{"id":2153,"date":"2014-04-01T08:00:36","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T00:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=2153"},"modified":"2022-04-21T17:55:09","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T09:55:09","slug":"99-%e2%80%9ci-am-the-bread-of-life%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=2153","title":{"rendered":"101. \u201cI am the bread of life\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jesus said to them, \u201cI am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.<\/strong>\u201d<\/span> [John 6:35<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

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[L] The octagonal church and archeological site of St Peter\u2019s house. [M] The interior of St Peter\u2019s Church [R]View of ruins from inside the Church.<\/p>\n

Friends who have recently returned from their Holy Land pilgrimage shared enthusiastically with us their many stories of the trip. Once again, these conversations brought to light a few items that are persistently recurrent in regard to misinformation, non-connection, and a lack of reflection, at least at some interesting sites such as Saint Peter’s house and the ancient synagogue next door. So we thought it might be useful to do a bit of clarification.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Peter\u2019s House<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Capernaum [Kefar Nahum<\/em> in local language<\/em>] at the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee became an important city for Jesus after he left Nazareth. There, he dwelt and began his Galilean ministry [Matthew 4:12-17]. On the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he called his first four disciples \u2013 Peter and Andrew, James and John.<\/span><\/p>\n

Peter and Andrew\u2019s house is very close by the synagogue in Capernaum. For some inexplicable reasons, pilgrims and travel agents and even their local tour guides alike, so they tell us, speak in unison as they insist that the house in Capernaum marked by archeological ruins was the house of Peter\u2019s mother-in-law. That is not correct. That house was Peter and Andrew\u2019s. Perhaps the confusion came in on account of the episode of Jesus healing Peter\u2019s mother-in-law in that house. But Scripture is explicit about this: \u201cJesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew\u201d [Mark 1:29]. And if we google Saint Peter\u2019s house in Capernaum, we will see the right description of ownership. It was Peter\u2019s house, not his mother-in-law\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Saint Peter\u2019s Church<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In 1990, a modern looking octagonal church was built on top of the ruins of St Peter\u2019s house. The octagonal shape of the church was inspired by the ruins of the 5th<\/sup>-century octagonal Byzantine church on the site.\u00a0It is a great pity that for some groups, neither did their tour guides arrange for Mass to be celebrated in the church, nor did the members even walk up the stairs and enter the church! Had they gone into the church, they would have at once noticed its simple beauty and the glass window cordoned off in the centre which gives a clear view of the archeological ruins of St Peter\u2019s house. And, if they had, like our own group several years ago, celebrated Mass in that church, they would have enjoyed, amongst other things, the brilliant acoustics of the church which needed no public address system. Furthermore, if the group had selected the right Simon-Peter-related Scripture reading for this spot in the itinerary, the wonderful ambience could very well contribute to a meaningful reflection for a spiritual pilgrimage.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. The Synagogue in Capernaum<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This ancient synagogue of Capernaum, it is good to know, was the<\/em> very synagogue Jesus used during his Galilean ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ruins that we see today point to a magnificent and complex building. Constructed at the end of the fourth century A.D., the principal building materials were white limestone imported from elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[L] Remains of the 4th-century Capernaum synagogue. [M]\u00a0The ruins of the synagogue of the Roman times of Jesus. [R]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In contrast to the white limestone of the later synagogue, the synagogue of the Roman times of Jesus was made of local black basalt rocks. It is immensely useful, in our reflection, to remember that this earlier synagogue was the centre of activities where Jesus did much teaching and healing. Recall St Mark, for example:<\/span><\/p>\n