The Pilgrimage

I was so excited to start to share with you my experience of seeing Pope Francis that I failed to begin at the beginning . . . the pilgrimage.

I left off last week where I really should have begun . . . the reason that I was called to join this pilgrimage.  I heard word that the World Meeting of Families was being held in Philadelphia.  This is what first caught my attention and I wondered if it would be possible for my family to participate in this incredible event.  Then I heard that Pope Francis would be coming to the Festival of Families!  Oh my goodness, my excitement grew to a whole new level.  It was shortly after the announcement was made that I received an email from Dave Schmidt at the Office of Pro-Life, Marriage and Family Life at the Diocese of Youngstown saying a pilgrimage had been planned to attend the Festival of Families and the Papal Mass.  I was hooked!

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, pilgrimage is a noun defined as “a journey to a holy place” or “a journey to an unusual place.” Hmmmm, I do believe that venturing off on a bus to a camp ground with 50 others with the intent of joining millions definitely counts for “an unusual place.”  In search of a way to grasp the true meaning of a pilgrimage, I found this to be quite helpful to me from

www.Spiritual Travels.com.

“The ancient practice of pilgrimage—a journey taken for spiritual enrichment—is being rediscovered by Christians around the world.  In the past, such trips often took many months and entailed great physical risk.  Today’s pilgrimages may be taken by airplane or car, but the goal is the same as that of seekers trudging down deserted path centuries ago:  like them, we set out on the road to hear the voice of God more clearly, hoping that as we journey our hearts may be opened and our souls healed.”

It is the last line that explains my reasoning for wanting to join this pilgrimage “to hear the voice of God more clearly.”  My pilgrimage began the moment that I decided I needed to travel to a not-so-unusual place to see and hear a very holy person.  Prayer was an integral part of our pilgrimage to Philly.  While on the bus we prayed the Rosary, the Divine Chaplet, Morning and Evening Prayer.   Ann and I were privileged to lead the Morning Prayer on the way to and from Philadelphia on Sunday.  It was such an honor.  Marianne made a beautiful song sheet and everyone on the bus just wanted to keep singing on the way to Philly.  It was a glorious sound and I certainly could “hear the voice of God more clearly” when I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of singing and praying among us! 

The pilgrimage was not simply to see the Pope even though that is what I tend to focus on when I talk with people.  The pilgrimage included pockets of grace such as sharing the experience with a beautiful family with ten children; witnessing the excitement and tears of a young student from Kennedy who sings in the choir with me as she described the moment that “she saw him,” hearing that the man who organized the entire event stayed back to help someone in need thereby being the very hands of Christ; gazing at the eclipse of the moon with others after celebrating the Papal Mass; all of these moments of grace along the journey did indeed open my heart and allowed me to see the face of Christ in others. 

I often say that everywhere we step is holy ground because we are each made for holiness.  We are all pilgrims along this journey toward heaven and I am so very glad to be “trudging down” the path along with you!

Shalom,

Tina

Quiet Anticipation

Over the next several weeks I will be sharing with you my experience of the Papal Pilgrimage celebrated in Philadelphia.  Truly, words cannot express the joy and peace which I feel after participating in such a pilgrimage.  I thought I would start off talking with you about one of the things that surprised me . . .the quiet anticipation!

Photo Courtesy of Pam Harriman

When we arrived in Philly, I was awestruck by the number of buses in the parking lot!  The moment we disembarked from our bus, you could literally feel the buzz in the air.  Groups were gathering and walking and waiting in lines and yet the atmosphere was very jovial.  Now everyone’s experience will be different, but from my perspective, it was very peaceful which is hard to image when you contemplate the fact that probably 2 million people were gathered to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis.

So, we arrived Saturday for the Festival of Families.  We did not really know exactly where to go or what to expect going through security.  We were greeted with smiling volunteers; bottles of water; pictures of Pope Francis given out by American Bible Company, along with numerous street vendors selling a wide variety of Pope Apparel.  Even the street vendors were kind (at least Saturday . . .but that is for another blog!)  I was immediately struck by the quiet  . . . the absence of the sound of traffic was amazing.

Going through security was quite an adventure.  Why do we have to carry so much stuff!!!  Oh my goodness, everything had to be opened and inspected, but we got through pretty quickly.  At this point I was once again surprised by the quiet, jovial nature of the crowd.  I guess I was expecting the sound of a football stadium perhaps because of the number of people; but no, everyone talked very pleasantly, sharing stories of what brought them to Philly.

Then we approached a spot along the fence with thousands of others just hoping to get a glimpse of him passing by.  Here too, the air was full of anticipation and people were again sharing stories of what brought them to Philly and groups of people were singing songs.  The closer it came to the time when he was to begin the parade, the quieter people became.  Our eyes were pealed on the jumbotron across the block to see if the parade had begun. 

People were leaning over and standing on their tiptoes (me for sure) and looking left and the crowd grew even more quiet.  And then, it began!  In the jumbotron you could see that the parade did indeed begin and there was a loud roar as the crowd cheered . . . then it once again became quiet.  You knew that he was approaching because the roar of the crowd came toward you like a wave upon the shore.  Arms flew in the air, iphones and cameras and ipads were rapidly clicking away while the crowd cheered.  In a moment it was over . . . I personally, being on the short side that I am, only was able to see the sweep of the back of his cape as I caught a glimpse in between others as their arms lowered. 

Oh then, the joy . . . people were crying and hugging . . . total strangers.  The woman standing in front of me turned around and said “I saw him, I saw him!” and she shared with me the picture that she snapped.

Then the crowd quietly made their way to settle in front of a jumbotron to watch the Festival of Families.  Snacks were had and stories were shared, then we decided it was time to start our journey back to the bus.  In the subway, people were overjoyed and shared if they caught a glimpse of our dear Pope Francis.  On the bus ride back to camp I contemplated all of this and thought of the reasons that brought me on this pilgrimage.  I feel that Pope Francis so embodies the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ and being in his presence somehow makes me feel the wonder of what it will be like when I am actually in the presence of our Lord.  Jesus commissioned the twelve to go out and spread the Gospel Message, and here I was, 267 (I think) leaders later, able to catch a glimpse of the man that God has chosen to lead his Church.  Oh what a wonder.  I can’t wait to share more with you next week.  Until then,

Shalom,

Tina