Mary's Little Town of Nazareth

Last Thursday (December 20th, and that is 20/12, 2012!) was the coldest day since I arrived in Israel a month and a half ago. It also happened to be the heaviest stormy and rainy day this Israeli winter. Though it was inconvenient to have that kind of rain and storm, it is so beautiful in this desert land because it is the season it is green everywhere.

View from the highway near Nazareth

To celebrate the season of Advent, though it doesn't seem to be such a big deal herein Israel, I went to Nazareth in that rain and storm last Thursday.

Why Nazareth?
First, it is only about 30 Km from Haifa, and I could just hop on a bus and get there in an hour. Bethlehem, the little town of David where Jesus was born, is more than 3 hour trip and it is very touristy tonight and this whole week (so... why bother?).

More importantly, Nazareth is where the Angel appeared to Mary and told her the big news. In fact, there are three accounts of annunciation in the New Testament of Bible, including one to Joseph, Mary's then husband-to-be. But Mary gets the spotlight and that's the case with the archaeological significance in the little town of Nazareth.

Modern Nazareth with its 80,000 inhabitants makes the largest Arab city in Israel. I found this Nazareth  Official Tourism website (http://www.nazarethinfo.org) and it was a very helpful "guide" to the city before I went there. A city on a hill (600 meter from the sea level), Nazareth's roads are narrow and hilly everywhere. I wondered about if John the Baptist was walking around between Nazareth and Galilee when he said, "every valley shall be filled in and every mountain and hill made low" (Lk 3:5) because Galilee is only 30 KM away from Nazareth and it is more than 200 m below the sea level.

View to the city of Nazareth from the highest point

Old narrow street up and down the hill

 Because of the significance "Jesus of Nazareth" brought to otherwise this little insignificant town, the past two millennia of history is dynamic but a little sad. Starting from Christian Jewish town in the early years, then Muslim rule, and the Crusades from Europe and so on. Much of the detailed account is documented on the website mentioned above. As I said, the magnitude of Mary's importance overpowers everything else here. It feels kind of nice to know what a faithful obedience at the age of 14 could bring to the rest of the history in the culture where traditionally women were (and still are in some  places in this land) viewed largely insignificant.

Facade and entrance to the Basilica of Annunciation (Mary's)

On the same compound of the Basilica of Annunciation, the Church of St. Joseph is tucked away in a quiet corner attracting far fewer people who bother to remember Joseph in this story!

Statue of the Holy Family, left to the humble entrance

Magnificent Interior: the Sanctuary of the Basilica
(A group of Nigerians were listening to the guide)

Simple beauty of the Church of St. Joseph

Altar in front of Mary's Cave where she encountered the angel, Gabriel
(at the lower level of the Basilica of Annunciation) 

This is the heritage built and kept by the Roman Catholic Church on the historical sites of Mary's home and Joseph's home (where Jesus might have lived in his early years). We are told that Mary encountered the angel, Gabriel while she was home.

When Greek Orthodox Christians started to come to Nazareth, they were only allowed to pray at "Mary's well," so they built their church of Annunciation there (about 1.5 KM away from the Basilica).

Entrance and bell at Greek Orthodox Church of Annunciation

Icon - Annunciation 

View from the entrance

Mary's Well

Miracle Child. 

That's what Mary is known for and that's why the little town of Nazareth has two churches dedicated to her name and her encounter with the angel. In the Bible, there are four stories depicting miraculous childbirths through the angelic encounters. Before Mary, there were Sarah and Hannah of the Old Testament and Elizabeth, Mary's cousin, whose story is closely linked to that of Mary's. The difference between the first three and Mary's is what this miraculous childbirth does to these women. Sarah, Hannah and Elizabeth had their dignity restored as their womanhood and motherhood was restored through their miraculous childbirths. They all received this miracle of childbirth in their advanced age, when biologically impossible. 

Unlike these three other women, for Mary, this miracle child meant shame and scandal, especially before her marriage, to herself and her fiancé as we see in Joseph's part of the story. And probably shame would go to her family and Joseph's in this little town of Nazareth. But her "yes" to the angel and to her God of mighty works and miracles, as she sings her joy (Lk 1:46-56, Magnificat), gave birth to a child who was not just a recipient of a miracle, but who is the Miracle Maker himself. 

The little town of Nazareth gave an example of ultimate obedience that human race can give to their Maker through Mary and her little baby.  

Happy Hanukkah!

Now, all the eight candles are lit on Hanukiah, or Hanukkah Menora as Jews have just celebrated the 8th night of Hanukkah tonight.

It is fascinating to think that light is celebrated in most religions as a powerful symbol of divinity, or a god. Hinduism has Diwali, the festival dedicated to the goddess of light.  Buddhists have something similar to that. Even in the modern secular civilization in the West, there is enlightenment. It is about equating light to the status of god or replacing god(s).

I love the fact that Hanukkah makes one point clear: God is the maker and the provider of light. He is not the light, but made and gave the light to us.

Here again, Haaretz offers a fun, educational and entertaining piece on how Jews around the world celebrate Hanukkah. Be sure to scroll down to watch and listen to the song at the bottom of the page!

This morning I went to a quite multicultural Shabbat celebration. Hanukiah, Menorah, and many other colorful, fun candles children made were a beautiful reflection of people who were there this morning from all parts of the world.

St. John of the Cross - the Saint of the Day

This is for those who are interested in and or familiar with the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar.

Image Source: The Carmelites

Today is the feast day of St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), the Carmelite reformer under the mentorship and support of St. Teresa of Avila. The Carmelites, or the Discalced Carmelites as reformed by St. John of the Cross, was originally established on Mt. Carmel under the rule of strict asceticism and prayer in the life of monastic community (click here to read the story I wrote about their origin, A Deserter's Tale on Mt. Carmel). The two saints worked together to reform Carmelite monasteries in the late 16th century, a time of great transitions coincided with the Protestant Reformation in Europe.

The Catholic Online gives great detail about his life, conversion, work and writings. I was inspired by reading about the time he was imprisoned by the monks who were opposing the reform movements by him and St. Teresa. Here's the quote:

"After John joined the Carmelite order, Saint Teresa of Avila asked him to help her reform movement. John supported her belief that the order should return to its life of prayer. But many Carmelites felt threatened by this reform, and some members of John's own order kidnapped him. He was locked in a cell six feet by ten feet and beaten three times a week by the monks. There was only one tiny window high up near the ceiling. Yet in that unbearable dark, cold, and desolation, his love and faith were like fire and light. He had nothing left but God -- and God brought John his greatest joys in that tiny cell." 

The legacy of St. John of the Cross is immense through his mystical writings. The Dark Night of the Soul is still considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish literature. Many spiritual writers have been influenced by him including Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and Pope John Paul II of the 20th century. He drew his famous Crucifixion, "From Above," after his mystical encounter with Christ during his prayer. This sketch influenced Spanish surreal artist, Salvador Dali.

Image Source: Wikipedia

Here's another quote I liked from The Ascent of Mount Carmel, another masterpiece of St. John of the Cross:

"Faith is a dark night for man, but in this very way it gives him light."

Something in Common between Israel and Korea

Being a Korean often brings interesting questions in conversation with my Israeli friends. I've learned that one learns to be more aware of her own culture, history and traditions -- sources of national identity -- only after she crosses the national border and finds herself outside that boundary. Or you finally become aware of who you are only in relation to others around you who are profoundly different from yourself. Speaking of the national border, it is funny to think that there is no such thing called "the national border" in South Korea other than the DMZ, demilitarized zone, the 38 Parallel between the North and South Korea.

Despite the many differences between Israel and Korea, I found a few similarities that showed up on news recently. Here are a few of these I am paying attention to these days: 

• Ceasefire and the Armistice: We know what it feels like to live under uncertainty and any potential threats. I won't write about Israel's recent war with Gaza again today, but you can read my musing a few weeks ago (click here) If the conflicts around Israel and the Palestine (or the wider Middle East) are the consequences of the WWI, the conflict between the North and South Korea is that of the WWII, as the division of Korean peninsular in 1945 and the Korean War (1950-1953) opened the Cold War era. Peace Treaties do not exist in either country. The border tensions are always there, they just rise high and recede low depending on the internal politics and whatever the pressing global issue might be at the time, whether that might be oil, nuclear power or economic crisis of the West. The rocket launch by North Korea two days ago shocked (and deceived) the watching world, and South Korean government finds a bit hopeless of its own military technology being behind that of North Korea's (you can read about it in Korean news website in Korean). This is all happening just a week before the presidential election next week in South Korea. By the way, Israel's next national election is scheduled in January 2013.  
• Start-up Nation: This is the title of a book which I am reading to understand Israel and why there are so many successful entrepreneurial innovations in this country. As modern nations (or 'states' to be more precise), Korea and Israel only have been around for sixty some years as the liberal democratic states but the two nations come with history and heritages that go for a few thousand years. Comparing Israel as a nation as a start-up company is the main thesis of this book. I found interesting to compare this to my own country Korea as well. 

Beneath this fragile geo-political and social conditioning of the "nationhood" in modern Korea and Israel, there is this culture of resilience, agility and entrepreneurship in the deep psyche of people, an instinct to survive and longing to prosper in the land. This psyche is hard to grasp if you are not from that country. This is all part of "national identity." Because we think we know how to build a strong nation: nothing else but human ability will create and sustain stronger civilization and outperform weaker ones. So here's another one in common: Heavy pressure to perform well and achieve highly in school.  

• Smart kids outperforming the rest of the world: Children from Korea, Singapore and Japan now are the winners of international Mathematics and Science competitions. Israel also brags its high achieving youth outperforming western nations (See this article in the Hararetz). 

Sadly, however, these kids in Asia are also known for highly stressed childhood and school life. The price they pay to make their nations proud is indeed high. I don't know whether Israeli children feel stressed about their lives too. 

Perhaps it is time to count the real human-cost of sustaining human-built nations and human-built civilizations. 

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