I’m still working away on our Holy Land episodes, but I wanted to break this radio silence to wish you all a prayerful and blessed Holy Week and a joyous Easter!

Also, I wanted to tell you about my recent interview on Travelujah, which was just posted. You can find it here. I’ll also post it below.

If you’re interested in all things Holy Land, definitely subscribe to Travelujah’s wonderful and informative newsletters. I love them.

The Faithful Traveler makes a Holy Land Pilgrimage

A native San Diegan, Diana calls herself a ‘cradle Catholic’, and has always gravitated toward Catholic places. Over the years she increasingly found herself fascinated by Catholic art, architecture and history. After completing law school and even starting to practice professionally, she realized law simply wasn’t what she wanted to do with her life. Deep into planning her own honeymoon, she struck up the idea of a travel show focusing on religious and historic sites and thus, the “Faithful Traveler” was born.

Diana von Glahn, the Faithful Traveler

Diana von Glahn, produces and hosts The Faithful Traveler, a travel show carried regularly on EWTN featuring Catholic shrines and places of pilgrimage all around the world. Recently, Diana made her first pilgrimage to the Holy Land and experienced the holy sites first hand. Travelujah asked her about her recent journey.

Travelujah: What were some highlights of your recent trip to the Holy Land?

Diana – The Faithful Traveler - Picking highlights from the most amazing trip ever is hard to do. But I’ll try. The thing about going on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, as a Christian, is that you must realize that very few of the places you will be visiting are what they were during the time of Christ. Two thousand years is a long time, and during that time, many groups of people have come and gone from the Holy Land. So, you won’t be seeing the manger where Christ was born, or a church built by St Helena. You’ll be seeing a church built on the ruins of a church built on the ruins of a church where this historical event occurred more than 2000 years ago.

Still, everything is amazing. My favorite places were the Garden of Gethsemane, which is beautiful, and which is the home to olive trees that are more than 2,000 years old! I had no idea olive trees could live that long, and to think some of these trees might have seen Christ during his agony?! Wow. It blows your mind. My other favorite place was the Sea of Galilee. Another spot of nature that can’t have changed much since Christ’s time. There is an electricity at the Sea of Galilee that is unmistakable. It’s like the water is brimming with pride, for having once supported Christ’s footsteps. Going out on a boat into the sea is moving, and visiting the historic spots along its shores brought me to tears many a time.

Sea of Galilee boat ride

Every place we visited in the Holy Land was amazing. But something completely unexpected was the FOOD! Oh my goodness, the food. Everything we ate was glorious. I couldn’t get enough hummus, pita, olives, cheese. It’s the Mediterranean Diet in the most ideal circumstances. And I looked forward to every meal.

Travelujah: Every trip has things that don’t go exactly as planned. Can you share one of those stories?

Diana – The Faithful Traveler: It’s just life that things don’t go as planned. And when you’re trying to produce a travel-based television show, compound that by ten!

Our trip to the Holy Land provided us with many of these blips. For instance, shortly before we left, I got some kind of cold that held me in its grip for more than a month. As I started to feel a scratchy throat the Monday before we left, I visited my doctor who said it would be gone by that Friday. I even lost my voice for two days, which is unacceptable when you have to speak in front of a camera!

At the Western Wall

One morning, I had to wake up at 3:30 am to get ready for a 5 am bus meeting. Our group would be walking the Stations of the Cross in the early morning, to avoid the normal bustle of shopping that surrounds the Stations, and to allow for quiet reflection. I felt horrible. And as we came off the bus, I remember thinking, “I can barely breathe!” And then it struck me: Jesus walked this very road, and more likely than not, he was having trouble breathing, too. AND he was carrying a huge cross, AND he was being whipped, and spat upon, and cursed at, and he kept falling, and he had a crown of thorns on his head… and he knew he was about to be crucified. At that moment, I felt BLESSED to be feeling so awful. I know, it may sound odd, but we Catholics often say “offer it up,” meaning that you should offer your sufferings up to Christ. It’s like you’re saying, “I offer my sufferings to you, as a way of sharing in your Passion.” And what better place to share in Christ’s Passion, even in that teeny tiny way, than along the Way of the Cross, the Via Dolorosa?

Travelujah: How did your Holy Land experience impact and or strengthen your faith?

Diana – The Faithful Traveler -I’ve never had a doubtful moment in my faith, thank God. But our trip to the Holy Land made the historical aspect of our faith more concrete. Before, I believed without seeing. But this trip enabled me to get just a little closer to actually seeing something of the Divine. Of course, I believe that God is every where, in all of His creation. But in the Holy Land, God became man, and breathed, walked, ate, and died. That’s what makes that land so special. Now, whenever I read the Bible or hear it at Mass, I KNOW what it’s like. I’ve BEEN to Shepherd’s Fields! I’ve seen the dry and yet plentiful lands. I’ve touched the rock that held his cross. And it all feels a little more real.

Travelujah: As an art lover, can you tell us a bit about the mosaics, frescos and other art treasures that you saw?

Diana – The Faithful Traveler: The image that first comes to my mind is the spectacular mosaic of Christ in the Church of the Transfiguration. It is bright and shiny, just as you’d imagine Christ to have been, during his Transfiguration. Then there are the peaceful gardens outside, which are, in a way, God’s art, created for us, beautifying our surroundings.

The images along the walls of the Church of All Nations, next to the Garden of Gethsemane, also comes to mind. I’ve always had a great love for Christ in Agony, so that was truly special.

The Basilica of the Annunciation at Nazareth is wonderful, beginning with the words of the Annunciation carved into the facade, and moving on into the many images of the Blessed Mother, from all around the world. It’s an artistic representation of her life as mother of us all, from her “Yes” that changed the world, to her loving care for all of the children of God. Every where you go in the Holy Land, you see something spectacular.

Mosaic donated by the Philippines, outside the Church of the Annunciation

Travelujah: What surprised you the most about coming here? What do you think other faith travelers would find surprising about a journey to the Holy Land.

Diana – The Faithful Traveler: How nice everyone is, and how safe I felt. I don’t want to pretend there isn’t strife for the people in the Holy Land, but everyone we met was glad to see us.

Travelujah: Did you feel safe during your trip to Israel and Palestine? Are there any traveling or security tips that you can share with us?

Diana – The Faithful Traveler: Absolutely. Granted, we didn’t enter into any trouble zones, but we didn’t meet with any issues on our trip. In fact, many of our pilgrims were saying they felt safer there than in Philadelphia!

I think, no matter where you are, whether it be Europe or Israel, or any city in the United States, you just have to be aware of your surroundings and be smart. Once, when David and I were in Rome, we almost got mugged by two thirteen-year-old girls wielding a box cutter hidden behind a piece of cardboard! If I hadn’t been hyper aware, we would have far worse memories of our time there. Bad things can happen to travelers no matter where they are. The key is just being smart, being aware, and being safe.

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The Faithful Traveler series of thirteen episodes can be purchased from the www.thefaithfultraveler.com. Clip from previous episodes and upcoming episodes on the Holy Land are also featured on the site.  Footage from their trip to the Holy land can be found on Vimeo here: Visit the Faithful traveler on Facebook

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Elisa L. Moed is the Founder and CEO of Travelujah, the leading Christian social network focused on travel to the Holy Land. People can learn, plan and share their Holy Land tour and travel experiences on Travelujah.

Hi all! It’s been a while, huh? Sorry about that. While not much has been going on in that needs reporting, much has been going on. I’m just working, day by day, on our Israel episodes. And on something else. Something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and praying novena after novena about it. (You know me, I like novenas!)

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Immaculat Conception, and I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you about our next project and ask for your prayers.

After much prayer and consideration, we’ve decided to pitch a revised version of The Faithful Traveler to secular networks.

While I loved creating a purely Catholic version of the show, because that is what I know by heart, our experience with EWTN just didn’t work out the way we’d hoped. So, we thought w’d give the show one last shot. Perhaps, we thought, God wants us to try something different?

So, we’re pitching the show to secular networks. Networks like OWN, the Travel Channel, Nat Geo, and others. But in order to make the show appeal to secular networks, we opened up the concept to religions other than Catholicism. The show will be the same—learning about why people do what they do in faith. We’d just cover other religions, too. It could be really interesting, I think. And think about all the amazing places we could go! Plus, it would give us an opportunity to teach people about one another, and to, hopefully, encourage respect and charity among people of different faiths and creeds. Always a good thing.

Whatever the end result, I am praying that God’s will be done. Will you join me in this prayer? Please ask Our Lady to guide us in our decision making.

I sent a pitch letter off to an agent yesterday, along with this video clip above. A “sizzle reel”, or teaser for the new show. Let me know what you think. And, of course, I’ll let you know what happens.

And in the meantime, I wish you all a blessed Christmas (if that’s what you celebrate) or a Happy Hannukah (if that’s what you celebrate), and a Happy new year to all!

Things have been a tad silent around here. Apologies. I’ve been working, vacationing, and non-blogging. I hope to have some good stuff to blog about soon, but for now, I just thought I’d point your attention to this recent interview I gave to Lisa Hendey of catholicmom.com, a cool site, in and of itself. Check it out! 

Check out this spectacular episode of RealFaithTV, a Catholic program geared toward teens that is produced from a very talented team at the Diocese of Trenton. I was honored to have been asked to speak about the Blessed Virgin, and we filmed it at the Miraculous Medal Shrine in Philadelphia! CHeck it out!

And be sure to catch this series on TV! Here’s a schedule of when and where it airs!

Screen capture from the movie, "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima"

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, honoring the Marian apparitions that happened many years ago, in a little town in Portugal. In honor of Mary, I thought I’d post a virtual Rosary for her–since we visited (almost) every place mentioned in the Mysteries of the Rosary.

The Joyful Mysteries

The Annunciation

Traditionally believed to have been Mary's bedroom, where the Annunciation took place

The Visitation

A cute statue of Mary and Elizabeth at Ein Karem

The Birth of Christ

David at Shepherd's Field, where the Angels told the Shepherds of Christ's birth

The Presentation

The Temple Mount is built where the Temple of the Jews once stood

Finding of the Boy Jesus in the Temple

The model of Solomon's Temple at the Israel Museum

The Luminous Mysteries

The Baptism of the Lord

The Wedding at Cana

The Wedding Church at Cana

The Proclamation of the Kingdom

Mount of the Beatitudes

The Transfiguration

The Church of the Transfiguration

The Institution of the Eucharist

The Sorrowful Mysteries

The Agony in the Garden

The Scourging at the Pillar

Believed to have been the pillar on which Christ was scourged

The Crowning with Thorns

St Peter in Gallicantu, the church built atop Caiaphas' Palace

The Carrying of the Cross

The Crucifixion

The Glorious Mysteries

The Resurrection

The Holy Sepulchre, which houses the Garden Tomb, where Christ resurrected

The Ascension

The spot, inside of the Church of Pater Noster, from where it is believed Christ Ascended to Heaven

The Descent of the Holy Spirit

In the Upper Room, where the Last Supper and the Descent of the Holy Spirit took place

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Dormition Abbey, where it is believed the Blessed Mother "fell asleep" in Christ

The Crowning of Mary

The Crowning of Mary at the Blue Army Shrine!

Mary’s Crowning happened in Heaven, so let’s all pray we get there together 9so we can admire her crown!).

Happy Feast of Our Lady, everyone!!

The spectacular harbor at Caesarea Maritima

Caesarea Maritima was a city and harbor built by Herod “the Great” about 25 years before Christ’s birth. It was also the military capital of the Judean Province, making it the official headquarters and home of Pontius Pilate.

After our visit to Mount Tabor, we ended our second day in the Holy Land here, at the beach. And while I’m not much of a beach fan, this was a real treat.

It’s starting to feel like our trip was so long ago now, but I do have a vague recollection that I was feeling horrible on this day, despite the gorgeous day. A cold has no pity. Stinky cold.

There are so many amazing things to see at Caesarea Maritima, like the aqueduct.

Roman Aqueduct at Caesaria Maritima

I must admit, after seeing the aqueduct in Segovia, Spain this past October, I was a tad unimpressed by this one. I mean, look at the difference!

Aqueduct in Segovia, Spain

But, still, it’s always nice to see OLD things. It just reminds you of all the people who came before us, and the important events that happened long ago. This aqueduct brought water out here from Mount Carmel.

There’s the theatre,

and the many ruins.

Three of our guides--Saliba, Nadi, and George--standing in front of the Church of the Transfiguration

The church is surrounded by some of the most beautiful gardens. It’s amazing how lush and green parts of the Holy Land are. You expect it to be all dusty and rocky, and a lot of it is, but then it’s got these spectacularly lush areas that remind you that it was once called the Land of Milk and Honey.

One of the many beautiful gardens atop Mount Tabor

Mount Tabor is one of many of the Catholic sites in the Holy Land guarded by the Franciscans, the official custodians of the Holy Places in the name of the Church. They are fierce watchmen, and we encountered them at every stop along the way. Here, we met Brother Angel.

Me and Brother Angel

Brother Angel spoke Spanish, and I was so pleased to be able to speak with him and to get this picture. I forget where he was from–I met a few Spanish speaking Franciscans in the Holy Land. I have to say, I have a soft spot in my heart for a man in a habit. I love it. I love that they have the strength and courage to say yes to that amazing vocation, and to be such a visible witness of their faith.

Inside, the church has a beautiful mosaic of the Transfiguration above the sanctuary.

And these gorgeous mosaics surrounding the sanctuary.

This beautiful stained glass window is behind the sanctuary.

The peacock is an ancient Christian symbol of eternal life, because of an ancient legend that the flesh of the peacock had antiseptic qualities and did not decay.

Here, Cardinal Rigali tied together the two sites we’d visited that day–Cana and Mount Tabor. At Cana, he said, the Blessed Virgin Mary kicked off Jesus’ ministry by saying, “Do whatever He tells you to do.” And here at Mount Tabor, we heard the same thing, only this time, it was from God:

“… behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’”

–Matthew 17:5-6

The day started off quickly. We had a spectacular breakfast at our gorgeous hotel, The Olive Tree Hotel in Jerusalem, and then we were off to Cana, just outside of Nazareth, where the married couples would renew their wedding vows at the Wedding Church.

Tradition holds that it was here, where Jesus performed his first miracle, at the request of his Mother, turning water into wine.

On the way to the Church of the Wedding at Cana

In the Fourth Century, Empress Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, built a church here. The remains of this church were found in the 17th century, and the Franciscans began building the present church in 1879.

The Wedding Church at Cana

Here’s a cool fact about Cana. Did you know it was the hometown of the Apostle Bartholomew? I didn’t know that.

So, the day started off as sort of a blur. I think I was still getting my “sea legs”. We walked into the church and, as I remember, Cardinal Rigali had already begun the ceremony of the renewal of vows.

Renewing our wedding vows at Cana

We wanted to get David and I renewing our vows on camera, and had it all planned out, but we got there late, and I didn’t know where Sonja was… it was a mess. But I figured we were there to renew our vows, so I just went ahead and did it. Fortunately, when the time came, Sony found us, and we got it on tape. Phew!

I particularly loved the beautiful painting above the tabernacle in the church.

Cardinal Rigali renewing our vows

Look at how Mary slightly bows before her Son. I love it!

Renewing our vows was somewhat surreal. I mean, almost 8 years ago, I married this man in a small suburb of Philadelphia. And now, here we were, in Cana, no less!

Renewing our vows with the Archbishop of Philadelphia! AND, one of priests who originally married us, Monsignor Donald Leighton, was here in Cana with us, too! It was a full circle moment, as some say.

David’s Facebook comment about the ceremony?

“Going to Cana to get married again. Same wife, different country.”

Here’s a pic from our original wedding, btw. Note Father (he wasn’t a monsignor yet) Leighton in the back (with our dear friend, Rev. Stephen Wang).

Happily ever after... (ha ha!)

After the ceremony, we wandered around a bit, looking at the centuries-old foundations of the church, and taking some pix and video. Groups of tourists entered and left the church, and when we were finally ready to go, we walked outside and noticed that everyone from our pilgrimage was GONE! We walked down the hill, hoping to see our buses at the bottom, but no. Nothing.

It was one of my biggest fears–being left behind!

Fortunately, I had set up my phone to make international phone calls, so I called our tour leader and found out they were looking for us. My biggest regret: we didn’t get any video of it! We were in SUCH a panic, we didn’t think, “Hey! this would be REALLY funny to put into the show!”

Lol. Maybe next time.

“A leetle,” she said, meekly.

The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by the most adorable, enthusiastic, excited kids. This clip is a snippet from my time with them.

Now, I’m not the best with kids, let me just say. If I hadn’t been so worried about getting everything just right, I might have been able to actually chat with them and find out what it was like to be a kid in Israel. But my mind was racing.

“Watch out for pick pockets… I don’t have anything in my pockets… I don’t think… Our group is leaving us… Don’t step on Sony’s cord… where’s David…”

Ugh. Next time, I’m bringing a Production Assistant.

For now, enjoy this little bit of Israeli LIFE. I love the end. It gives me hope. I hope these kids run for office some day.

“We want Shalom.” We want peace.

This is a long one…

On the seventh day of our pilgrimage to the Holy Land, my team had a casualty. David stayed in the hotel that day, because his legs had swollen from the knees down, after having fallen on the Via Dolorosa the previous morning. Our pilgrimage was almost over—we only had two days to go—and his swelling was going down slowly, but still, his condition worried me, and set the stage for this day’s events.

You can see the day’s photos here.

Day 7 focused on the sites of Christ’s Passion, which we celebrate today on Good Friday. Why is it GOOD, I always used to wonder? What’s GOOD about Jesus dying? Ha. It reminds me of something a friend once asked after she watched an early version of our episode on the St Rita of Cascia Shrine in Philadelphia: “So, this woman had a thorn in her head that hurt and stank, and that was a blessing?!”

Perhaps the fact that today is Good is what confounds so many people about the Church’s view on suffering. It is good that God suffered and died for us; for without that sacrifice, we’d be doomed. What more need be said?

On this day, we visited the Church of Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray through the prayer we now call the Our Father. There, surrounded by tiles with the prayer written in languages from around the world, we encountered an eerie foreshadowing of what we’d see later on: we found a tree full of inch-long thorns. It was from the branch of a tree like this, our guide told us, that the soldiers fashioned Jesus’ painful crown.

From here, we walked to the Church of Dominus Flevit, which means in Latin “The Lord Wept”. The Church was built in the shape of a tear, and has a beautiful window, overlooking the city of Jerusalem.

“As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44)

Further down the Mount of Olives, we entered the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus went after the Last Supper, and where he was betrayed by Judas.

We learned that many of the trees here were more than 2,000 years old, meaning that these were the VERY trees that witnessed the saddest night in history.

We celebrated Mass inside the absolutely amazing Basilica of the Agony, the Sanctuary of which contains the rock that is believed to have been the rock on which Jesus prayed the night of his betrayal.

I got to kiss the stone twice. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I’ve always had a special devotion to the Agony in the Garden. Christ’s words to Peter, James, and John haunt me: “Could you not keep watch for one hour?” (Mk 14:37) We ask so much of God. Is an hour of our time too much to give back to him; in adoration, during Mass, on a daily basis?

Then, we went to the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu*, the Church built on top of the palace of Caiaphas, the High Priest. It was here that Jesus was condemned by the Sanhedrin, where he was imprisoned overnight, and where St Peter denied Christ three times.

• “Gallicantu” comes from the Latin for “cock crow”; “galli” refers to the rooster or cock (in Spanish, its gallo) and “cantu” refers to his crow or song (in Spanish, canto is song).

I love this sign, because it is so seemingly innocuous and cute. “Roosters this way!” it says cheerfully. But in reality, it says, “This way for the spot where the first pope, where the Rock on which this Church was built, where one of the beloved and trusted betrayed his Lord and Master, not once, not twice, but three times.”

I can’t help but hear it then ask, “How many times have YOU betrayed him?”

As I said earlier, David’s condition was on my mind that day, as was my worry that we’d be able to get everything we needed to get with only one camera person. But God was good to us on this trip, as I’ve said before. Because a few days earlier, we’d been given the opportunity to film the Mount of Olives and its beautiful vistas when one of the tour guides took my team on an early morning tour.

My worries were lessened as I realize, “Hey! We’ve already shot this!” And I was somewhat able to enter into the story behind the locations we visited.

But at the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu, I was still a little discombobulated, to be quite honest. It is hard to focus when you’re trying to make sure you get everything you need for the camera, and I was snapping away with mine. I saw this sign and thought, “Ooh! I might need that later to remind me of what I saw!”

But I didn’t read it.

Next thing I know, we’re in a tiny cave, and Father Donovan is reading something or praying something, and Cardinal Rigali says something, and the next thing I know, the lights go out, and I’m confused… ‘Did they do that on purpose?’ I thought. ‘Ha! Someone accidentally shut the lights out!’ (It’s amazing how fast your mind works, because this all happened—I kid you not—in about a second.)

And then, the sudden wail from a pilgrim snapped me into focus. This was a place of pain. A place of sorrow. This was where Jesus spent the night of Holy Thursday, after having been betrayed by almost everyone He loved, after having been rejected by those He came to save, after having been accused of all number of ridiculous things, and abused in all number of ways, THIS was where He spent the night.

In the darkness. In the cold.

I want to believe that the angels came and kept him company this night. But who knows. Maybe He was denied that consolation, too, to make His sacrifice more perfect.

And that wail of sorrow suddenly made more sense than any worry I had about the show or David or anything. Talk about putting things in perspective.

As I lay in bed last night and thought about the day’s events, in 2011 and 2011 years ago, again my mind raced. The night starts off so quietly: Christ has dinner, and then proceeds to wash the feet of His disciples. But He doesn’t just wash their feet, He tells them,  “If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.” (Jn 13:14)

When I heard this at Mass, my simple, childish, and absolutely 100% Diana reaction was, “Ugh! I HATE FEET!” I do. I have feet issues. I think they’re nasty. Not that I don’t appreciate my feet… I do. But… suffice it to say I have some serious feet issues. And I thought, ‘Seriously? I have to WASH OTHER PEOPLE’S FEET?!’ And then I thought about St Francis and the leper. Have you heard the story? It’s a good one.

I would say that St. Francis felt the same way about lepers as I do about feet—didn’t like ‘em, and certainly didn’t want to TOUCH them! This was a societal thing—leprosy was a horrible disease, and people who had it had to ring a bell to let people know they were coming! (So sad!)

The Vatican website has an awesome telling of this story here, saying, “So greatly loathsome was the sight of lepers to him at one time, he used to say, that, in the days of his vanity, he would look at their houses only from a distance of two miles and he would hold his nostrils with his hands.”

But one day, Francis encountered a leper and it changed his life.  I’m sure, if we were to translate Francis’s initial thought into modern parlance, it would be something like, “ Ugh! Can I run and hide? No! Darn! He SAW ME!” You know the scenario.

I love how this website explains his response: “[I]n a decisive moment of illumination, Francis suddenly perceived in this leper the embodiment of God’s beauty, a human being to be loved and cared for tenderly.”

And he kissed him.

So, on this night, just before He takes our sins upon Himself and dies for our redemption, God Himself gives us a new Commandment:

“[L]ove one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Jn 13:34-35)

Notice how he doesn’t say, “People will know you are my disciples by how many prayers you know, or by how often you go to Mass, or by how pious you seem, or by what you wear, or by how you look or __________ (insert other silly nonsense here).”

But by whether you have love for one another.

And sometimes, loving your “neighbor” is as hard as kissing a leper or washing someone’s feet. It’s forgiving the woman who told you she needed to sit in your seat in church because she had to do a reading, and then she never ended up reading anything. It’s forgiving the driver who almost caused you to hit her with your car head on because she turned in front of you and then stopped in the middle of the road. It’s forgiving the people who ________ (insert other silly nonsense here).

Today is Good Friday, and today, the sorrow continues and grows in intensity. Today at 3 pm, we commemorate the death of our Savior. And if we do go to church and pray and cry and sing, we also must walk out and love and LOVE and forgive. Because if we don’t do both, it’s all meaningless.

Have a GOOD Good Friday everyone.

“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

(1 Corinthians 13:1-3)