Church of the Annunciation

After spending a wonderful evening and overnight at Mount Tabor, we got back on the bus on an early Tuesday morning to travel to the Church of Annunciation. It was really interesting to see how a trip from Mount Tabor to Nazareth took about an hour via car, but it would have taken Jesus and his disciples at least a day or two to get there. It made me more aware of the hardships that Jesus must have encountered on his travels.

The Church of the Annunciation was a big and beautiful church that marked the spot where the archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary. The Church had two levels and the first level had a really big altar and behind it was an area marked off where Gabriel appeared to Mary. It was a sight to see and we were so blessed to celebrate mass there. Father Battersby gave a great homily about how Mary is so important to the Church but especially in the priesthood. She always was looking at the face of Jesus and loved him so tenderly. She was always praising the Lord and pondering the mystery in her heart. She was so docile and receptive to the Holy Spirit and the will of God. A good priest should do the same and his heart should always be close to our Lady. I prayed with this for my holy hour and spent my time looking at different apparitions of Mary from various nations. They were so beautiful of how our mother loved us so much that she chose to appear as one of the different ethnic groups.

The Hoang