A Safe Arrival and A Glimpse Ahead

I am glad to report we landed safely, without issue, to start the first leg of our holy adventure. Though all were a little bleary eyed and tired from our long flight, there was a notable lift in our spirits as our bus gave us our first glimpse of the land through which we will journey. With the rain dripped green and rugged countryside winding before us we pondered sometimes aloud at this land touched with a unique ancient sacred life. The whispered images of Abraham, David, and Jesus lay tantalizingly before us. Today was a day of arrivals. It was a glimpse of the road ahead.

And this glimpse started even before we landed. For with the morning sun, came a look at the ancient faith of the Old Covenant, alive in many of our fellow passengers, as they prayed their Sabbath prayers. And this glimpse of our future encounters carried on through our road journey and all throughout the day.  Preparations for Mass had us hearing for the first time the call to Muslim prayers that will dot our time in this land sacred to all the children of Abraham. Mass itself saw us praying together in a chapel and before a mosaic well older than country from which we departed. It was our first taste of what this land offers in its linking us in a new and unique way to the Church of our ancestors in faith by whom we are sprung and to whom we are still joined by the Mass. It was an arrival into a world of tradition, a world of faith, a world transformed by Divine Revelation and Incarnation.

No one knows where these glimpses and first exploratory steps will take us. No one can say what will come of at the end of our pilgrimage. We hope to be changed, we hope to be transformed, we hope that our arrival here will lead us to arriving at holier selves than where we started. As always please keep us in prayer, and know that we will carry you with us wherever we go in ours.