Day 7: Journey to the Sea of Galilee

A journey without par. Walking from the small town of Illaniya to the Sea has been one of the most difficult feats that I have taken on this year. The Sun shone powerfully on me as I made my solitary walk.

 

 

The scenery became much more interersting as I drew nearer to the Horns of Hattin. There on a plateau that affords a precious first good view of the Sea of Galilee the Frankish King Guy was defeated by Saladin. As I neared the site of the battle I thought about how absurd it had all been. All that fighting to have a nearly empty Galilee and a State of Israel, neither Muslim nor Christian.

 

 

I climbed up Mt Arbel, the hightest point near or around the Sea of Galilee to witness the precious view from up above. It was beautiful and unforgettable. The crushing heat tired me out and I was just about incapable of continuing forward. It makes me consider the fact that a Pilgrim doesn't go on a Pilgrimage by his own volition. It's a vocation, a gift.

 

 

Finally I have arrived to the Sea of Galilee and visited the Magdala Center. The beautiful Pilgrim's center made for a special treat. I watched the sun set as I bathed in the beautiful lake upon which Jesus, my Lord and my God, walked. I hope to one day do the same.

Days 5&6 Nazareth, Cana and the Jesus Trail

Beautiful days spent in Nazareth and now walking towards the Sea of Galilee have gone by once more.

 

Nazareth has changed completely since the time of Our Lord. Some of the pilgrims I encountered showed disgust for the present situation. In my case I imagined it to be somewhat as we see it today (except very Jewish). Let me explain.

 

 

Today Nazareth is majority Muslim. They are at present in Ramadan and it strongly effects the local economy and lifestyle. With that said Nazareth continues to be a highly religious town (including the Christian piece of the pie) found in the Middle East. Jews in general live apart from Nazareth.

 

I began my walk to the Sea of Galilee today from Nazareth. I was able to pass through Cana. I prayed in the local Church that commemorates the first miracle of our Lord of changing water into wine as well instituting the sacrament of marriage. I spent some time thinking about my own future and prayed that God bless my efforts as an eventual husband, spouse and father.

 

 

I have since continued onward despite the heat and am staying at a goat farm/eco-tourism camp.

 

 

Day 4: From Jerusalem to Galilee

With a 6am start my morning was filled with movement. I got ready to leave the place I had called home for the previous three days. The view that it afforded as I literally 'looked' down on the Dome of the Rock was beautiful.

 

 

After early morning Mass at the Holy Sepulchre which I fervently enjoyed I breakfasted with Pierre Loup who showed me the way to my home.

 

Corinna, the German contemplative, perpetually found at the Holy Sepulchre gave me a gift as I said "good bye". Some people amaze you with their sense of calm prayer. Se was one of them.

 

Off I was after breakfast back to the Kidron Valley and in the Garden of Gethsemani then up to the Mount of Ascension. The chapel of the Ascension. Today Muslims own the property of the Chapel so I it was a sober entry despite the fact that I was very much alone but in the presence of a a wonderful Czech priest.

 

We continued on to Bethphage where Jesus began his Triumphal walk into Jerusalem before His Death. The majority Arab town was not very interesting but I enjoyed the time any way.

 

Next I crossed the way back through Jerusalem towards the Central Bus Station. Alan, a Clevelander, joined in on the march to the Bus Station and we enjoyed that time together. He explained how his Jewish Faith brought him to Israel and later on to stay several years. He was enthusiastic about being Jewish in the Holy Land all while following the Cavs to through defeat by Golden State, c'est la vie.

 

Off to Nazareth I traveled by bus and I enjoyed the company once more of two of my friends. We pointed out the window towards what we thought to be Mt Tabor among other places. Meggido (aka "Armageddon") was a beautiful stretch.

 

I've been here in Nazareth for just a few hours. It's not the prettiest city but to know that Jesus spent thirty years or more of his life here is an impressive fact. I know that Jesus sancitified the daily life. He worked for his bread and butter. He "grew up" and became a man "growing in grace and wisdom" (Lk 2). I'm sure things are going to be beautiful.

 

Day 3: Bethlehem

So I got to visit the place where Jesus was born today. It's located under the Palestinian Authority just as Bethany is. Take bus 231 from the Damascus Gate and you're there within an hour. Once there everyone in Bethlehem is trying to give you a taxi ride to the Nativity Church. Once in the  6th Century Church built atop of the 4th Century Church you discover an overcrowded assembly with people trying to take selfies.

 

My Pilgrim group and I hunkered down in a corner of the "Grotto" at the floor level and prayed. We praised God for taking Flesh with such great humility and selflessness.

 

Afterwards we visited "The Shepherd's Field". In reality just about all real estate was "Shepherds' Fields". We spent an hour there to ponder the happenings there. Hanni, our taxi driver got us back to the bus station without issue. In my mind I could see the Shepherds leaving behind their sheep and livelihood to meet up with the Messiah that had just been born.

 

 

 

Later on I made some purchases in and around the Damascus Gate. Delicious Hummus, a big pack of water, and my favorite bread at the Muslim side of town.

 

We visited the Bethesda Pool and considered the ailing man from John 5. 38 Years of life in pain taken away through Jesus' Love and Mercy. In the Temple He meets the ailing man and shows him his identity at the risk of his own life.

 

 

Later on a walk through the Kidron Valley I got to enjoy time for prayer off on my own among olive trees. I considered camping there the next time I came to Israel instead of paying rent.

 

Lord,

I offer you this unworthiest of hearts. Grant that I, as the Shepherds, find a place close to you and rejoice each day of our lives to have you so near. Amen

Day 2: Prayer and Penance

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your Children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Mt 23: 37)

 

This was the view I had from the Chapel  Dominus Flevit (The Lord cried). Jesus lamented over Jerusalem before entering into it one last time to die there.

 

 

This stunning panorama captures the view Jesus had of Jerusalem as he lamented. The Dome of the Rock is now where the Temple was then.

 

I began the day considering the Death of Our Lord in Calvary located in the Holy Sepulchre Church. There I met a saintly German contemplative, Corina, whom I had the grace to pray with daily since I have arrived. I went to confession just a few paces away from the Crucifixion Altar. I imagined that this confession was the closest one I would have to Jesus' Death since He had really died there. Mass was in Latin and I enjoyed returning back to the Gregorian Chant. Two of the men at mass begin ridiculing the priest and the sacred worship and had to ushered out by guards. I'm glad I hadn't seen them myself as I would have been highly tempted to do more than usher them.

 

I visited the Dormition Tomb of Mary which was located Near Joseph  and Anne and Joachim's tombs. Where has Mary been all this time any way?

 

 

I came back to Gethsemani and this time I had the chance to enter into a grotto believed to be where Jesus was arrested. I could see how it could be there and not in the Garden of Gethsemani Church since he was "a stone's throw away as he prayed with greater intensity" (Lk 22).

 

I walked down to the Pool of Siloam and climbed up onto the City of David. I got to see where David would have looked down upon Bathsheba as she bathed and later committed adultery.

 

 

Along the way was Absalom's tomb as well as some other ancient monuments.

 

I walked through the Muslim burial site along the Temple/Jerusalem Wall to let the Jews know (as they believe that the Messiah will be entering into Jerusalem through that wall) that He would not be a "Clean" Jew by walking in.

 

The Ramadan worshippers were legion. I felt that I had returned to Rome to some measure. It felt like a Papal Mass exodus but in this case with an even older city.

 

 

After spending  more time in Prayer at Calvary and enjoyed a respite and some long needed food: Hummus and their version of Tortillas: Flat Bread. I could see Jesus eating this bread. 

 

I went back out to see the Sabbath beginning at the Western Wall. It was crawling with all sorts of Jewish men and women. I joined in in Worship and prayed some. Later I joined in at a Local Synagogue but found myself nodding off and heading back home. All in a day's work in God's Holy City.

 

Day 1: Western Wall to Bethany in Palestine

I was awoken by a beautifully delicious sunrise. I felt the gentle rays of light penetrating the curtains of my room.

 

 

The view from the roof of my whereabouts arranged for an instant panoramic experience.

 

I went for a quick job down some of the neighboring streets intent on getting lost and finding my way back. The shops were still closed and it seemed that the Holy City was still asleep.

 

I ran into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and went waltzing in. I walked right past a priest I recognized from my seminary days and feeling skimpy in my jogging gear I decided not to greet him just yet. I headed upstairs to see him begin Mass at the altar of the Crucifixion.

 

 

I headed downstairs and I found the sacristy to inquire about mass times at the Mount of Olives. This ended up with mass inside the Holy Sepulchre. There were just 6 or 7 of us inside the tiny cave of a Tomb where Jesus rose from the Dead.

 

 

I witnessed one of the pilgims pass out and fall over onto the altar. She awoke to my thinking: "We just witnessed a Resurrection…"

 

I visited the Western Wall - in Hebrew, "Ko-tel". I had brought a prayer with me from there and so I prayed it along with psalms from the Psalter.

 

 

After a long period with friends along the Eastern ramparts of Jerusalem we headed to the Last Supper Cenacle where Jesus celebrated the Feast of His Body and Blood. A flood of memories deluged my mind. A lot happened upstairs:

 

1. Jesus instituted the Eucharist
2. Jesus instituted the Priesthood
3. Jesus instituted the Apostolic Forgiveness of Sins
4. Pentecost: The Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and the Church was born.
5. The Apostles hid from the world.
6. Jesus showed up after his Resurrection and said, "Be not Afraid!"

 

I'm sure those were just a few of the things that happened.

 

 

 Later that day after having a Falafel from Heaven I had the chance to do some of my own traveling. I went on to Bethany in Palestinian Territory. It is a very difficult neighborhood and not easy to get to on your own. I prayed at Martha and Mary's Home and grieved the death of a friend along with Jesus. That was the place where it is said of Jesus, "And Jesus wept" (John 11:35). I had been able to make it to the Mount of Olives and to pray in the Garden of Gethsemani. This beautiful place moved me also to tears to think of a friend who was to offer his own life for ours. I'm speaking of Jesus.

 

 

I was able to make it back into Jerusalem and Israeli territory by the help of Spanish Pilgrims but otherwise things were looking not all so easy.

 

After a quick swing through the Muslim Market and getting my daily dosage of fresh bread (for my hummus) it was back to Jerusalem.

 

 

All in all a beautiful day. 

Back at Home: Arriving into Israel and Jerusalem

Arriving to Israel has been in fact a return trip back home. Riding the shuttle bus from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport to Jerusalem was an assertion of that point. Despite being pulled aside for two hours because of Israeli security (and I have a feeling I know why that happened - more about that at then end if you're interested…) or the massive hug I received from my travel companion upon arrival it was all about coming home. It was on that bus, surrounded mainly by Jews, that I discovered a beautiful gift:

 

"I am with my people….This is my Home."

 

Upon treading upon the land of Faith where Love for the One God emanated. It is the locus where our Faith took form in eleven restless apostles and where the Holy Spirit proved to the rest of the world that Love has no boundaries. The millions that come to Israel, or those that merely desire it, want to be part of something grand, something infinite.

 

 

Water has flowed through the hardened bedrock of this soil as a sign of its baptism in grace. Blood has also ravaged this Land, thicker always and crying out to God, "Have Mercy on us!".  Blood may be thicker than water but it is Grace and Mercy (Hesed) that overwhelms all hatred and anything less than love.

 

What do I hope to experience and live out in this, the Land of my People?

 

As Jesus asked the People of Israel, "What did you hope to see [in John the Baptist]?" I hope to give the latent answer that all of us have deep down inside:

 

I wish to Encounter the Living God.

 

I don't want to encounter Him in a perfect situation: friendly (or not so friendly) tourists, Middle East delights, intense Israeli security but rather in the quiet of my heart. In prayer and harmony.

 

 

*So a little bit about why I think I got held up in Israeli security for questioning:

 

Once upon a time having worn a Roman Collar as a religious/seminarian for years upon years I have a passport photo  accordingly so thus when I would say that I was here for vacation as opposed to "religious motives" they started taking a look at whether or not I had stolen someone's identity. Upon arrival I was pulled aside at the terminal and then again at customs. The questionings were momentary but the whole process took two hours with different questions about family and travel. What matters is that I'm here.

A Prayer to the Sacred Heart

A Consecration Prayer to the Heart of Jesus
This unworthy prayer was written by me. Ed Sheeran's song Photograph accompanies this Consecration Prayer. It is a dialogue with our Lord who sings to us through the Song and lets us know how much He Loves us through His Heart. Make it yours.

Dear Lord,

We've spent the last few days considering what makes you tick. Your Heart.

Ed Sheeran sings in his song Photograph how

"Loving can hurt...but it's the only thing I know..." (Ed Sheeran, Photograph)

Heart of Jesus, If there is something you know how to do...it is to Love.

The Heart is the vital organ which gives life to the rest of the body. It functions without requiring a nervous stimulation from the brain. It 'beats on its own'. In Biblical talk the Heart goes beyond the material muscle it is what moves us, what is at the deepest core of our thoughts and desires. 

"When it gets hard you know it can get hard sometimes. [Loving] is the only thing that makes us feel alive..." (Ed Sheeran, Photograph)

Heart of Jesus, you felt the sorrows and the pain yet your only consolation was in loving us. 

"So you can keep me - Inside the pocket of your ripped jeans - holding me closer 'til our eyes meet - You won't ever be alone, wait for me to come home..." (Ed Sheeran, Photograph)

Heart of Jesus, I will not just keep the memory of you in a pocket but close to my own heart. I welcome you into my life, into my heart. Please, come into my home. I will wait for you.

"Loving can heal, loving can mend your soul - And it is the only thing that I know...And it is the only thing we take with us when we die..." (Ed Sheeran, Photograph)

Heart of Jesus, you showed us that your Love healed us, made us whole, brought us back to life. Let it be the only thing we know in life. Let the rest be left behind. You showed us how it was the only thing we take with us as you climbed upon the cross.

"And if you hurt me, that's O.K....Inside these pages you just hold me...I won't ever let you go...Wait for me to come home..." (Ed Sheeran, Photograph)

Heart of Jesus, I have hurt you so many times throughout my life. I want to hold the pages of your Divine Word, your Will for my life. I know you won't ever let me go and please grant me the patience to wait for you to come home.

"You can fit me...Next to your heartbeat where I should be - Keep it deep within your soul" (Ed Sheeran, Photograph)

Heart of Jesus, I invite you to beat deep within my soul, within my own heart. Let our hearts beat together. You are the Love of my Heart and my Soul. I give you my all. And let that be my last word.

Amen

SH Novena Day 9 of 9: Hurt

Jesus with His open side
I took this photo in South Tyrol, Italy
Carved by Joseph Bernardi

John 19: 33-37 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may [come to] believe. For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: “Not a bone of it will be broken.” And again another passage says:“They will look upon him whom they have pierced.”

Dear Lord, 

I would like to offer you my heart on this final day of the Novena. Thank you for opening your heart to me. I wasn't worthy of your love but you considered me a worthy recipient of the greatest gift ever: Your Heart. So the Soldiers pierced your heart with a lance and drew blood and water. Let that Blood and Water wash me through Baptism and nurture me through the Blessed Sacrament. Through your cleansing balm wash and heal our hurt and brokenness. What you suffered there upon the Cross, let your wounds strengthen and heal us. Amen.

Tomorrow I hope to offer a reflection on the Sacred Heart Devotion and a Consecration Prayer that you can recite on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is best before the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist. Thanks for participating!

SH Novena Day 8 of 9: "God is Spirit"

Sacred Heart of Fire and Love

Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. 24God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”

Dear Lord, 

I want to offer you the very best from my heart this day. One for one. My heart for yours. "God is Spirit". In your Sacred Heart we have the most 'Human' of the Divine. All things fade before the gift of God. All things fade before the gift of the one who "makes all things new". "God is Spirit" and nothing bars us from Him. "What can come between God and us?" (Cf. Rom 8) no boundaries exist, all is but a medium to encounter You! Every moment, every chance encounter, the rain, the wind, the stars, the victories and defeats, our strengths and weaknesses. All things are a conduit of God's grace, Nothing bars us from Him. All things are His and nothing can pretend to shield us from You. I Trust in You. Amen.

SH Novena Day 7 of 9: Encouragement

John 16:33 - I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.

Dear Lord,

I look around and the sense I get is that you didn't conquer the World. The wars, the poverty, the chaos, that surrounds us seems to hem us in on all sides. How is it that we are winning a fight? As Christians and believers in a better World aren't we losing? But I know that at heart you continue on making a difference in my life - and if that be the case - then I can also go out make a difference in this World - . Let your encouragement resonate in my heart and let the hope from your Resurrection live strong in my life. Amen.

SH Novena Day 6 of 9: Holiness

Jesus offering us His Heart of Love

John 17:17-19 I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.

Dear Lord,

You gave me the Father's Word. The Father's Word of Mercy and Love, the same words with which you desire me to be Holy, a Saint. "The World hated us, hates us and will always hate us to some degree because we are different. We live with a distant goal, a crystalline fountain. Your Father's Word, Lord, is that fountain from which our lives flow and despite our personal and difficult failings it continues to flow. Let your Father's Word, the Words of the Prodigal Father be those that resound in our hearts and minds:

"My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours." (Lk 15:31)

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Eucharist - the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord - may we encounter in Him that everything and may we encounter our Heaven on Earth as we are made one as participants in the Eternal Life of the Father's House. Amen.

SH Novena Day 4 of 9: Wholeness

Jesus Heals

John 11: 23-27Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” 24Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

Dear Lord,

You are my Resurrection and my Life. "To whom shall we go? You have the Words of Eternal Life", Peter said (Jn 6:68). You are the Divine Healer and from your Heart our wounds find new lifeblood, new life. When you found Lazarus dead and his Sisters, Martha and Mary heartbroken you responded with a merciful Heart and wept. Pour out upon us the healing and the strength to come back anew from our broken weakness. Let your healing balm fill and strengthen us. You asked the blind man, "What do you want from me?" and he answered, "to be well". I wish to be well in you, Lord. Jesus, I trust in you!

Sacred Heart Novena Day 3 of 9: Growth

Apse Mosaic of St. Clement Church - Rome, Italy

John 15: 1-5 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower." He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.

Dear Lord,

At the heart of your Gospel is a call to growth, both personal and spiritual. You ask us to be part of a Kingdom that as a "mustard seed that grows and puts out its branches for the birds" (cf. Lk 13:19). Let your Holy Spirit be purpose of growth for my life. Let my union with you, the branch be what breathes life into me and do not let me be afraid of the Father of Mercies who cuts away the excess so that I bear more fruit. 

Lord, you sought from the very depths of your heart to incorporate me into your new Life. Let my every heartbeat be yours and do not let me be parted from you. Amen.

Sacred Heart Novena Day 2 of 9: Friendship

Jesus Friend

John 15:15-17  I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.

Dear Lord,

On the night before your death you called us friends and you commanded us to love one another. What does it mean to be your friend? What a special vocation and calling. Did you ever even call me a slave? You opened yourself and and held no secret back. You let us in on the secret of life, summed up in one word, Love.

Thank you, Lord, for the grace to be your friend. Thank you for opening up. Thank you for sharing with us what it means to live. Love, bear fruit, be friends - in particular with You - and stay united with God. Amen.

Sacred Heart Novena: Day 1 of 9 - Service

John 13:1-5 Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, 3 fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, 4 he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.

Dear Lord,

At the heart of this Devotion is your Love. I want to be a part of it. While the rest of the Evangelists wrote of your Eucharistic Love, John, "The Beloved Disciple", spoke of your humble love, the love you showed by serving your disciples and your friends. Teach us to walk the same humble path of service by putting our neighbors first. Don't let us love less than we are called to love. Let your Last Supper Standard fly high so that we can walk with you despite our daily struggles. Lead us in service, show us how to love. Make us more worthy participants in your Banquet of Love, mirror-image of Heaven. Amen. 

Why I want to go to the Israel this Summer (Part 3 of 3)

Continued on from Part 2

How can I Encounter Jesus in the Here and Now?

After Jesus stepped foot on Earth He changed everything. Jesus isn't just a Game-changer. He is the Author of the sport. He makes it what it is. The Mystery of Jesus' Incarnation changed the nature of our approach to encounter God. Pioneer and explorer He made way onto Earth so that we could literally meet God here and ever since nothing has remained the same.

The Annunciation of the Lord (Philippe de Champaigne, 1644)

Though Jesus expressed to the Woman at the Well (Jn 4) that it was not upon this mountain nor in Jerusalem that God was to be worshiped soon after it is fact that even Jesus worshiped upon that particular mountain and in Jerusalem. Jesus joined the human community of those worshiping God and worshiped here on Earth. 

"Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem." (John 4:20-21

While our worship is not tied down to a place here and now our every worship embraces a location, a place and a time. We pray from the heart yet that heart beats within a body in motion. We are not 'condemned' or "entombed in our bodies" as Plato and the Ancient Greeks spoke of. We are gifted with our bodies, made as one, in body and spirit.

Jesus also was Body and Spirit. His every movement was measured by duration and he took on the full measure of the human experience. He, though God, knew what it was to be a human being yet retaining every measure of His Divinity. This mystery is one that we'll never plumb. It will allude us to the Gates of Heaven.

So why Israel? To gain ground, to get one inch closer. To get to know Jesus better and to know His World, His Life, His People, and to fall in Love with Him ever more. That is my reason to travel there, experience His Mercy, and get to know the environs in which He became Him.

Sea of Galilee, 1900

View of Mount Tabor, Nazareth, Israel

Jerusalem Today

Why I want to go to Israel this Summer: Mystery (Part 2)

Continued from Why I want to go to Israel this Summer (Part 1)

What does it mean to Encounter the Risen Lord? Where can I find God?

The Greeks of John 12 didn't seem to meet with Jesus. It is mysterious that Jesus would become all of a sudden cryptic, mystical and not down-to-earth. But maybe we are overlooking what is just under our noses. Mystery.

The term lost its touch indefinitely with the English Romanticists (think Conan Doyle or Poe). "Mystery" has merely become the catch word for all literary and theatrical genre in which there is something to be solved. This is perhaps the fruit of French Enlightenment which stood by the fact that all mysteries could be solved, all knowledge could be plumbed. A "Mystery" however is not that. A mystery is a problem that exceeds a solution. The Greek word "Mυστήριον" (mysterion) means secret or enigma. It in turn could be derived from an interesting set of words:

μύω (myo): to close or shut [one's wounds or eyes]

 στερεός (sterion): Solid  

Mystery is a genre in which we shut our eyes. We don't know. Who can plumb the depths of the Mystery of God, the Holy Trinity; Father and Creator, Father of Mercy; Son and Redeemer, made Incarnate for us; Holy Spirit and Counselor, Giver of Life? The simple answer is that no one can. Mystery is the place where we close our eyes. At this point it is not we who figure God out but God who lets us get to know about God.

Proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven (Bl. Fra Angelico)

Where can I find God? In Mystery. It is the specific locus where God descends to us. Throughout the ages Saints and Scholars have used the term to plumb the depths of God-become-man: The Mystery of the Incarnation; The Triune Godhead: The Mystery of the Holy Trinity; But most originally Jesus himself would speak of "The Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven" (cf. Mt 13:11 also see Strong's Lexicon for all uses of "mystery") among other New Testament authors. 

"πνεῦμα ὁ θεός...God is Spirit" (Jn 4:24)

To get to know God doesn't mean to 'go somewhere' and get to know Him. Even reaching Heaven requires that we detach ourselves from the categories of when and where (through death) so as to encounter the God that transcends time and place. Heaven is where we no longer speak of "where" or "when". It is to be brought into the timelessness of God's "I Am" (cf. Ex 3:14; Jn 8:58). It is to be in the present tense yet exceed the present in Eternity.

But How can I meet Jesus here and now?

To be Continued...