Capernaum is the town Jesus called home for three years of his active ministry. Onsite, one realizes they spell it Capharnaum. This tiny town rests on the Sea of Galilee's northern shore, practically in the center from east to west. The Mount of Beatitudes rises to the northwest of town. You'd only have to walk about one mile to reach the Church of Beatitudes on foot if you could walk there in a straight line.
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| Entering the Place Jesus Called Home |
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| Entering Capharnaum |
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| Entryway to Capharnaum |
As we approached the site, I noticed this "Private" area with a statue that had the place to itself.
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| Private |
We were told that the church building looked like a flying saucer, but that we would understand why when we were there. As we approached the church, we saw that somewhat rounded appearance. It is vaulted so it can hover over some old ruins. The ruins are Peter's house. They didn't want to disturb the ruins of his house. But they wanted to put a church on that site. And when they considered the passage about the man who had friends lower him in from above, they realized they could make use of the church structure to bring that passage to life. Also, upon the rock of Peter's house, they built this church.
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| Church in Capernaum |
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| Church Over Saint Peter's House |
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| Ruins of Saint Peter's House with a Church Hovering Overhead |
Peter lived a stone's throw away from the synagogue. I didn't dare throw any stones, but I'm sure I could have thrown one that far over some other ruins. Since the church is built over Peter's house, it looks like he lived practically next door to the place of worship. Granted, it doesn't look like it was a terribly large town, and today, it pretty much consists of the ruins and the religious pilgrimage sites. It's effectively an archeological site. The ruins of Saint Peter's home are clearly marked. The synagogue that is there now appears to be built upon the foundation of the one that was there in the time of Jesus, rather than being the building that was there at that time. But this one still dates back to a time within just a couple centuries after Jesus was there.
As we were told, don't let faith die -- Don't become an archeological site! So often, places where the faith was strongest are places that become complacent and die off. The churches Saint John wrote to in what is now Turkey all went away. In the Bible, we see a repeated sequence in the book of Judges where people have rough times, seek God in faith, experience prosperous times, neglect the faith, and return to tough times. The cycle repeats several times. Ireland sent missionaries around the world, but many of them lost the faith in the past couple of decades as their nation rapidly experienced prosperity. France has brought about important things in the faith, and the evil ones have repeatedly punished that nation for the good they have done. These cycles continue to happen today.
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| Old Capernaum Synagogue Near Church |
Under the church, there was an area with a description of what was where.
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| Site Map of Capernaum |
So let's go inside!
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| Entry to the Church at Capernaum |
Here's the photo you'll want to click on to see the full-sized image. It's a panoramic shot from inside. The window down to Saint Peter's home appears in the center. It's a large, square window.
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| Inside the Church at Capernaum |
When we look down, we can see from the perspective of the faithful friends who lowered their friend to Jesus to be healed. So many people focus on personal faith. But we see in this account that it was the faith of FRIENDS who Jesus credited for the outcome of their friend. Even in the Old Testament, circumcision was an action performed on males who were just 8 days old. It was the faith of the parents and family that would play a part in the entry of the infant into God's family.
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| Looking Down Into Peter's Home |
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| Seeing Myself Reflecting in Peter's Home |
This is also the site where John 6 took place. The bread of life discourse provides a lengthy teaching on the presence of Jesus (God incarnate) in the Eucharist. Unlike times when Jesus uses symbolism in a sentence or two and moves on, Jesus repeats his assertions many times and continually steps up the claims. When people leave because of what they hear, he doesn't stop them and try to correct any misunderstanding, because they understood correctly but rejected him.
With windows facing each direction, the church is full of light. The altar has plenty of colors. The plant life in the area is very lush. So the colorful altar also seems fitting.
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| Colorful Altar |
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| Carvings Inside |
Looking out the windows, one sees the Greek Orthodox Monastery. Many places in the Holy Land have Catholic and Orthodox sites in very close proximity. Oh, how I would love to see Christendom united once more!
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| Greek Orthodox Monastery in Capernaum |
Looking out to the courtyard, I see our priests. One stands out wearing red, walking across the courtyard. The other remains near the sacristy.
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| Priests in the Courtyard |
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| Capernaum Synagogue through Church Windows |
Looking under the church from the steps to get in/out, I saw Peter's house from yet another angle.
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| Peter's House from the Steps to the Church |
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| Close-up of Peter's House |
The guide showed us a few of the items pulled from the ruins that had some detailed carvings in them. I am only sharing one photo of such items.
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| Carved Ruins |
The old synagogue was the first one we would get a chance to see on the trip.
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| "Inside" the Synagogue |
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| View of the Courtyard from the Far Side of the Synagogue |
After checking out the synagogue, I went to the water's edge of the Sea of Galilee. This is the place where Jesus would use to access the places he went to by boat.
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| Sea of Galilee Shore in Capernaum and Wonderful Plants |
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| Sea of Galilee Shore in Capernaum |
Time was running out, so I didn't bother with a shot of Saint Peter's statue that tends to have lots of tourists near it. Throughout the trip, I was looking for a place that had this kind of combination of palms and other trees, in particular olive trees. There were many other kinds of plants nearby. But this was close to what I was looking for. I just wished I saw the palms a lot shorter. I would find a similar combination in the area of Gethsemane. This is a level area, while that is on a hillside.
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| Palm-Olive (not the store brand) |
I had heard of Capernaum before, but I didn't think about how much time Jesus spent here. I had a much better appreciation for things by being here. I saw the layout of Peter's house and the synagogue. I saw how close Peter lived to the shore of the sea that led Jesus to so many towns.
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