matt libra: Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

2 January 2013

Calvary -
Fr. Keith Romke and I happened to show up at the same time to pray at Calvary and we had the special opportunity to celebrate Mass there together with Deacon Doke assisting. There I offered Mass for Kevin and Lisa Mangers family, Bryce and Angel Herman Family, and Keith and Steph Blair family. The homily is below:

The Blood of Christ: the sign of His total self-giving love. Let us pray for the grace to give all our love to Him.

Ein Karim -
This is where Mary visited Elizabeth. Mary proclaims her Magnificat here, full of wonder and gratitude at what the Lord is doing in her. John the Baptist was born here and Zechariah offers his Benedictus - his first words since hearing he would have a son, an "impossible" act of God. There is a striking image here of the soldiers slaughtering the Holy Innocents.

Bethlehem -
Fr. Hurley gave me a great gift today. Here, during my first Christmas as a priest, he is giving me the privilege of offering the Mass of the Nativity at the place where the Nativity took place. This is also a particularly moving place because we will be in the cell of St. Jerome who settled down here and translated the Scriptures here, letting the Incarnation affect his whole life. On December 8th 2012, my spiritual director at Mt. Angel, Fr. Jerome Young OSB died. It was a tough loss to lose someone who knew my soul so well. There are lots of things that I could talk with to him that no one else seemed to get. Heaven's gain, my loss. Here, I offer my Mass intention for the repose of his soul, the best give a spiritual son can offer to his father. Homily below:

St. Jerome let the mystery of this place penetrate his life. In the Incarnation he saw the ordinariness of God made flesh; listened to the silence of the God who speaks divine words in human language. Perhaps the vulgate (translating the scriptures into the "common" tongue) is the result of him soaking up the grace of this place.

What a pity it would be if we didn't follow his example and be influenced by the places we've been:
-At Peter's primacy we saw Jesus appear in the Eucharist where Jesus appeared to Peter.
-At the Mount of Beatitudes we listened to the Sermon on the Mount, on the Mount where Jesus gave that Sermon.
-In Capernaum we received the Body and Blood of Christ where Christ told us His Flesh and Blood are true food and drink.
-At the Jordan River we renewed our Baptismal promises where Jesus sanctified the waters of Baptism.
-We walked up Mount Tabor and talked with one another where Peter James and John walked with Jesus and saw Him talk with Moses and Elijah and hopefully took a moment of silence to pray just as they heard the Father's voice "Listen to Him".
-At Gethsemane we knelt an hour in prayer where Jesus asked us to keep watch with Him.
-At Calvary the Sacrifice of the Mass was re-presented where Jesus consummated His Sacrifice.
-In the Tomb, we celebrated the Resurrection where the Resurrection took place.

And now we are in Bethlehem; what is the grace of this place? Desire.

Desire comes from the latin, "de sidera" "from the stars". We perceive something beyond us, that touches us and awakens a desire in us. It is at first a passive movement- we are stirred; an affective union takes place - not just sentiment, but a genuine affective union develops in our heart that orients and propels us to desire a real union with that which attracted us. This desire of ours is preceded by something else, something real. It is love that precedes desire. The star that appeared above this place so long ago marked the love of God come into the world. The presence of the one who loves us dwelt among us, His beloved, and a desire for real union with Him awakens within us. Just like the Kings, just like the shepherds, we come here to discover what this might mean.

Here, the Light of Christ has come into the world. The Light of Christ purifies and transforms our desires, so that we might see things as they really are, and desire not just something that gives us pleasure, but desire that real union that brings eternal happiness.

Almost imperceptibly He comes into our world, virtually unnoticed. Pause, take a moment to attend to what is stirring in you, permit Him to be your desire and soak in the grace of this place.

Intentions - I prayed for intentions here, that our desires might be transformed, that we might long watchfully and attentively for the grace You wish to give us.

Do not dash through, soak it in. Don't cling to the place but let it penetrate you. A priest is humble in His coming, almost imperceptible, becoming part of the place he entrusts himself to.

Manger -
They were cleaning today and the manger was closed, but after I offered my thanksgiving following Mass I ran into Horn and he showed me a way in; I walked right down to the manger and let this place penetrate me. What is the desire You want to grow in me? The Holy Family was here, the shepherd's, the wise men, in silence Mary pondered all that was said. Thank You. Desire for You; not any thing, but You. Prayed an angelus with Bulso.

Milk Grotto -
a place, a quiet place, where many prayers for conception have been answered. Prayed particularly for those who are trying to conceive, those who have had miscarriages, and those who have children about to be born. Tried to find the shepherd's field with Kuharski but no success. Back to the bus.

Calvary -
It was noisy and busy here today. I tried just to be here and present - tough.

Grace sharing -
Our NAC custom is for each person to share a grace that he received during a retreat, and this is no exception. It is good to share with others the graces given to us, the graces we received. Obviously this is a private affair, a "you had to be there" to get it type of thing, but I share a few anonymous statements the guys shared that struck me.

"I realized I don't have to be at Calvary to celebrate it. In the Mass I'm at all these places, I don't have to be attached to a place or be at a place to experience Christ".
"The beauty of simple devotion of others".
"I realized Christ came not to sanctify places but people".
"The places became personal - Christ had my life in mind when He did these things".
"He's not asking for much, just for me to give Him some time".
"Christ calls me not for what I can give, but because He loves me".
"The graces are different than I expected".
"The ordinariness of Galilee made it so real".
"Gaining the same vantage point of Christ, not intellectually but allowing myself to let the Lord love me".
"The Lord calls us to Faith".
"Its not what I want from you, but what I want for you".

Graces are not an all at once type of thing, they develop over time.