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.
I like that example of the contemplation of Scripture filling us with the joy of his presence. I also get a feel for the sense or presence you're experiencing, visiting places where the roots of our faith were planted, and where people who, until now, were just historical names, seem to come alive. The pictures are wonderful.--Monica
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