Happy New Year!

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Happy New Year! Welcome to the year 2009! The year you've all been waiting for--simply because it hadn't come until now.

Here are my 2009 New Year's Resolutions:

1. Spend less time on the internet


2. Update blog more often


3. Find some way to make both resolutions work at the same time

Basically, I hope to be providing you all with more updates more often, at least every 2 weeks. That would be ideal. And I figured the new year is the best time to start.

In all honesty, I do enjoy setting a goal for the year, but a spiritual goal, and not just a resolution to exercise more often (that's for next year). I think it's awesome, though, to bring something you struggle with to God in prayer and ask Him to lead you through it throughout the course of the year. We all take time to grow, and a year's a pretty good chunk of time in which to do it. And the best way to grow is when God works that growth in us. So I figure it's a two-for-one deal. Offer Him the desire to grow in patience (not all at once) or the fear of surrender (surrendering surrender?). When we say in prayer that this year is "The Year of Surrender," it gives us permission to work patiently toward a goal, and it gives God the permission to accomplish it within us. That's my little tidbit for the start of the year. Now, time to get to the gym.

But first, I wanted to let you all know that our pilgrimage to the Holy Land was amazing. There's too much to say right now, so I will have to parcel it out a bit.

One thing I want to say right off the bat: I prayed for all of you at the Holy Sites in Galilee and Jerusalem. Yes, they are real places and not just creative locations for God-made-man to work some awesome miracles. They really exist, and it was powerful to spend time in those locations; it changed the way I read the Gospels.

For instance, we were able to visit the Mount of the Beatitudes on the edge of the Sea of Galilee. This is the place where Jesus taught the crowds, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," and all of the other "Blesseds" or Beatitudes. Basically, He was both outlining the way to be happy and offering consolation to those who already experienced these things. So the Beatitudes told those "who mourn" that they would be comforted, but it also meant that those who take on an attitude of mournfulness would be spiritually comforted. Does that make sense? In other words, those already mourning would be consoled, both now and in the next life, but others could purposefully decide to mourn, for their sins or those of the world, in order to receive the consolation that comes only from Christ. It's hard to go into it all here, but please read and pray with Matthew 5. Here's a picture from the Mount itself:

You can see the mountains in the distance, which would have been seen in the background by those looking on Christ as He taught. And they would have seen the city of Tiberias, which rests on the mountains in the distance. So as Jesus taught that "A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden" (also in Matthew 5), they would have been able to glimpse a very large city set on a mountain which cannot be hidden (unless your camera isn't zoomed in enough...but it's there, trust me). The point being that as Jesus taught the crowds, He related things to them in ways that were accessible to them, in ways they would have understood. In fact, all of the cities of that time were set on hills, and most of them still stand that way. So this analogy came easily for people in that time and place.

This fits perfectly, in fact, with the Mystery which we now celebrate in this Christmas season, the Mystery of the Incarnation: God became man in a particular time and place. The way He taught and teaches us, therefore, relates with that particular time and place. His teaching, like Himself, is incarnational. It takes flesh so that we can understand it. This reflection on Christ's humanity struck me all throughout the Holy Land.

And through this, another thought continually came to mind: It all actually happened. Now you may be thinking, "Paul, shouldn't you, a seminarian, have already believed this?"

And I would respond, "Yes, of course, I did already believe it, and now I do believe it. Capisci?"

Basically, the reality of it sunk in even deeper than I could have imagined. It all really happened in a real place. The story of Jesus Christ is not just a nice story with tidy little moral implications. No. It actually, really, historically happened. Capernaum is a real town where Jesus taught and performed mighty miracles. Unfortunately, the people of Capernaum did not repent and believe, as Christ lamented in the Gospel of Luke, stating, "And as for you, Capernaum, 'Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.'" (SEE Luke 10:15; this is also a reference to Isaiah 14:13-15) And all that exists today are some excavated ruins of that town. Coincidence? I think not....

But it was just beautiful to be there, absorbing it all, soaking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the countryside of Galilee. And it's no wonder God chose to become man there: it's beautiful. The landscapes are captivating, and there is a strong sense of peace about the place, but that might have something to do with the fact that God lived there for a period of time...which at least ups the resale value of a place for sure.

So there are some of my early reflections on our Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. And now for everyone's favorite part: pictures. God bless, and Happy New Year!

It begins...

This was the happiest place in that whole airport.

The Sea of Galilee itself. Just think: Jesus might have looked at the exact same view. I mean, He looked at the exact same Sea and mountains, but He may have even stood in the exact spot where I took the picture.