May Group Arrives in Israel, Everything is Great and Off to a Blessed Start
by Steve Ray on May 8, 2014
Two buses came zooming north from the airport in Tel Aviv to our hotel in Tiberias. No lost luggage. All is well. Enjoy the first day via video. Day ended with Mass on the shores of Galilee.
Was so glad to see my sister smiling and their and on the first bus, and in the group 4, am
praying she has a safe and happy and restful memorable trip. Thank you for helping making
this passable with your great experience and happy attitude.
Ellen Davis
Dear Fellow ‘Steve & Janet Ray’ Pilgrims! Although you do not know me personally, I am united to each and every one of you in a very spiritual way. I greet you all warmly as a Pilgrim from Steve and Janet’s April 27th Pilgrimage, and am re-living each day of the awesome experience and God-given privilege of my pilgrimage through all of you, my fellow ‘May 7th Pilgrims’. I am a ‘cradle Catholic’, but I thank Steve and Janet for allowing me this life-altering opportunity to come, know, and love the Lord better and reinforce my faith to new depths. My life has been changed tremendously through this Pilgrimage, and I am so excited for each of you, as I know you will experience this same ‘metanoia’ as we ‘April 27th’ Pilgrims did. I am with you each day of your Pilgrimage at each day’s events. Can there be any better way to know the Lord than to walk in His Footprints (the Footprints of God, as Steve and Janet’s Pilgrimages are so rightly called) with such amazing, powerful and trustworthy witnesses and guides than Steve and Janet Ray; Amer; and Essam (whose driving prowess is truly God-given, and wait until you see him maneuvering in Jerusalem!). They all lead you into a truly miraculous encounter with Jesus, the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, the Apostles and all of the other blessed individuals we know from the Scriptures, in a unique way that not many ‘Holy Land guides’ can…I believe that they are truly touched by God to serve Him (and us) in this way, and I am so grateful (as I know you are) that we chose this Pilgrimage! And, isn’t every moment of the Pilgrimage delightfully entertaining, as well? We not only learn so much spiritually, but do so by enjoying the good humor of such talented staff! We all smile and laugh along with the tears of this emotionally-charged Pilgrimage. I know, too, that your chaplain has been touched by the Lord to guide you ever closer to Him in these previous days; thank you, Father, for your Priesthood! You bring Jesus to us PERSONALLY, EVERY DAY, in the Eucharist! I know that I am a very ‘wordy’ person; please excuse my exuberance in expressing my gratitude and for vicariously joining you on your Pilgrimage. I am thinking of all of you, praying for you, and knowing that the Lord is touching your lives in a very special way. May God continue to bless you all, as He proves His Immense Love for each of you as you ‘meet’ Him in His Holy Land! Thank you all…and Thank You to the ‘Steve Ray’ Team! Fondly, in Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Lois Marcolongo, Clementon, NJ.