On Tuesday I will be leaving with our
pilgrimage group to the Holy Land. The
Gospels announce to us that God has chosen to dwell with us and not in some way
that we cannot recognize, but in the very world in which we live. We travel easily now and the world truly is
small. My longest trip so far has been
to Melbourne, Australia which took a mere 28 hours, almost nothing compared to
the days when travelling the world meant navigating the oceans on a sailing
ship. Our consciousness about the
smallness of the world makes us think of the reality of the world’s
problems.
In
those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should
be enrolled. This was the first
enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own
town. And Joseph too went up from
Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with
Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she
gave birth to her firstborn son. She
wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no
room for them in the inn. [NAB, United
States Catholic Conference of Bishops].
Like St. Thomas, after Christ’s
resurrection we will touch those places.
It is contact that helps us to bond.
God desires us to experience contact, closeness. I am sure it will have a profound effect on
us. We are on the door step of
Advent. Dip into the readings for the
Sundays of Advent and they can be a way to go on pilgrimage to Christmas. God’s Word is available to us. Please also remember the members of our
parish who are going to take this great journey.
Fr.
Bob
