How many different occasions has someone shouted, “stay awake” or “don’t fall asleep?” If you find yourself blessed with the opportunity to spend the night inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and accidentally fall asleep, you may hear plenty of voices in several different languages ordering you to either sit up straight … Read More
The “Yes” that Saved the World
Andrea JoinesLast Updated: March 29th, 2021Holy Land, Saints
And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. John 1:14 This is the verse before the Gospel we hear at Mass today. It is also one we hear during Christmastide – both at the Christmas Mass during the day and the Second Sunday after Christmas (when the Epiphany isn’t celebrated that day). … Read More
Finding Beauty Amongst the Chaos
Bri CampbellLast Updated: January 19th, 2021Holy Land
The coming of the year 2021 was an event that many people looked forward to with great anticipation. Anything would be better than 2020; between the pandemic, shutdowns, riots, and unemployment, just about anything would be a step up from the past year of complete uncertainty and chaos.
Sharing the Jolly News from Bethlehem
Andrea JoinesLast Updated: December 17th, 2020Holy Land, Saints, Spiritual Reflections
While Christmas is often associated with a jolly old man bearing gifts for all, there is another less-jolly old man even more closely tied with the birthplace of our Savior. And who also happened to offer a gift to the world. Yes, even saints get grumpy sometimes, and St. Jerome was known for his grumpiness. … Read More
Finding Jesus in the Wild West
Bri CampbellLast Updated: September 11th, 2020Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections
In late 2019, I had booked and planned a trip to Poland and Germany for May of 2020 with a fellow coworker here at Tekton Ministries. We were going to explore the homeland of St. John Paul II and then end our pilgrimage with a quick stop in Germany, where we were going to attend … Read More
Resting in Mary’s Mantle
What do St. Edith Stein, St. Therese of Lisieux, and St. John of the Cross all have in common? Apart from residing in Eternal Paradise together, these three saints lived their lives in the Carmelite order, leaving the world behind to live in a community devoted to prayer, contemplation, and being in union with the … Read More
The Renaissance Man Cave Revisited
Bri CampbellLast Updated: June 2nd, 2020Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections
It can be hard to reflect on an experience that you’ve never had before. Shortly after I began my employment at Tekton, I was tasked with writing a reflection on the Upper Room. Having never set foot in the same country as the Upper Room, I scoured the Internet for all the info it had … Read More
The Best of All Holy Weeks
Bri CampbellLast Updated: April 2nd, 2020Domestic Church, Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections
“Holy Week and Easter will never be the same.” This is the comment we get most abundantly from our pilgrims upon their return from the Holy Land. It comes in through our surveys so often that you would think they all copied one another’s responses – cutting and pasting the same thing over and over … Read More
In the Footsteps of Our Blessed Mother
In the St. Wenceslas tale that is told around this time of year, we see a king’s mercy and compassion. Good King Wenceslas, who has had songs and story books made of his life, set out one winter’s night with his squire to take food and firewood to his poor subjects. The snow was deep, … Read More
I am Peter, Flawed & Faithful
I’ve often heard, “We are all called to be holy.” But until lately, I saw holiness as a synonym for moral goodness. I recently learned, though, that the Hebrew translation means to be “set apart” from the world for God’s purpose. Peter, John, and James were certainly “set apart” when they accompanied Jesus to the … Read More
Mary Magdalene and her Red Egg
We all know the awe-inspiring story of Mary Magdalene, the first person Christ appeared to after his Resurrection. She was a true saint of hope running to tell the Apostles she had seen the Lord. They didn’t believe her until they ran to the tomb themselves. The unbelief of the Apostles steeled her for a … Read More
The Journey to Christmas
Bri CampbellLast Updated: July 2nd, 2019Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections
It was late when my plane touched down in Tel Aviv, but after years of anticipation, I had finally made it – I was in the land of Jesus and the Gospels! It was dark as our bus worked its way through the hill country of Israel on its way to our first stop: Bethlehem. … Read More
Once a Pilgrim, Ordinary Time is Never Ordinary Again
Every pilgrim knows that once you’ve been to the Holy Land, “Ordinary Time” is never ordinary again. You can’t walk in the footsteps of Our Lord and not be affected when you hear the Gospel message. Ordinary Time, which begins this Sunday, is not called so because it is “not interesting.” The phrase is derived … Read More
From the Nativity to Calvary: Mary’s Faithful Journey
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. So, all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of … Read More
The Ladder That Hasn’t Moved in Hundreds of Years
For 250 years, a ladder has stood almost unmoved, a symbol of division and the aspiration for healing.
