Accompanying the 2016 HOPE teacher/pilgrims allowed me to experience the Holy Land with a wonderful group of people, including my wife, Cindy and our new daughter, Hannah, and to visit old friends in Palestine and to make new ones. The trip also permitted me to achieve a personal goal, the completion of a Pilgrimage as a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

A highlight of the Pilgrimage was the chance to actually visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with our group and to attend early morning Mass in Christ’s tomb. This provided a humbling example that the spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak since, as I stepped over the threshold into the Church, my foot landed on a loose tile and I fell, fracturing my ankle. But, with the miraculous appearance of an Ace bandage, some ice, a wheelchair and willing hands, I was wheeled into the tomb to join our group at Mass.

Later that day, our HOPE group was treated to an audience with His Excellency William Shomali, the Auxiliary Bishop of Jerusalem. As a part of our meeting, Bishop Shomali presented me with our Order’s formal recognition of my journey, the Pilgrim Shell. Based on the practice of medieval pilgrims to obtain a remembrance of their pilgrimage and attach it to their cloak, the shell, representing the sea shell associated with St. James, is pinned to a Knight’s cape.

This was a very special moment for me, made even more memorable by being able to share it with my family and also with my brother and sister Pilgrims of HOPE.

Submitted by: Greg Male