was during one of these sudden squalls, that
Jesus walked upon these waters to rescue his
disciples.

When Jesus taught in the province of Galilee and along the Sea, the region was fertile,
populous, and cosmopolitan. Palestine was the
highroad connecting the great civilizations of
Egypt and the Far East—the only land route
between the Mediterranean and the burning
wastes of Arabia. The Sea of Galitee lay in a
land that was cultivated, irrigated with great
aqueducts, and ringed with busy cities. Indus-
tries flourished on its shores and its people
gossiped of kings, pharaohs, and emperors in
many tongues.

Today on these shores, the new state of
Israel struggles to recapture the prosperity
that reached its height when Jesus lived.

SCENE 1. We are standing under a Euca-
lyptus tree on the Mount of the Beatitudes,
where it is believed Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. His disciples must have
looked down on the same green fields, the
same blue sea, while they listened to the words
that literally changed the world.

SCENE 2. This bronzed Arab with his white
skullcap casts his net just as did the fisher-
men of 2000 years ago. The weighted edges of
the net will strike the water in a perfect circle,
and, sinking, will perhaps trap a shoal of musht
or comb-fish. This is the fish which carries
its eggs and young in its abnormally large
mouth, and in whose mouth Peter found the
coin to pay the Temple tax. Watching this
fisherman, one remembers that Simon and
Andrew were casting their nets, when Jesus
invited them to follow him and become fishers
of men.

SCENE 3. Here in Tiberias, we find another
scene right out of the New Testament. James,
son of Zebedee, and John were mending their
nets when Jesus called them. The Arab fisher-
man, who must pull his full net ashore over
the jagged, basaltic sea bottom, must often
dry his nets and go over them mesh by mesh,
mending the rips and tears.

SCENE 4. This is Capernaum with its sea
wall of black, volcanic rock where Jesus made
his headquarters when he taught in Galilee.
Then it was a busy port and a border station
on the main road from Syria and Trans Jordan
to Palestine. Matthew, to whom the First
Gospel is credited, was a tax-collector here
when Jesus found him and said, "Follow me."

SCENE 5. We are looking at the ruins of the
synagogue of Capernaum where Jesus taught,
"not as the scribes but with authority." The
temple was oriented to the south towards
-Jerusalem as was the custom of all Palestinian
synagogues. The patient Franciscan friars are
now reconstructing the building and are find-
ing many of the original friezes decorated
with figures of animals, palm trees, boys
carrying garlands, and the Star of David.

SCENE 6. From the town pump we see the
old section of Tiberias. Herod Antipas built

ETC ETC