Angels we have heard on high

We begin Tuesday with mass at the Shepherd's field. Here is wher the angels appeared to the poor shepherds tending their flock. We offered mass in a cave believed to had been used by the shepherd's at the time of our Lords birth. These shepherd would bring their flock into the cave and sleep at the entrance to protect against the wild animals that roamed the night. Mass was beautiful reflecting on the humiliy and simplicity of Jesus being born in a cave amongst farm animals. This impressed upon me the great accessibility Jesus comes in to offer his life for all and not just some. From here we visited the place of our Lord's birth. This sight in the possession of the Greek Orthodox, Armenian and the Roman Catholic Church. There was a long line of pilgrims eager to touch the sight of our Lord's birth. The wait was a prayerful reflection of Mary's heart and mind as she waited for the birth of her son. Hundereds of people filed in to just touch the spot in hopes that there prayers would be heard. This truly was a blessed moment for all of us. We sang "joy to the world" in the cave praying that peace and joy would resound in all points of the world that are desperate for peace. From here we visited the Catholic Church built adjacent to the church of the nativity. Under this church was the grotto of St. Joseph where he received the message from the angel to flee to Egypt for avoid the Herod's rath. This was a sight of many prayers for the parishs back home. I place all of the petitions I had from church on the place of birth and offered them up to God. How blessed we are to be here.