Pilgrimage

One of the blessings of my life now is, as I have posted previously, being able to walk to Mass from where I live, which is under a mile away from the Shrine.   I like walking to Mass.  It is like going on a pilgrimage.  A "pilgrimage" is a spiritual journey.  The word "pilgrim" derives from the Latin word "peregrinum" which conveys the idea of wandering over a distance.  However, a pilgrimage is a wandering with a purpose, to find and honor God.

"Pilgrimage" can refer to when one makes a journey to a sacred space, and it can also refer to our life journey in general to the Father's House.   Spiritual writers often refer to our lives as a pilgrimage.  Making smaller, tangible pilgrimages to holy places such as the Shrine can help remind us of that reality, and thus, they can help our lives be a successful in reaching our end goal, the Father's House.

As part of this Year of Mercy, all Catholics are being encouraged by the Holy Father to make a pilgrimage, to again, remind us of our overall life journey to the Father.  Pilgrimages teach us values that we need on the overall life journey. When we make a pilgrimage, we have to make sacrifice.  When we make a pilgrimage, it takes time and effort.  All good things in life take time and effort.   Pilgrimages teach and remind us of those realities.  Therefore, there is value in making a pilgrimage. 

However, in this Jubilee of Mercy, there is more.  By making a pilgrimage to a holy place, such as the Shrine, and doing a few other things which I specified last post, one can not only attain the usual fruits of a pilgrimage (conversion, growth in the Lord), but also, an indulgence (which I spoke of last post).  The attached picture shows a sign advertising that the Shrine is a designated Center of Mercy this year, and it is one place that one can make a pilgrimage to, that helps fulfill the conditions for an indulgence.

I encourage everyone to make a pilgrimage this year for all the above reasons.

 

When we make our pilgrimages, we may have opportunity to practice the corporal works of mercy along the way.  Around the Shrine, there are many poor people who ask for things.  About half the time I go there, I am approached by someone asking for something.   Also at the Shrine, there is a Saint Anthony Fund box for the poor where one can donate money that goes directly to them.  Every trip to the Shrine, because of all this, there are opportunities to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked.  In all our life journeys, there are opportunities to do those, plus the other corporal works of mercy; visit the sick, ransom the captive, and bury the dead.  This Year of Mercy, in addition to making a pilgrimage or two, we should consider how we can better serve the poor in our midst.  Our Holy Father, as I have spoken previously, wishes us to be a Church of the poor, for the poor.  His example last week of opening a Holy Door, not just in his Cathedral church, but also at a local shelter, is an example of his devotion to the poor, which we all should seek to emulate.

 

Christ not only humbled Himself to come as a man, not only Humbled himself to come as an infant, but also humbled Himself to come as poor.  Saint Joseph and Mary were not rich.  If they were, Our Lord would not have been born in a stable.  Our Lord, Saint Joseph, and Mary, were poor, but look where they are now; exalted.  If we cling to them, and make ourselves poor, our destiny can lie with them, which would fulfill all our desires, hopes, and dreams.

Mary and Joseph made many pilgrimages in their lives.  They traveled to Judah, to Nazareth, to Bethlehem, to Egypt, and to Jerusalem.  As we know, transportation was not easy in those days, so while they may not seem long distances to us now, they were then, and so, we can say, the Holy Family were frequent makers of pilgrimages. 

We need to get of our own comfort zones sometimes ourselves, and make a pilgrimage.  Let's resolve to do so during this Year of Mercy.  In doing so, let us make ourselves poor, see the poor, and in doing so, see the face of Christ.

 

Saint Joseph, Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.