Jesus of the Caves

Friday (June 1st) we attended mass in a small church that was carved out of the side of a cliff. Inside, the building in general and the church itself look fairly typical, with plaster walls, wooden benches and kneelers, an altar, icons, paintings, etc. The back of the room, however , is exposed rock. It is a beautiful space. One of our fellow pilgrims, a Korean Catholic priest, conducted mass for us. It was different than any service I have attended. The priest spoke in Korean and would occasionally explain in English. Then of course there was Latin, and then a group of German women sang few songs in German. So first, you've got four languages. Then, the priest was using his iPhone as a reading guide. The service was still touching, but I think God's sense of humor was blatantly evident when the mass was almost over. We were sitting there quietly when the doors burst open and a man sprang through them. Now picture this man, tall and thin, with a gray ponytail and black eyebrows. He is wearing white biker shorts and has a huge camera around his neck. He flies into this holy space to, I assumed, get a glimpse of the ancient church while it was open, like any clever tourist would. It turned out that he is also a pilgrim, and he had rushed to join the service. But Adam and I had a good laugh that Jesus had come, and we better believe whether we recognized him or not.