Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Some thoughts on Greece/ Turkey







It's been almost one month since I last posted to this blog.  I guess you can say this is how long it has taken me to process all the sights and sounds I encountered on this amazing pilgrimage following in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul and St. John the Divine (Turkey and Greece).Paul was an amazing evangelist, who was clearly commited to his mission to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to the gentile world.  The journey was not only physically exhausting, it was actually mentally and emotionally draining.  Clearly, the risen Christ who met Paul on the road to Damascus must have given Paul the strength and the wisdom to carry on with this mission.  There were some days were were travellig by bus for four to five hours (from Athens to the regions of Corinth and Thessalonica), and if Paul covered this territory in an age when fancy air conditioned buses were not in existence, I can't even imagine what a toll these journeys must have taken on him body.  Thessalonica was cooler and even more beautiful!  [See the pictures from Berea and Thessalonica above].
We also visited the Greek Orthodox Chirch in Thessaloniki, where I said prayers before the icon of the Blessed Mother and her Holy Child.  There were many pilgrims (including locals) who were coming to the various icons to offer a prayer or two for themsleves or for loved ones.  I prayed fot my St. Mary's family.




Thursday, June 28, 2012

Athens

Day 11- Athens

We arrived early Monday morning at the Port of Pireaus in Athens, the foundation of Democracy. After disembarking, we were met by our Tour Guide, Aliki (Alice) and we drove through downtown Athens to the original Acropolis in Greece. We visited the Parthenon (temple for the goddess Athena, patron deity of Athens), the Erectheum, the Areopagus (Mars Hill), where the Apostle Paul stood and preached the Truth of the Gospel to a Gentile intelligentsia. We walked up the ancient (and original) steps by which Paul ascended to the top of the Areopagus to speak to the philosophers; and what a view!!!! I said some prayers for my family and the people of St. Mary’s by the Sea (my extended family). Paul was a courageous man, and my prayer is that we all may be inspired, just like Paul, to be witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ wherever the opportunity arises.


On Mars Hill- If I could preach like Paul

A view from Mars Hill

Views of Athens- Modern Olympic Stadium


Athens- Syntagma- House of Parliament

Athens- Constitution Square

Athens- National Library

Academy of Athens

A day of travel


Day 13- Meteora

Today, we left the Attica district of Greece, and embarked on a rather long drive through Thermopylae (where we stopped to visit the site of the famous Spartan battle of 300 against Xerxes and his Persian army.  We then headed to the northwest town of Meteora.  While this is not one of the stops of Paul on his journeys, it brings us close to Thessalonica, which is where Paul went after he left Athens.   What made the long drive to Meteora worth the effort is the spectacular views from the Monasteries which are perched precariously on summits of rock pinnacles of many strange shapes!  We visited some 14th century monasteries which sprung into being when monks fled to higher grounds and sought refuge in cliffside caves.  One can only imagine what it took to get the building supplies up these cliffs (some of them more than 800 feet high), to create monastic communities, but there are six remaining monasteries left (out of the twenty four at their peak) still in operation.  Again, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.











Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Ancient Corinth


Day 12------ Ancient Corinth

We left Athens this morning to visit the Ancient city of Corinth.  But first, we stopped at the Corinth Canal, which joins the Aegean Sea to the Adriatic Sea.  What an amazing accomplishment!!!  In Ancient Corinth we were blessed with good weather.  Despite the heat, we had the opportunity to visit this ancient city which inspired the Apostle Paul’s famous letters [1st and 2nd Corinthians].  There is much to be learned from the Archeological Museum.  What were the issues Paul was facing as he attempted to bring the Good News of Jesus to the people of Corinth who seemed to be pre-occupied with other worldly concerns and desires?  Paul was a genius!!! He clearly observed the people of Corinth and learned what their preoccupations were, and then chose his words carefully as he wrote those letters, using images, concepts and metaphors that they were familiar with.  For instance, their pre-occupation with athleticism and competition may have prompted Paul to write 1 Corinthians 9: 23-27.  [I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.  Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it.  Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one.  So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.]You got to love this guy!!!!.  We visited the Agora (marketplace) of ancient Corinth, the Bema (throne of judgment) where Paul may have been brought before the ruling authorities for judgment, and the fountain of Peirene (an ancient fountain built over a natural spring and still running today)








Day 10- Santorini- Greek Isle


Day 10- Isle of Santorini

Santorini is perhaps the most beautiful island of Greece when it comes to breathtaking and picturesque views from the hilltops.  After a three-minute cable car ride scaling the mountainside, we arrived in a beautiful marketplace filled with all kinds of shops.  After worshiping in a Greek Orthodox church, I walked through the town, window shopping, took a few pictures to savor the memories, then returned to the cruise ship to prepare for the final leg of our trip to Athens.

Pictures to follow later !!!!

Isle of Patmos- Cave of the Revelation


Day 9- Isle of Patmos

We arrive in Greece by Louise Cruises, a very pleasant trip.  The ride up the hills to the cave where St. John the Divine received the Revelation from the risen Christ is a sight to behold!  The Greek Orthodox Church has built a small church around the cave, and the monks who live here have formed a community of faith that observes the daily offices as well as the Eucharist. [Unfortunately, tasking of pictures was not allowed].

To stand at the mouth of the cave and imagine what John heard or saw sends chills down the spine.  I was overcome with amazement at the view of the harbor, some 800 feet or so below the cave. Next, we visited the Seminary of St. John the Divine, a Greek Orthodox seminary.  Here too, one can imagine the prayers offered in this sacred space over hundreds of years.  The side chapel is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the frescos and iconography is simply spectacular!  The seminary is located in a castle, which is even higher than the location of the cave of revelation. [Again, no pictures allowed]  Patmos is a beautiful island!

Churches of the Revelation


Day 6-8

Before Ephesus, we visited Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia. These churches were mainly "house Churches", and so needless to say, there were no physical buildings to see in some of these places; just markers to indicate that a community of faithful Christians existed among the vast majority of idol worshipers and adherents to the Imperial Cult (Emperor Worship). It couldn’t have been easy being a Christian in those days and in those parts of the world. Yet the early Christians were admonished to hold fast to their faith. It is hard to imagine living the Christian life with so many HUGE temples and theaters dedicated to gods and human emperors! The fact that these temples which were clearly built to last forever are now in ruins (several earthquakes in many generations) show the impermanence of life and of human effort. The church of Sardis was berated for projecting a facade of being alive when in actuality, they were dead! (Rev. 3:1) Their wealth and affluence made them very conceited and self-possessed! [I don't think the modern Church has people like that :)]