Hic Christus Natus Est - Here Christ is Born!

       Is this really the Holy Land? The question goes through our minds as we are here after all we have seen and heard in the media.  But it's different, we see people living life as normal as normal can be; people "eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building..." (Luke 17:28) In the midst of the normalcy and the craziness we hear in the media, we see some consoling words; "Hic Christus Natus Est," ("Here Christ is born") which is inscribed on the star marking the place of the Christ's birth.

Star marking the spot of the birth of Christ

 
      This sentence is as consoling as the words of the angels to the shepherds "today in the city of David, a Savior has been born for you." (Luke 2:11)  As stressed in the homily at Mass today, it confirms the fact that Christianity is not based on ideas, but on real people, and real events. This is the story we come to follow in the Holy Land. How wonderful is it that we begin our journey in the place of His birth!

Mass being held in the cove right next to the manger where Christ was laid

  
     Going to the nativity one may think that there would be nothing more to experience, but thinking like that would neglect the real story of Christ and to miss the point.  There is much to see, hear, and experience.  Nothing can be compared to the experiencing of the same coldness the Holy family experienced that night in the nativity, or seeing the tidiness of the place in the caves that is now under the magnificent Basilica.  Most importantly, nothing compares to celebrating Mass at site of the manger, in which that Christ came to be food for the world. Words escape the reality: Here is the place of the nativity of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, the King of the universe.  Here the Savior was born. This is why we need to join in the songs of the angels to praise the Lord in thanksgiving for the great gifts, including his very self, he has given us!