The Physical, the Real: the Word Was Made Flesh

It opens in the Gospel of John: "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."  This continues to be the profound part of this pilgrimage.  To come to the realization that the spiritual is not something of ideals, something unattainable or unseen, but something physical and real; something that continues to be seen physically held today!  We have spent some time in Bethlehem, and I can't count the numerous blessings it has been to visit the Church of the Nativity Grotto pray, meditate in awe about what this spot actually means!  God became flesh!  He dwelt and continues to dwell among us in the flesh!

(picture of me above the star, marking Christ's birth)

Last night, the seminarians arranged with the Franciscan friars to have time in the Grotto by ourselves. The Church of the Nativity is open until 5:30 PM most days, but is locked down after that time.  During the open hours, tour busses upon tour busses arrive and large crowds come in to venerate, look, take pictures, and move on. Some are moved by faith, others are just there to see something they have been told is special, they take their picture and move on.  The bustle can be distracting.  So to have the opportunity in silence to pray a whole hour before the Lord at night in the candle light was quite a gift!

I sat on the steps using my left hand to hold me up.  The weight of my upper body rested on the palm of my hand and all of sudden I noticed something.  I felt my heart beat through the hand on the ground!  It started getting louder and louder as I paid more attention to it!  I couldn't believe it, I could feel the beat of life (my own existence) coming from the spot where human life completely changed; God becoming Incarnate.  From the feeling of my own heart beat, I imagined the heart beat of our Lord.  Something so intimate that only our holy Mother could feel until the coming of his birth.  In a sense I felt Christ's heart beat in me for the first time! (It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me!)  How beautiful it was to realize, once again, the physical truth of our faith - The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us!  And because of this fact, my life, just like in this moment, will never be the same.