It was so hot and sunny today that all I really wanted to do was hide in the air-conditioned hotel room. Instead, I doused myself in sunscreen, packed up my camera and huge Scout & Catalogue scarf (excellent yet stylish covering from the sun), and hopped in the car with D for the drive to the sites around the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret, in Hebrew). We both were raised in the Catholic faith, and still identify as Catholics, though our interest in the Galilee for the purpose of this trip is historical as it relates to the life and ministry of Christ and some of his apostles.

We followed a main highway that encircles the Sea of Galilee. It was of course on the shores of the Sea of Galilee where Christ first said to (Simon) Peter and Andrew “Come after me and I will make you to be fishers of men” (Mark 1:17)

We visited Capernaum, Bethsaida, and the Mount of the Beatitudes. Capernaum and Bethsaida are both mentioned in the New Testament. Capernaum (now just ruins) is where Christ performed some of his miracles, including healing a man of leprosy. Bethsaida was the home of the disciples Peter, Andrew, and Phillip. The Mount of Beatitudes is the place from where Jesus delivered the “sermon on the mount”.

As a secular Catholic, I did not expect to have any religious epihpanies at any of these sights today. Rather, it was really quite remarkable to visit these old, haunting ruins of biblical towns. It also gave me some appreciation for how difficult life would have been for the people living in Christ’s time…these cities are all built into the rolling hills of the Galilee, where it is hot and dry and the sun is punishing in its brutal heat and intensity.