One powerful image for our life with God is the sacred journey or pilgrimage. The scriptures are full of stories of journeys: Abraham and Sarah are called to make a journey, leaving their home for a land that God will show them. The people enslaved in Egypt make the journey to Canaan; Mary journeys first to her cousin Elizabeth and later to give birth in
Bethlehem. Still later, she and Joseph flee to Egypt. There are the disciples who make a short journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus, during which a profound inner journey takes place.
In the Gospel we heard yesterday, Jesus says: “The foxes have their holes and the swallow have their nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” Jesus in his time of ministry moves from one place to another, often on the road, encouraging his disciples to “pack light,” taking nothing extra for the journey, and depending on the kindness of those they encounter on the
way.
A journey, especially a long journey to an unfamiliar place always involves some kinds of risks and discomfort. In the time of Jesus, the possibility of an attack by robbers along the road, the long days of walking in extreme temperatures and perhaps not knowing how far away the next village would be. In our own time recently the risk of covid-19 or being quarantined or stranded
somewhere if regulations change suddenly, the possibility of cancelled flights, of long layovers or of luggage not making it to its correct destination.
There are some important elements which transform a journey into a pilgrimage. The first is that we are going with a heart that is intentionally seeking to encounter God along the way. The second is that we are choosing to make a journey with faith and trust, open to encountering God in all that happens on the journey and especially in the unexpected and the unplanned. A third is that
we go, not with an attitude of collecting souvenirs and taking photos, but instead of allowing the encounter with what is unfamiliar to have an inner impact on us so that we come back transformed.
A pilgrimage is often a journey to a sacred place, or a place that holds particular significance for us. But our everyday life too is a pilgrimage if we come to it with that intention. We are all on a pilgrimage towards our home with God at the end of our life.
In this week I want to invite us together to explore life as a pilgrimage, to step into life with the heart of a pilgrim.
What might the invitation of pilgrimage mean for you this week?
