Merry Christmas!
Today the bulk of our time as pilgrims was spent in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas. We began the morning at a church in a place called the Shepherd’s Field where we celebrated mass. Fr. Michael Woods in his homily noted that he had always imagined the fields surrounding Bethlehem as looking like the lush, green fields of Ireland, but that the reality was something radically different. He encouraged us to allow ourselves to be stripped of the preconceived notions that we have in order to open ourselves to the reality of what we will experience. I had to think to myself that this is also good spiritual advice. Many times we need to be stripped of the false notions about ourselves in order to see the reality of who we are and who God created us to be.
The other thing that came to mind for me during our liturgy was the fact that there is still so much conflict and division in this land and the harm that it causes to so many. This morning as we visited the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, the fighting over the land continues. Fr. Michael reminded us that even as Christ was being born, people were plotting to kill him. But even with the continued conflict that has driven so many Christians into exile from their homes here, there is hope. I see hope in the number of Christians who continue to gather in these holy places to pray for peace. God still has the power to bring about reconciliation, but this only comes about when we surrender to him and allow him to change our hearts.
May God strip us of all the things that keep us from giving birth to Christ in our hearts every day.
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