Ordinary Day.

            Today was an ordinary day.  We had a couple of lectures in the morning and then much of the rest of the day was left open for us to do as we pleased.  So today we all used our time in different ways: taking a nap, playing cards, visiting the holy sites, or catching up on some reading we had wanted to do.  It was much like a day would have been like were we still in the United States, perhaps just a bit warmer.  We haven’t had too many days like today, ordinary days that is, and perhaps that’s what makes today unique in its own way.  We have spent a great deal of our time here going to visit the many places and people that make this land holy.  For this great blessing that has been to all of us, we give thanks to God.  But today was a little different; today didn’t include a visit to a holy site or Mass at a special place. Today didn’t include any of the usual pilgrimage activities.  Today was an ordinary day.

            I can’t help but reflect on the fact that an ordinary day here is much like an ordinary day when we are home in the United States.  All of the same spiritual dynamics are in play: we find a million and one ways to keep ourselves busy, prayer can sometimes be the last thing on the priority list for the day and idle chatter comes more readily than something that people really need to hear.  Even here in the Holy Land, perhaps especially here in the Holy Land, it can be a challenge for us to actually make prayer a priority, to actually set aside some time aside for God.  It’s the same spiritual dynamic that we find on an ordinary day back at seminary, the same dynamic that we find on an ordinary day back in our respective homes; Jesus is always there to draw us to Himself, to wait for our response to His love.  On any ordinary day, real growth in the spiritual life, authentically living out the Christian life, involves letting Jesus be a priority in our lives amidst the busyness and challenges of life.  Today was an ordinary day.