A relaxing morning at the Marriott Hotel Resort on the Dead Sea. People enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, floating in the Dead Sea and enjoying the well-maintained pools and gardens. We boarded our bus and drove a few miles to the Hill of Elijah where the Father of the Prophets was assumed into heaven. Then to the shores of the Jordan River where we had Mass in a rustic outdoor area on the water (homily here).

We toured the authentic Baptism Site of Jesus and the ancient churches from the early centuries. Steve’s two talks on “Elijah” and “Born Again”  here. Fantastic walking through the trees along the river and experiencing the history and the 5th of our pilgrimage sites in Jordan sanctioned by Pope John Paul II. A simple boxed lunch saved us some time as we headed north through the Jordan Valley to the crossing point into Israel.

After all the formalities with luggage and security and passports we boarded our new bus in Israel and headed less than an hour to the western shore of the Sea of Galilee to settle in for the next four nights at our favorite Ron Beach Hotel.