"Coming home" to oneself by going far away

First morning and enjoying "old" things in a "new" setting: a 45-minute run, hot caffe-latte with the help of a new neighbor and her stove, and exploring my new surroundings.

Our Lady watches prayerfully over the neighborhood, with the silhouette of Vesuvius scarcelty discernible in the distance to the west.

Jetties protect the beach and the fishing and sailing vessels.

The chapel of San Sosio presents an old and weatherworn, but proud, face.

We take time away from home and family, we think, to get away. But the joy we seek is found truly in "coming home" to ourselves. This we can do anywhere. The gifts our Lord has always given, whether we have been ready to receive them or not, stand out in starker relief when we have removed ourselves from the familiar and are challenged by new places and circumstances to move forward in faith and trust. It is the Lord who is at work in this self-discovery, it is He who truly reveals that which we are able to love in ourselves: His own goodness in grace.

“Let hearts rejoice who search the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength, seek always the face of the Lord.” (Psalm 105:3-4)

(Photos by author: Chapel of San Sosio in Miseno (Bacoli), Italia, views of gulf of Napoli.)