Thursday, July 31, 2008

Pope's Tree Flourishes

.- In the Jubilee Year of 2000, Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land stopping at one point to bless an olive tree on the Mount of the Beatitudes. A forester with the Jewish National Fund reports that this tree is the only one producing olives this year.

"It is a miracle," Yossi Karni from the JNF, which maintains the plot, told local media.

During a visit to northern Israel, in March of 2000, the late Pontiff blessed an olive tree that was planted on the Mount of Beatitudes, which was previously called Mt. Eremos. According to tradition, Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount on this mountain, which is located near the Sea of Galilee.

Israel is currently facing what Uri Shani, Israel’s Water Authority director, called “the worst crisis in 80 years.” “Israel's major sources of drinking water, including the Sea of Galilee and the mountain aquifer, are below their ‘red lines,’ meaning they are not recommended to draw water,” he said at a news conference last month.

Karni explained that all the trees on the plot were treated equally, but the ones that did not receive the blessing have not given fruit this year.

"They get treated the same, watered the same," he said, adding that some trees had even started to wither, which he could not explain.

When he was asked what he would do with the olives, Karni told Israel's Channel 10 he might market their "holy oil."

4 comments:

Michele said...

interesting article. but i don't think he should market the oil from the olives. wouldn't that be self serving?
make a profit from a potential miracle? he should reconsider and not sell the oil.

paramedicgirl said...

Did you notice also that he isn't Catholic? That must be why he wants to cash in on the marketing of this oil.

The miracle in the story is pretty neat though, isn't it?

Michele said...

yes. it is. i don't like the idea of someone cashing in on something like this. it sounds wrong. Jesus would never approve of someone cashing in on something holy. never. it just sounds rude to me for someone to want to make money off something holy.

Patrick said...

He isn't Catholic so he might get an excuse from me, but could someone tell him that trying to cash in on holy things is technically downright wrong?