade, Fr. Michael asked for the grace to balance action with trust.

Fira, Santorini

Temple of Apollo at Delphi

The Oracle of Delphi

One of our spiritual guides, Father Bob, gave us a beautiful novena called, "O Jesus, I surrender myself to you." Here is part of the prayer:

Surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to me a worried prayer asking me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to desire to think about the consequences of anything. It is like the confusion that children feel when they ask their mother to see to their needs, and then try to take care of those needs for themselves so that their childlike efforts get in their mother's way.

The Monasteries in Meteora

Tom is really close to the edge!

This is as close as I want to get.

A panoramic view of some of the monasteries.

Mosaic at the Altar of St. Paul in Berea

Paul is a fascinating figure. Known as Saul, he was a Jewish Roman citizen from Tarsus, in present day Turkey, who was a Pharisee, a teacher of the law. After  the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, Paul, who must have seen Christianity as a threat to Judaism, spent much of his time persecuting Christians, having them arrested and in some cases, as with St. Stephen, the first martyr, encouraging their murder.

Then came the road to Damascus. The light flashed around Paul and he was knocked to the ground. "Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?" said a voice. "Who are you?" asked Paul. "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." Paul did a 180 and became a fervent evangelizer for Christianity and one of the main reasons the religion spread beyond Palestine.

Three steps from where St. Paul preached in Berea

Sometimes I have wished for a road to Damascus moment in my own life: an encounter with God that is so strong, undeniable, and penetrating that it would cause me to reform my life in the ways it needs to be reformed, as it did with Paul. An event that transforms the heart and leaves you really no choice but to follow God's will.

God doesn't usually work in the dramatic fashion that he did with Paul. But in my own experience, he gets our attention if we pay attention. Recently, he did that with my brother's suffering and death.

At the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Thessaloniki

Having Mass at this church was so special to me because my brother Jim was born on the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception, December 8. During the Communion meditation, Father Michael asked God for the grace for us to more fully live our vocations. After Jim died, this is what I wanted to recommit myself to, living my vocation, being a better version of myself. Our vocations can change over the course of a lifetime, but I do think there is a universal vocation: to love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds and our neighbor as ourselves.

Father Michael has a contemplative moment in the theater at Philippi

At the beginning of our time in Greece, Father Michael told us that this pilgrimage was not just for us, who were on it, but also for those at home. How can we in some way have this pilgrimage benefit the people we love?

Kavala, formerly Neapolis, the port town where Paul first came to Europe.

We were so busy on the pilgrimage that it was hard to find the time to reflect. My friend Peggy said in that way it is like life. We are so busy with our daily activities, we were so busy visiting the sites of our pilgrimage. We need to take time somehow to reflect. That is what this blog has been for me.

Our guide Alexandra

Alexandra, our tour guide, did a great job keeping us on schedule, which involved, out of necessity, issuing a lot of instructions. She told us a story. One time Alexandra was leading a group and her four-year-old niece was with the group. After observing Alexandra's actions for awhile, the little girl said to her, "Auntie, why are you always telling those people what to do?"

Flying Home

I love flying and I always try to get a window seat.

This huge hunk of metal, holding hundreds of people, zipping along in the frosty altitude, getting you halfway around the world in half a day: it's a modern miracle.

Maybe the Alps?

Sometimes I think about crashing but then I remember the words of the sage Nora Ephron, under the heading, What I Wish I'd Known: "The plane is not going to crash." To which I would add, and if it somehow does, you won't feel a thing.

Fields of Germany as we approach Munich.

Otherworldly wind turbines in England (I think) look like crosses dotting the landscape.

Medinah Country Club

On the ground, watching the planes come in.

A Brief View of Thessaloniki

Alexandra, our tour guide, waiting for our bus.

The last two nights of our pilgrimage, we spent in the second largest city in Greece, Thessaloniki. 

Most of what we saw of this million person plus metropolis was from the windows of our bus.

Being up so high, we had an intimate view of the cars below. With many universities in the area, Thessaloniki is a city of young people. They are in the process of building a subway in Thessaloniki but they keep making archeological discoveries which has delayed the process by years.

Alexander the Great is one of the big figures of ancient history. He was a gifted military leader who conquered much of the world before dying at age 39. He is one of our tour guide Alexandra's heroes.

Thessaloniki is named after the half sister of Alexander the Great. She was married to one of Alexander's successors, Cassander, who founded the city in 315 BC. To consolidate his position of power, Cassander had Alexander's mother, brother, and son killed. The ancient Greeks were great in many ways, but there was something so cold about them too.

I would have liked to have explored Thessaloniki more but we didn't have the time. Above Fr. Michael and Leigh, our intrepid leaders, speak at our farewell dinner.

In Thessaloniki, we stayed at a Holiday Inn, the hotel of my childhood dreams.

Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians may have been the first epistle he wrote. In it, Paul instructs us to "admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good both for each other and for all. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus."
                                                                                                                        1 Thessalonians 5:14-18