A Day of Reflection

Today we enjoyed of a day of “Recollection”, a day to stop and try to call to mind all the different ways in which we have received God’s love and grace, and to reflect on how God has been present with us during these first weeks in the Holy Land.

Today we also went to celebrate Mass at St. Jerome’s study, underneath St. Catherine’s Catholic Church. St. Jerome, a biblical scholar, translated the Scriptures into Latin in the second half of the IV century A.D. His love for the Sacred Scripture was his love for God. He came here, to the same place where Jesus was born, and the same cave was his residence for many years. Imagine: just a few meters away from where the second person of the Trinity was born.

And here we are, contemplating this mystery in our hearts, the place where God came to us as a child to bring us back as children of God. The place where the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and the place where the Word of God was incarnate in St. Jerome’s heart in a way that that gave meaning to his life.

This is the cave of Life, the cave of the Nativity. The cave where Jesus was born, the cave where St. Jerome offered his life to the Scriptures. The cave in which we celebrated the risen Lord. Let us make of our hearts that cave where Jesus is born, taking St. Jerome as our example, and allow our hearts to be a place where the contemplation of the Scriptures fills us with the joy of His presence.

Pastoral Education

Today we travelled to Neot Kedumin which means “pleasant pastures of old.” The Holy Land has undergone much change in the past four millennia. The continuous agricultural use of the land, as well as ever-growing consumption of water, has drained the land of its natural resources; some parts of Israel could be accurately described as a man-made desert. Neot Kedumin is a nature preserve that recreates the landscape of the Holy Land as it would have been in biblical times. This is done by only planting trees and plants that are mentioned in the Bible (examples include Olive, Almond, Cedar, and Sycamore trees as well as grapevines, hyssop, date palms, etc…) 

Neot Kedumin is a beautiful place, and our guide showed us things like how olive oil and wine were made in biblical times, and explained the meanings of the agricultural references that Jesus makes in his parables. These explanations and illustrations of the parables really opened our eyes to the Gospel stories in a new way.

The most exciting part of today’s excursion was the hands on experience of pastoral care in action! You might be wondering, “How do you engage in pastoral care while hiking in a nature preserve?” We did it the old fashioned way – with real sheep!

Our guide brought us to a pasture that had both sheep and goats. She divided us into groups and gave us the opportunity to herd the sheep and goats. In turns we had to lead them to certain places in the pasture, to divide the sheep from the goats, and to keep them from scattering or falling off the cliff! This took patience and teamwork but we turned out to be pretty successful shepherds.

What we learned about shepherding is that the sheep want to feel protected. Psalm 23 provides great shepherding advice when it says, “Your rod and your staff give me comfort.” Intimidation or aggressiveness won’t cause the sheep to follow the shepherd (one seminarian commented after our experience “beating them doesn’t work”). We learned that the shepherd does not lead the sheep by standing at the front of the flock. Rather, he stands at the rear and uses the rod and staff to show the sheep their boundaries. Also by standing this way the sheep feel his presence and protection.

This led me to reflect on how the Lord relates to us in our lives. There are times when we wish that we could see God or wish that he would give us some clear sign or direction for us to take. We like specific and certain directions to where we are going. However, this is not always how God relates to us. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is always with us and protecting us, though we may not see him. Following God’s will for us involves taking the initiative of going forward to the green and verdant pastures that are before us and trusting that our God is behind us, directing us, keeping us on the way and protecting us from harm. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul” (Psalm 23).

Learning from the Christian Brothers at Bethlehem University

Today we got the chance to visit Bethlehem University. We met four of the De La Salle Christian Brothers—whose order founded the university in 1973. This Catholic University has a student population that is roughly 70% Muslim and 30% Christian. It was incredible learning from the brothers that their order has been ministering to the people in Bethlehem since 1893. As the Brothers showed us around the small campus we couldn’t help but marvel at the ministry the brothers were providing to the people of Palestine. Through their mission of providing higher education they are helping to alleviate the burden of the Palestine people who live in the West Bank—both Christian and Muslim.

Many of us found the most striking aspect of Bethlehem University to be their gorgeous chapel. The chapel is dedicated under the title of “Chapel of the Divine Child.” Behind the altar stands a unique statue of Jesus in his adolescent years. The statue of the Divine Child is surrounded by paintings of children martyrs from around the world.

As we stood in the chapel, staring at the paintings and the statue of Jesus, feelings of gratitude arose. Grateful that this little adolescent boy is God—and that this boy grew up to bear the weight of sin and death, conquering it by way of the cross. We will continue to pray for you as you pray for us! Thank you for all of your prayers. We are encountering Jesus is so many ways largely in part due to your prayers. God be with you!

Snow Day

Today we were scheduled to visit Mar Saba, but due to the inclement weather the decision was made to postpone our visit until next week. To fill the void, we attended our classes, both in the morning. In Spiritual Direction we covered the contemplative mansions of the spiritual life according to St. Teresa of Avila. In Ecumenism we continued our study of the theology of religion. With class finished for the day, our afternoon was freed up. Unlike yesterday, when it rained off and on, today the precipitation turned to snow. However, it failed to stick to the ground, and men took advantage of the afternoon to venture out. Whether it was to pray at the Church of the Nativity or to stop by some unvisited sites, we enjoyed yet another day in the Holy Land.

We've Come This Far By Faith

Here we are, more than a week after arriving in the Holy Land, slowly overcoming jetlag, various illnesses, and getting used to the small community life. We have visited several holy sites and had plenty of time to pray and reflect on what God is and has been doing in our lives and in the world.

For many of us, we have been discerning a call to the priesthood in the seminary for the last four to six years. Now, we find ourselves less than five months away from being ordained deacons. There are many thoughts, doubts, and questions that are running through our hearts and minds, some of which are: Can I live this life of priesthood well and is this what God is really calling me to? We are told that it is normal for a man to have such thoughts and worries in the six months prior to ordination.   

All of us know or have friends or siblings that are getting married, are already married, and are having children. As we continue to pray over the promises that we will make in the coming months, we wonder if we will be able to live a joyful and fulfilling life without the support of one companion on the journey. We ask ourselves: How will I do this? Who will be there for me? Who are my friends that I can count on? Where is my joy and zeal in serving others? What am I afraid of? Am I afraid that I will be alone?   

In the midst of reflecting on the holy sites, trying to process and understand the graffiti-laced concrete wall that separates Israel and Palestine, this foreign culture, and overcoming our tiredness, it is easy to become vulnerable and even irritable. Living in a small community of 38 men can be challenging day after day. We are picking up on traits and quirks about one another that perhaps we never noticed before. Here we are given the opportunity to practice our patience, gentleness, and kindness with one another. While we ponder if the grass is greener on the other side – like marriage – we also recognize the difficulty and concerns that arise in other vocations. 

While it is a privileged experience to visit and pray at the places that Christ and other major players in salvation history walked, our experiences of prayer are not always “mountain top” experiences. As pilgrims on a journey, we can’t help but bring our own messiness and neediness. But, that is exactly why God became man: to take on the messiness of our relationships and pasts and our neediness of intimacy and connectedness, so that He could redeem our humanity. This is the Good News of our pilgrimage: God calls us in all the areas of our lives and invites us to a life of discipleship. As St. Paul acknowledges in his letter to the Corinthians that we are one in Christ’s body and individually parts of it, we too take time to acknowledge which gifts God has given us and what role we are to play in the one body. 

No matter where we are in the world, we continue to journey together, bringing to the Lord all that we are and who we are, asking Him to fulfill us as we strive to build up the Body of Christ.

Christ in the Uncomfortable

We are experiencing the fullness of winter weather here in the Holy Land. Today was a cold, wet, and stormy day. Despite the dreariness of the day, many of us searched for ways to celebrate the Lord's day. Some of us journeyed through the rain (and hail!) to experience authentic middle eastern cuisine. Some of us journeyed to various hidden chapels in the city to spend some quiet prayer with the Lord. Others spent the day reading or relaxing, with thunder clashes as background noise to an otherwise quiet day.

We are experiencing the reality that pilgrimage is not always a bright, ethereal string of experiences and events. Pilgrimage does not always live up the fantasy of constant scenic landscapes and picture perfect skylines. There have already been plenty of those already. Today just isn't one of those. Today is a lesson in pilgrimage as an experience of rumination. We aren't merely tourists that hop on a bus and go home when the environment gets tough. Yet we get to experience the Holy Land as an all too normal, sometimes uncomfortable, place. Yet we stay here. And the truth is...so did Jesus. God loves us so much, that He chose to descend into the uncomfortable. He chose not to leave us in our uncomfortable state alone. He came here! He came to be with us.

As we celebrated the Lord's resurrection, we were graced by these uncomfortable experiences. They served as a reminder of the very reality the Lord chose to come into to be with us. So we walked his uncomfortable footsteps and he walked with us, making possible a path of perfect love. Love that endures the uncomfortable and promises a brighter day of resurrection.

A Glimpse into the Ancient World

Today, after Mass and breakfast, we traveled south on one of our longer bus rides to the ancient ruins of Tel Arad. The outpost was divided into two sites - a fortress at the top of a hill and an old city towards the bottom. The fortress was constructed in the Iron Age and contains one of the few pre-Solomon temples located in Israel. It was interesting to see how the temple was arranged on an east-west axis just like the temple in Jerusalem. The sight of the ancient altar was a reminder that our ordinations to the diaconate will be occurring soon and that we will be serving at the altar where the Sacrifice of Mass happens.

While we fill up our water bottles at the nearest tap, the ancients didn’t have such a luxury. In the desert one has to be creative to have a constant source of water. The inhabitants of Tel Arad solved this problem by building cisterns to hold any water that fell. As we descended into the cistern, I was amazed by its depth. Such depth would have brought gladness to Tel Arad's inhabitants during the dry season.

Later in the afternoon we were treated with a gorgeous view of the Great Rift Valley over-looking the Dead Sea. A little haze hung over the mountains in the distance, but when the light hit them they uncovered their beauty. While we could have stayed for hours, we were hungry, so we stopped for delicious buffet style lunch in the modern city of Arad. 

Know of our constant prayers for you all.

For He Has Remembered His Promise of Mercy

2000 years ago, hidden away in some obscure part of the Empire, two woman of deep faith greeted one another in inexpressible joy. Old faith and young faith. The miraculous conception of a child to a barren old woman and the miraculous conception of a child to a young virgin. Today, we pilgrims visited the Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem. This beautiful church, buried in the hill country of Judea, is the location venerated by Christians from early days as the place of the Visitation of Mary to her kinswoman, Elizabeth. 




The moment after receiving God’s Word within her, Mary was compelled to share her joy with the world. She began sharing this joy with Elizabeth, her kinswoman and continues to share it with us today. Mary’s joyful Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) is a deep and joyful reflection on God’s mercy throughout history, extending into the present. The joy of this mercy was clearly felt by us as we contemplated the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth on this sacred site.

A Full Week in the Holy Land

Today marks one week since we left Mundelein for the Holy Land Pilgrimage. We continued our schedule of Morning Prayer, Mass, and breakfast with a brief break before classes. In Spiritual Direction we learned about religious experiences and conversions: what questions to ask in spiritual direction, compared St. Augustine's stages of conversion with Lonergan's stages of being, Hans Gradamer's stages of experience, and St. Alphonsus Ligouri's teaching on aridity. Between class and lunch some of the men can be found playing "hacky sack" while others relax in the lounge, catch up on emails, or go for a walk. Some of the men make a visit to the Basilica of the Nativity for a short prayer. Our afternoon class in Ecumenism continued to cover dialogue among Christians and other religions. We focused on the similarities and differences between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in regards to doctrine, communion, sacraments, liturgy, etc.

In the evening, we did our site prep for our trip to Tel Arad, which will take place tomorrow. This will be the first archeological site we will visit in the infant stages of our pilgrimage. You can find Tel Arad in the bible in Numbers 21:1, 33:40, Joshua 12:14, and Judges 1:16. Please continue to keep us in prayer as we continue to pray for all of you.

An Ordinary Day in an Extraordinary Place

Today there were three highlights of the day: Mass at the Nativity Grotto, Classes, and first social evening of our class. The Mass was actually the attempt of having a Mass in the Grotto, since the celebration of Christmas by the Armenian Orthodox is still being celebrated. Thus Mass was celebrated in the side chapel of St Helena in the church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria. We are still hopeful that we can celebrate Mass in the Nativity Grotto.

In the midmorning and afternoon we continued our classes of Spiritual Direction and Ecumenism. In the first class we focused on the Rules of Discernment from Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. We opened ourselves to the ways of navigating the soul through the waters of desolations, consolations, and insights. The major part of our Ecumenism class was dedicated to sharing the impressions from previous day’s talk from a Palestinian priest who shared with us his experience of ministry in the Holy Land.

Finally, in the evening the Social Committee organized an evening of trivia. The trivia categories covered topics such as: Bethlehem, Movies and TV shows, Mundelein community, Sports, and Pop Culture. This night allowed us to bond and grow in fraternity as we continue to pilgrimage in the Holy Land.

Tomorrow we will be traveling to the place of Visitation in Ein Karen. This is where Mary, after the Annunciation, traveled approximately 90 miles through the hill country to Elizabeth to bring her the joy of the birth of the Savior of the world. Be assured that we continue to pray for all of you at these holy places as we walk the steps of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples!

And the Word Became Flesh?

After a long week, many of us hoped to find some quite time of prayer and rest. Instead, we found something better. Christ was born in a lowly manger in a cave because there was no room in the inn. Today, we went to that manger. Walking the streets of Bethlehem and wondering if Mary and Joseph walked these very streets 2000 years ago is hard to comprehend. The town is modern, with jewelry and souvenir shops in every direction, but there is something about this place. ​God became man here. Not in a temple, or a church where God was already worshiped, but here. God chose to become man here, in a manger in a small village. Maybe to open our eyes to his presence in the world? Maybe to show his humility and love for us? Maybe because of his mission? This is the promised land - the holy land. It is a land promised to the Israelites by God himself. It is the land where God himself became man.

​When I went down into the place of his birth, I could touch the stone underneath where he was laid. Many of us spent a significant amount of time in prayer there. Maybe you can imagine what it looks like - the quiet reverence and calm. Well, it wasn’t quite like that. There were tour groups coming and going almost every five minutes. People came with cameras, talked to each other, and touched this sacred place, seeking a connection with the divine. Some groups even came singing hymns.

​Words cannot describe the place, and it touches people differently. For me, it took a little while for the reality to hit. This is really the place where our salvation began. Here in this humble town with its bustling traffic and merchants vending their wares there is the church of the nativity, and the heart of that church is downstairs, in the cave where the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Where does that leave us? It leaves me with awe and wonder at the great mercy of god. As we continue this pilgrimage, the bustling town of Bethlehem fills me with gratitude. The word became flesh, and dwelt among us.

Into the Wilderness

John the Baptist “grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel” (Lk. 1:80).



Greetings from the land of our Savior’s birth! Today, after prayer and a delicious breakfast, we headed out for Ein Karem, the location believed to be the birthplace of John the Baptist. Our first visit was to the Church of St. John Ba Harim, or St. John of the Mountain. There we saw the physical place of St. John’s birth and celebrated the Sacred Mysteries on site. Our guide summarized the Gospel narrative regarding St. John’s life while offering helpful commentary. He pointed out that the name of John’s mother, Elizabeth, means “Lord, I have a desire.” Her desire, of course, was to have a child.

From there, we traveled to the Monastery of St. John in the Desert. This is the site where St. John is believed to have stayed as he grew to full maturity. As the oral tradition was passed down, Christians began residing in this area as hermits. The hilly country provided caves sufficient to provide shelter. The picture is from such a cave where there is also a fresco commemorating the significance of the location. On top of the site is also a monastery with a chapel. It is on top of a looming hill overlooking the rocky, terraced landscape.

Our third stop was to the Mount of Olives, where we got our first preview to the City of Jerusalem. What a beautiful view of the whole city we had from that height! Our guide gave us a brief lay of the land. Before departing we had our first camel sighting! However, there was no time for a ride. Lunch was waiting for us at a restaurant named Askidinya. What a scrumptious meal! Who can miss American food with cooking this good!

Thank you for following! The third theology class is blessed by your prayers and support. Be assured of our prayers as well!

From Infinity to Infancy

My hand brushes the cool stone as I bow down and enter through the “door of humility” into the Church of the Nativity, for the door is so low that every person must literally bow down, lowering themselves as they enter into the very place where the all-powerful God of the Universe lowered Himself from Infinity to Infancy. As I stand upright again, after entering through the small door, my eyes are met with ancient beauty. Flickering candles, brightly colored icons, pillars, a radiant sanctuary, whose beauty shines through even in the midst of all the scaffolding of the renovations being done. But this beautiful sanctuary is not itself our destination, but rather it is what is hidden beneath it, the very cave in which Christ was born. And we lower ourselves again, going deeper into this sacred place, descending steep stairs beneath the sanctuary, through another narrow doorway, into the cave within.

And as I shuffle quietly into this humble cave, shoulder to shoulder with a small crowd of people I realize in the hushed silence that I am not in the midst of just a group of tourists going to see some new and exciting thing. These people, from all walks of life from all over the world, are coming in awe and wonder, to adore, to worship, and to pray. They too lower themselves into this cave to speak to the Almighty God of their fears and sufferings, hopes and dreams, to pour out what is in their hearts, to pray for their loved ones.

The sacredness of this place becomes tangible: the hushed whisper of prayers, the flickering of candles lit for loved ones, the rustling of clothes as people crouch and lay down on the ground to kiss the very spot where Christ was born; chanting and singing breaks out among some, and people, both young and old, fall to their knees on the hard stone floor. For it is here, in this very place, where the Almighty God becomes very close; for it right here that He became flesh, that He entered into the messiness of our human lives and struggles, our whole experience of living.

There is something profoundly beautiful and humbling that cannot easily be put into words when praying at this very place. We are all familiar with the Christmas story that we’ve heard so many times throughout our lives – the one that captured our imagination as children, that we’ve heard over and over, year after year, that we’ve re-enacted in our cute Christmas pageants, and display each year in our Nativity scenes.

The full weight of that story, of what it means, becomes tangible here. You realize that this is not just any story, not just a nice bedtime tale of our childhood, but a very real story that speaks right at the heart of our very grown-up and painful human struggles. And it is especially poignant being in the midst of a land with a history of such pain-filled struggle, war, and conflict.

And it is this story, this reality, that we are entering into more fully as pilgrims. We enter into the whole story of Christ in a very tangible way, and in doing so, the story enters into us, sinking deep into our being. But not just for ourselves, but for this saving work of Christ to become very real to us, and in us, so that through us God can continue His work, to draw others into His story, into His very self, His body, so that the world may know and encounter the Living God who enters into the messiness of our very human lives, of our struggles, our daily life and work.

He came from heaven to earth to transform us, and draw us into His Love and Life!

First Fruits of the Holy Land

This morning we awoke to the most stunning sunrise. The sky was filled with pastel pinks and blues…a most beautiful welcome to our first morning in the Holy Land. It was a very spring –like morning as we made our way to the sunlit streets of Bethlehem and to mass at St. Helena’s chapel at the Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria (which is adjacent to the Basilica of the Nativity).

Arriving at St. Catherine’s, just before entering the chapel of St. Helena, you are greeted by an incredible, almost life-sized, wood carving of St. George mounted on his horse and slaying the serpent. St. Helena’s chapel is modest, seating roughly 40-50 pilgrims, and is, as one pilgrim commented, “very monastic.” During mass you really experienced what it feels like to sing with una voce, one voice. Forty men, united in Christ, easily filled the space with hymns of praise and thanksgiving.

After mass we were free to explore the treasures of Bethlehem. Highlights for any pilgrim include: the Grotto of the Nativity and the manger; St. Jerome’s cell located in the caves adjacent to the site of the Nativity where St. Jerome lived and worked on his Latin translation of the bible; and the Milk Grotto, where it is said that milk fell to the ground while Mary was feeding the Infant Jesus and miraculously turned the walls of the cave white!



We heard in today’s responsorial psalm “Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations!” These words had special meaning as we quietly meditated in the Grotto of the Nativity just a few feet away from the metallic star that is fitted to the white marble marking the spot of the Nativity. Our Lord’s most marvelous deed, the Incarnation, has inspired countless pilgrims from all the nations (of which we were witnesses today) to come and pray at the very site of our Lord’s birth.

We thank you Father for the gift of your Son, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Packed and Ready To Go

It has been said that people go on a pilgrimage based on a story. We are now hours away from getting on a plane and journeying to the place where the greatest story ever told began. A day from now we will be walking in the foot steps of Christ, walking down the same streets and dusty roads he walked with his disciples. Seeing the same green hills and blue seas Christ would have seen as he preached to the growing crowds. Praying in the same garden where Christ would have prayed before his death on a cross and his Resurrection from a tomb. It is hard to believe we will be there and soon. But for now, in the few hours left before our bus arrives, we are preparing our bags, deciding what to take and what not to take. Do I take ten pairs of socks or eleven? These are the big questions right now. And yet at the same time we are preparing our hearts for the coming experiences in the Holy Land by praying for our brothers about to go on internship, praying for the deacons who will soon become priests, praying for our families and benefactors back home and all those we promised to pray for. We go as pilgrims, not tourists on vacation, to encounter Christ in the lands and peoples where the story of salvation unfolded, and in that process we hope to prepare our hearts for our coming ordinations. Please pray for us, and know we will be praying everyday for you.

Coming Soon!

Welcome to the 2016 Mundelein Pilgrimage Blog. We are just about ready to embark! In only a couple days we will begin posting reflections on our trip. Please come back periodically to see what we have been up to. Please keep us in prayer as we get ready to head out to the Holy Land! Know of our prayers for all of you.