Finding the Inner Room

                Before today even started I had everything planned out on what I was going to write about.  I was going to share something so profound, beautiful and scriptural that it was going to perfectly reflect everything that has been going on thus far.  Then, however, God came into the picture in a typical God-like fashion and completely disrupted all the plans I had laid out so perfectly.  He provided something much more profound for reflection than I could ever have come up with on my own. 

                As I sat praying at one of the holy sites this afternoon I witnessed a blind pilgrim being led to the altar by another pilgrim.  Initially I thought of St. Angela Merici (1474-1540) who once went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and was struck with temporary blindness for the duration of her pilgrimage.  Even when some of our senses are deprived, God will still work wonders in our lives.  After the pilgrim was told by her guide where she was, she knelt down to pray and did the last thing I had anticipated: she prayerfully closed her eyes.  I thought to myself: “Why on earth is she bothering to close her eyes?”  We often close our eyes to escape the scene going on around us and to enter into our own thoughts and imagination.  So why did she need to close her eyes on something she could not even see?  Upon reflection I thought of how we often close our eyes when we feel safe, secure, and comfortable.  This pilgrim was blind, yet she felt safe and securely enveloped in God’s love.  She did not need to see the site to feel the presence of God.

                This reminds me of the passage from Matthew’s gospel: "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”  Seeing these holy sites is indeed a blessing and has proven to be quite fruitful.  Today, however, I was humbled by this simple pilgrim who truly showed me that is not about seeing and praying at the sites.  Rather this pilgrimage is about being able to enter into our own “inner rooms,” our own hearts, where we can feel the comfort and presence and God.  Regardless of where we may physically be located, God calls each one of us to turn interiorly to see and hear his message for each one of us.