Getting Lost

            While visiting Bethlehem today, we were free to explore a little.  Many of us took the opportunity to discover a variety of restaurants, coffee houses, shops, and vendors.  I had set out with friends to do just that, explore the souvenir shops selling hand crafted olive wood and maybe buy a sweet or two.  God, however, had different plans.  After passing through Manger Square we came to Nativity Street.  Instead of turning up the store lined road, we turned the other direction, intending to circle around the Church of the Nativity to a street we had been on before.

            After some time walking on a winding and hilly street, we realized this was not the direct ‘short cut’ we expected.  Our short cut quickly turned into the scenic route.  After a twenty minute walk up some steep inclines we arrived at a familiar location, the opposite side of Manger Square about fifty feet from where we had started!  Relieved to be on familiar ground we took the road we had been looking for but instead of stopping at our intended destination of a shop, we continued up to the Milk Grotto Church.  Upon entering the empty grotto, the porter directed us to some seats and told us a procession was about to start.  It was then that we heard the beautiful singing of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  Their simple procession took them up to the altar where they sand a beautiful prayer before leaving.  Before the procession I had begun a rosary, but during the procession I seemed almost unable to continue as I was so moved by the prayer of the sisters.  The peace and clam that this gave me was deep and profound.  As I sat there after the procession I realized that this would not have happened if we had not taken the ‘short cut’ and gotten momentarily lost.  But perhaps that is the purpose of a pilgrimage, to take the opportunity to get lost with the Lord so as to enjoy those unexpected moment of grace that you will come across.  One does not, however, need to be in the Holy Land to experience this.  Just setting aside our daily plans and taking the opportunity to get lost with the Lord in prayer can open us up to recognizing God’s graces as they come into our lives.