We Are Here . . .

            Today we had Holy Mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.  This is the place where Jesus Christ was born about 2000 years ago.  Inside the Church of the Nativity we celebrated Holy Mass down at the site of the manger in which Christ was born.

            It was one of the most touching moments where the group was deeply touched and felt the presence of God.  Everyone seemed to be deeply embraced by the mystery of the incarnation and the presence of God among us.  It is hard to explain how each one was immersed into this divine mystery.  We just felt that his presence was actual and real at that moment.  Personally, I felt a great peace of soul and mind.  More interestingly, the homilist ‘pointed to’ the spot and said:  “We are here, what else can I say?  Near by us is the manger in which Jesus was born. So, we are in the presence of the Word.”  This was the homily of today!  In other words, the homilist was saying that “I am not worthy to give a homily,” the place and the presence of the Word is the homily itself.

            This was important for us because it was a transformative moment; a moment of reconnecting to the Lord who humbled himself and took on human nature.  I personally did not want to leave the place, but I had no choice because others were waiting outside to come in.  In fact, as one of the pilgrims of last year said, “Go to the Holy Land, you will never come back the same spiritually.”  This was the experience of many of us today: more connected to the Lord, peaceful, and not wanting to leave the place.  At St. Paul says, “What will separate us from the love of Christ . . . ?”  As future priests, we can only connect people to Christ if we are connected to him ourselves.