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Pilgrimage of Faith Associate Pastor's Column Sunday, April 2, 2006, 5th Sunday of Lent
“Mexico City is the most sincere city of the world,” Fr. Uriel said to us while he drove through the mad, mad, mad streets of the most populated city on the planet, “because it lets you see the air you breathe!” It also claims the title of the city with the most smog. Today I wanted to interrupt our Lenten meditations and penances to fill you all in on mywhereabouts and doings last week, you will certainly find it all interesting and, if you keep your spiritual antennae up while you read, maybe you’ll even reap some good spiritual fruit. I spent eight days in Mexico – in the City, in Puebla, and in the intervening state of Tlaxcala – preparing for a pilgrimage of Catholic Youth with my Trailblazers group. I founded Trailblazers to provide not only an economical means to participate in the various international World Youth Day gatherings every two or three years, but to insure a truly Catholic and spiritual participation. Now we do at least one youth pilgrimage per year: this year, Guadalupe; next year, the Walk for Life and then a pilgrimage to the shrine at the EWTN; in 2008, we’ll be going to WYD in Australia; after that, we haven’t decided yet… most probably Fatima. Part of the style I want for these pilgrimages is austerity and poverty in imitation of Christ, so that the youth have a chance to put aside their many American commodities and comforts. We also introduce the youth to standard Catholic practices of prayer: daily Mass, daily adoration, rosary, divine mercy chaplet, morning and evening prayer from the breviary, and a few spiritual talks. In Guadalupe Mary appeared to Juan Diego – whom Pope John Paul the Great canonized in 2002 – in 1531. When she asked for a shrine to be built where she would “show, exalt and make manifest” her divine Son, with promises of her own love and intercession for all. The local bishop was convinced of the truth of the apparition when, before his eyes, a miraculous image of Mary appeared on St. Juan Diego’s tilma, a cloak which is prominently displayed to this day in the Basilica of Guadalupe: and this is the destination of our pilgrimage. We will walk with hiking backpacks for seven of the eleven days (end of July, 2006) down one mountain, across a valley, and into another mountain, stopping at parishes along the way which will provide us with simple sleeping quarters. While there, the Aguila family from Puebla provided us the use of an apartment they otherwise rent out, and this was our base from which we set out to organize the details of the trip. May God bless them for their outstanding generosity and hospitality! I brought my camera with me, and couldn’t stop shooting pictures. The college students that accompanied us during this logistics trip soon began to tease me, because I wanted to take pictures of everything. But these pictures are available on my web site, and also on the Trailblazers web site (www.trailblazerswyd.org) for your perusal and enjoyment. We only have a month left to recruit new, young pilgrims (and I wouldn’t mind having a few less-young pilgrims mixed in the fray, for sure!). Latecomers can be accommodated, but it will cost them more, as the plane ticked will be more expensive. If you know some good candidates, send them my way, and also be generous in helping them finance their trip. Man’s life on earth is a pilgrimage to the promised land. First, it’s the faithless man’s pilgrimage in search of the Catholic Church. Second, it’s the Catholic’s pilgrimage to heaven. May this Lent be for us a fruitful pilgrimage, even if full of hard work, leading us to the resurrection on the day of Easter. |