Don't consume. Be consumed.

On a guided tour of Bethlehem, including the Church of the Nativity, our guide walked us through the busy streets detailing the history of the town and offering us insights into the Bethlehem of the first century and beyond.  In the Church of the Nativity we learned about the long history of the Church and the many treasures that it contains.  We concluded with a prayer service and then were free to explore as we wished.

These experiences lead to the opportunity for me to spend a Holy Hour in the Grotto where Christ was born. While sometimes it was overflowing with pilgrims and tourists and other times almost empty, one thing I noticed was how some people missed the presence of God in that moment.  They came to take pictures (sometimes even of the seminarian quietly praying in the corner), they came to hear a talk from their tour guide, and most came to reverence the spot where Christ was born – but few, it seemed from afar, paused and entered into the stillness that permeates that place, the stillness that is the presence of God.  What struck me was how frequently we can go through life like this, moving from one experience to another, grasping for this or that, only to find ourselves always unfulfilled.  Yet, what we truly seek is present here and now – it is God who is always yearning for us.  It is when we pause and call to mind Christ's presence within our hearts that we will no longer consume every experience, but be consumed by His great Love.