A pilgrim who has traveled with us to multiple destinations wrote to thank us for our great trips. I thanked him for his encouragement. He wrote back,
“I guess it is human nature, everyone has their make of car, favorite scotch, etc. Unless you have experienced another tour, the best in this case, you have no frame of reference.
You may recall our Parish went to the Holy Land last year with __, only because the organizer always travels with Fr. ________ and ___.
She and Father asked if we were going to go with them and I explained that if we had never been there before we probably would have gone. But, we have been there with the best and I wouldn’t go back only to be disappointed.
I asked some of my parishioners when they got back and all loved it until you drilled down into specifics.
Who was your guide? “Not a Catholic, but a very nice and knowledgeable guy.”
How much time did you spend at various sites? “We felt really rushed.”
Where did you eat? “In the hotels mainly.”
Was it a punctual trip? “They always seemed to be waiting on the same few people.” (They should have been walking with you!)
Mass at, and a good tour of the Holy Sepulchre? “Stayed a long way from the Holy Sepulchre.” (What good is that?)
Anyway, I always share our pictures and pilgrimage video you made (which other groups don’t get) with my study group and anyone who is thinking about a trip. To a person, they are blown away by the experiences and you, even the person who arranged our parish’s ____ tour.
They were especially amazed at the sites we visited on the latest Jordan & Holy land pilgrimage. Especially the areas in Palestinian-controlled areas.
Fr. _____ even said, “You have to have the right guides to accomplish something like that.” AMEN!”
To see our upcoming pilgrimages this year — 3 to the Holy Land, 1 to Ireland, 1 to Lourdes & Fatima and our famous St. Paul Mediterranean Cruise and Seminar at Sea visit www.FootprintsOfGod.com.
To watch videos of all our pilgrimages, visit HERE.
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My daughter “T” says we’ve “ruined” normal vacations forever, because now that she’s been on Steve and Janet Ray pilgrimages, she can never just do vacations again!
I have been on twelve pilgrimages with Steve and Janet, six to the Holy Land. I feel cheated by this pandemic that I have not gone on one for over a year. Weather the Holy Land of another destination, pilgrimages do not get better than these that Steve and Janet offer. Do one as soon as you are comfortable.
Looks like my family won’t be going to Isreal. https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.jpost.com/israel-news/protesters-demonstrate-against-vaccine-coercion-green-passports-in-tel-aviv-660106/amp
STEVE RAY HERE: I don’t think you should allow a few hundred people in Tel Aviv to determine what YOU do. A lot of this will blow over like storm cloUDS in a matter of months or a year and to deny your family the experience of walking in the foot prints of Jesus because a few hundred people protesting seems a little extreme.
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