1/22/15
Hey everybody!
I hope everyone is doing well back home. I'm doing very well in the Holy Land. It has really been a blessed experience so far. This week we started classes. I have a spiritual direction course and an ecumenism course so far. Some other courses will begin later in the semester and when I return back to school for classes in April.
We visited the Shepherd's Field today and had Mass there in one of the caves. It was super neat! To have Mass in the space where the Angel appeared to the shepherds and let them know about the Birth of the Savior was really cool. Fun fact about having Masses in these various locations. The Mass used in those locations is the Mass for the location. So for the Gospel at the Shepherd's Field they use Luke 2:8 which is the story of the shepherds so you are able to be in the exact spot of what is being proclaimed in the Gospel! After Mass we had some prayer time and time to explore the grounds. The distance too between the field and Bethlehem isn't really as long as I imagined it. I imagined that they saw a star and would take a while to arrive, but in reality it isn't that bad of a walk. Kinda cool to put it in perspective.
We went for lunch to a place called the Shepherd's Tent. It was awesome! We had a ton of great food. There were different salads for the first course. It was hummus and other things to dip bread in. Then came the meat and potatoes course. Then a small dessert. Was quite filling and delicious. I admit, I miss Portillo's, but the food here is doing an OK job filling in. A unique part to the restaurant was that wild cats are allowed to walk around the restaurant. Now in America that would be a major health violation, but in the Holy Land these guests are acceptable. It was kinda cool just having a cat walk around your feet while eating lunch in a nice restaurant. Not something I can say I've experienced back home.
The weather here has been beautiful. It has been in the 60's and sunny. I'm not gunna lie, I'm happy to be missing the cold and snow. I've been lucky in my international travels. When it was super hot back home I was cool in the mountains in Guatemala, and now here in the Holy Land I'm warmer as it's cold back home.
Alright everyone, please know of my prayers. This weekend we will have Mass at the study of St. Jerome where he translated the Bible. I hopefully will get a chance to see some more places and explore too. Talk to y'all soon!
-Chris
Hola Cristobal,
ReplyDeleteQue gusto me da! How exciting to hear all that you are experiencing and eating in the Holy Land! I am already enjoying your blog. I hope you will be able to continue sharing. It sounds like an opportunity to make a true connection with what you have studied and read about for the last 6 years. What a blessing for you and for all of us following you! Please continue to blog. I look forward to hearing more.
BTW, I was at St. Jerome church, LA, the same weekend you were studying there in Jerusalem. Maybe he is trying to ask us to ask him to intercede for us?
Que Dios NS te bendiga y te mantenga sano.
NEna