Come with us on the Pilgrimage

(Note: this was the "Pastor's Reflection" for the Good Shepherd Parish Bulletin, March 21, 2010)

These days, as we prepare to celebrate the mysteries of our redemption, the Passion-Death-Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Paschal Mystery), I am also preparing to leave the day after Easter on the Early Christian World Pilgrimage to Turkey.

This will be the fourth such Pilgrimage I've led in the weeks following Easter. For many reasons -- spiritual, practical and aesthetic -- that's the only time to go. Even the inconvenience of the timing is a part of the grace: true Pilgrimage, after all, does involve hardship too.

Transformation is at the heart of the Paschal Mystery, and at the heart of Pilgrimage. Our Early Christian World Pilgrims of past year almost unanimously describe it as a "life-changing experience."

I'm always aware that the majority of people simply cannot come on this kind of journey, and there are many valid reasons for this. I have always felt compelled to try to share the benefits of the Pilgrimage as widely as possible. That's one reason why meetings to study and prepare have always be open to anyone. I have found that studying and praying with the ancient men and women of great wisdom we encounter while walking through history has enriched my own understanding and life of faith as a Catholic, and many of these insights find their way into my homilies. I've also been able to share bits and pieces of the Pilgrimage experience in videos I've uploaded to YouTube. There's also a lot of wonderful resources on the internet that enable anyone to gain much by virtually making the journey.

This year, I hope to be able to intentionally and systematically include you -- all of you who may want to come along virtually and have access to the internet on a computer. We are a small group of Pilgrims, only eleven plus me. That means we can all participate in sharing with you. This will probably take written form as well as pictures and video. We have a Pilgrimage website at http://ecwpilgrimage.org which will serve as a portal for all the resources we can put online. We also have an "Early Christian World Pilgrimage" Facebook Group. Join and you can make this an interactive experience, posting comments and discussion along the way. These are wonderful technological resources, and they can serve to help and enhance our faith in ways undreamed of in the past.

I'll be gone the whole month of April and the first few days of May. When the Pilgrimage formally ends on April 28, I'm planning to stay over the weekend in Istanbul. I've never yet had the chance to explore that marvelous city on my own, and I'm really looking forward to that few days of vacation.

"Mystagogia" is the time when newly initiated Christians are invited to explore and study the "Mysteries" of our faith, especially the sacraments. Our Pilgrimage provides the ideal occasion for this kind of exploration; it's really an immersion into our heritage of faith. Come with us, at least virtually and in spirit.

I'm already making plans for next year's Pilgrimage. It will be a little shorter and a bit later -- Easter is quite late next year. It will begin on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, in Istanbul (you have to leave a day or two before that), and will conclude on Saturday, May 14. It seems a long way off, but if you start planning and arranging your schedule now, it may be more possible than if you wait. Think and pray about it.

May these last weeks of Lent be filled with grace for you and all those you love. I love you.