Work and Play

Day 18. The end of an era. We must say goodbye to a key member of our pilgrimage. A steady source of insider info and historical perspective, Fr. Baima parted ways with us today to begin his journey back to Chicago. He taught a class called “Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue” during our first two weeks, helping us understand the perspectives and teachings of non-Catholic Christian communities and non-Christian religions such as Judaism and Islam. We all feel a new excitement to seek conversion towards a united faith with all our brothers and sisters on this earth. Thank you, Fr. Baima, and safe travels back to our cold and snowy homeland. We will think of you when we are catching some rays in the desert.

After Fr. Baima’s farewell classes, we had a free afternoon. Some of us took the opportunity to visit the L’Arche community in Bethlehem, Ma’an Lil-Hayat (say that three times fast!). L’Arche is an international organization founded by John Vanier which supports people with intellectual disabilities through shared community life and work. In the Bethlehem, the L’Arche community spends their working days crafting Nativity scenes made entirely out of local sheep wool.  The mangers are really cool, and made amidst a beautiful environment of love, smiles, and lots of laughter. We are blessed to have worked with them for a little bit!

           

Finally, a health update. Lots of guys are counting their steps. Some of us have begun to count the number of olives we are eating. It’s not clear which count will be higher by the end of our pilgrimage, but we are certainly growing in physical health as we grow closer to Christ in these holy days. And for this we know that God is good!

And the Word Became Flesh

Today, we had a chance to take a formal tour of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. This is the oldest church in the Holy Land, and one of the oldest in the world. What stood out to me most was learning about the oral tradition and considering the way faith has spread over the years.
 The day started with a rainy bus trip to the church. It was cold outside too, so when we arrived it felt good to go down into the cave. That’s the cool part of the Nativity church: the original home or inn was in the cave, but by the time Jesus was born, they had built a building above it and the cave was where the animals lived. That is where Mary and Joseph went and where Jesus was born. Today the same cave remains, but the church is built up over it.


We learned that the oral tradition was instrumental in finding this place of the Nativity. Our tour guide shared that as early as A.D. 38 people venerated the place of Jesus’ birth. The church was not built until the time of Constantine in the Fourth Century.  The reason they were able to find the location was because people had continued to pray and visit the place even when building a church there would have been impossible. The people in power could “re-write” history, and one previous emperor built a pagan temple over the place, but this could not squelch the faith of the people.

What’s also special is that I think we even saw this tradition alive today. For one thing, we were learning from a tour guide. But also, we saw many other groups celebrating mass and prayers in the place with various languages. I saw a little more clearly that faith is something handed on to us - “But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?” (Romans 10:14)- Our faith in Jesus Christ is held in common with millions from around the world, people we have never even met! It comes to us from others, and we, in turn, hand it on as well. Our faith in Christ comes to us as a gift, just like the Christ Child was born in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph and the whole world.

            

Oh the Places You’ll Go, Through the Lens of a Camera

It’s hard to believe that today is the end of week two here in the Holy Land.  By now, many of us have visited local shrines more than once: we know the longest routes and the shortcuts.  The excitement of outings sprinkled with classroom work and lectures has started to become routine.  In reflecting on the last two weeks, I find that the most profound moments haven’t been ones of exaltation, but in the daily living that we have begun to share together in our new environment.

We sure aren’t used to long bus rides together, but through that we have shared experience with each other about all facets of life.  The combination of movies and games that guys have brought have moved us out of our comfort zones to reach out to members in our class that we may know by name, but have never shared life with.  The back alley adventures through corridors of local butcher shops have given rise to laughter and inquiry.  In many ways, the beginning of this routine has become its own adventure.  We are beginning to see the hidden alleys of our classmates’ personalities that can be more obscured among a group of two hundred seminarians, like a fondness for Wes Anderson films or the chance encounter and knowing smile at the humble shrine of an abstruse saint.

As one of the ‘official’ photographers for the trip, I have had a very different perspective than many on this trip.  While I do snap a few good photos of the locations we are visiting, I have a unique perspective, in that my eye is constantly turned on my fellow classmates: to see their reactions, to capture their emotions, to give a cherished memory of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  Some of the sights we have seen have been mostly routine.  I can always count on one or two guys in our class to try and photobomb an otherwise idyllic scene!  Some of the other reactions, though, have been beautiful to watch.  I have seen my classmates truly enter into prayer where tourists are snapping copious selfies (to be fair, it is probably their only day with the opportunity to visit a site!) and bonds of fraternity and love growing in new friendships and shared adventures.

While I have been able to take some treasured photos of unique landmarks here in the Holy Land, some of my favorite adventures haven’t been by myself, but being able to capture the memories of my class growing together as pilgrims and future priests.  We have many more places to go, but I am grateful for the places and memories, that we have already shared.

Faith, Action, Results.

"Faith, if it does not have works, is dead."

James 2:17

   As our pilgrimage in the Holy Land continues its course, we keep ourselves attentive to the various aspects that shape our identity as Catholics. Today, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in the Holy Land explained to us all of their efforts that are intended to put to work our faith. CRS, founded in 1943 by US bishops, is an official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the US that reaches about 100 million people in more than 100 countries worldwide. To be more specific, CRS in the Holy Land encompasses and serves in the territories of Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. Beginning in the 1940’s, CRS provided assistance to the refugees who were displaced as a consequence of the devastation of World War II.
 
This morning, the CRS Country Representative, Hilary DuBose, visited us and spent about an hour presenting to us a very general but comprehensive view of all the different programs that they run in order to achieve their mission. The emergency response program, the urban agricultural livelihood program, and the child and family health program are just an example of the several ways in which this humanitarian Catholic agency assists the poor and vulnerable in need, regardless of their creed, race, and/or nationality. Personally, I was startled while I was hearing some of the statistics, especially those related to the Gaza Strip. This small Palestinian territory with little more than 1.8 million inhabitants, suffers a rate of 42% unemployment and 57% of its population live in poverty.
 
After DuBose’s presentation we had the opportunity to visit some of the programs of CRS in the Holy Land. First, we visited one of the Saving and Internal Lending communities (SILCs). There, we witnessed a very basic but effective and trustworthy way of saving. A SILC is a self-selected group of people who pool their money into a fund from which members can both save and borrow. As interest is forbidden in Islam, they will not be charged with any of it when they begin to payback. It was very interesting to hear from the members of this SILC as they shared some of their different goals for which they were saving. They went from buying a laptop to helping themselves pay for different household needs.
 
   After lunch, we stopped by a small piece of land to see and hear of another program that helps people to reactivate it, making it fruitful. We also witnessed the struggles of these people that are related with laws and their uncertainty about the future.
   Finally, we visited the Women Solidarity Project. This is a livelihood project for women where they make traditional Palestinian embroidery. Some of us took advantage of the opportunity to buy some of their work, adding another check mark to our souvenirs’ gift list.
 
   Overall, it was a day in which we saw faith in action. Indeed, it helped us to understand in a more concrete way the CRS slogan: Faith. Action. Results. I would like to end this note asking you to support the CRS in any way you can. Also, after you finish reading this article please take a moment to pray for peace in the Holy Land.

Thank you for reading us!

Peace to you all!

Gloria in excelsis Deo

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace 

to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14). 

Those are words that each of us has heard thousands of times, simply by going to Sunday Mass.

It’s good from time to time to step back and call to mind that those are not empty words.  They were really spoken at a specific time and specific place in proclamation to the reality of God becoming man.

Today, we had the opportunity to go to that specific place; “Shepherds’ Field,” the spot where an angel proclaimed those words to shepherds tending their flocks more than 2,000 years ago.  It’s a beautiful and peaceful spot and was a great place to take some time and pray, which we were able to do. The greatness of the opportunity, however, was not to just go and see “Shepherds’ Field,” it was even better than that.  We had the opportunity to have Mass at those fields, to hear the words ‘Glory to God in the Highest’ in the same spot that God’s messenger proclaimed to very simple men that God dwelt amongst them and was pleased with them.
 
That same thing happened today; the Word became flesh and dwelt among us in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and does so every time we go to Mass in the Eucharist. The grace of today was a deepening of the reality that those shepherds were real men, those flocks were real flocks, that spot where the angel appeared to them was a real spot, and that God desired to be among real people in real circumstances; that God knows today we are real men with real flaws and yet still is calling each of us to be His priest and take Him to His people; that He still desires to be among real people in real circumstances today.  The same message that was good news then is still good news today; God is with us, not in the abstract, but in the flesh.  “Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace among men with whom He is pleased!”