 Pilgrimage is an experience that contains many blessings because it is a deeper immersion into the spiritual life than we experience ordinarily. In setting aside time from our usually distracting and perhaps even fast-paced life, we can enter more deeply into our life in God. But if one goes on pilgrimage thinking that all the distractions we normally encounter will go away, think again. Of course there are fewer demands on us, but we take who we are with us, that is, the entirety of our lives, graces, weaknesses, issues we struggle with, and attachments. It is not like a person can shelve everything else and simply ‘do prayer and reflection’ without thinking of anything but the saint whose tomb we are visiting or the Scripture of the day we have heard. Indeed, our spiritual sense does become heightened, but what we are called to see or understand during a time of pilgrimage can quite often come as a surprise. If we are open to it, this is where the greatest graces lie.  I had some surprises on a recent pilgrimage journey, but also had the desire of many years fulfilled: in the past I had tried twice without success to get to San Giovanni Rotando to spend time ‘visiting’ one of my most beloved saints, St. Padre Pio. But on this trip, I finally was able to be there and to pray at his tomb, something important to me as one of his spiritual daughters. His friary is in a rather remote place in western Italy on top of a hill; it definitely is not easy to get to. When praying before his tomb, therefore, I was filled with gratitude. Indeed, the experience of actually being somewhere like San Giovanni Rotando opens the door to graces in a way seeing a photo may not provide; places can be sacred, and in the case of St. Padre Pio, one feels the presence of the holy. The most significant gift was recognizing that the wait to finally get there had great value. I recognized on a deeper level that everything happens in God’s time; that is why even with multiple attempts, I did not make it there before now. This was the time appointed, not before.  Understanding that all is in God’s time is important because we cannot make something happen that He has not appointed. In fact, often it is in the waiting that we learn the most since waiting is about preparation. Even Jesus had to wait; after His birth it was 30 years before it was the right time to embark upon His ministry. Not only that, when He was to begin His ministry after His baptism by John, He waited further: the Holy Spirit directed Jesus into the desert for forty days so that He could spend time with the Father. This second waiting period was difficult, especially because after He had fasted and prayed, Satan came to Jesus in order to tempt Him away from what He had come to do. The Old Testament is also filled with many stories of waiting.* One significant example is in the life of Moses who had to wait many years in Midian after he fled Egypt only to be immersed in a laborious period with the people he finally liberated (by God’s hand), then having to endure forty years in the desert, seemingly wandering. But every moment of that wandering taught a lesson or provided for growth in knowledge of God for those who paid attention. Not unlike us today, the Israelites had a lot to learn about God and what it meant to be His people. Think of the disaster it would have been if the freed Israelites had simply marched into the Promised Land without preparation!  In the New Testament we see how Jesus had to prepare the apostles throughout the three years of His public ministry; they were often confused, but the Lord knew that once He had died and resurrected, followed by the coming of the Holy Spirit, they would understand with greater clarity and enflamed faith. The only one who rejected this gift, Judas, wanted things done in his way and on his timeline. Once again, this proved disastrous. Though the apostles and first disciples in the early church had a lot of success at first, the ministry had to unfold over many years and through many hardships. Since they had stayed the course, bumpy as it was, they embraced that all is in God’s time and according to His will.  A moving homily given on the last day of our pilgrimage drove home this point. The priest, our spiritual guide for the trip, told a story about how he was ministering in Palestine and in his 7th year there, he witnessed an atrocity. It shook him to the core, but as he prayed, the message of the Lord to him was clear: “Nothing is without consequences. Everything is in my hands.” That was without a doubt the most important message of my pilgrimage experience and it would be good for all of us to trust in these words. Though also filled with beauty, our world is complex and dangerous insofar as the culture continues to call us away from our beliefs and practices. But if we can live with mercy, just as the Lord taught, recognizing that it is all in His control, we can find the peace only He can bring. In other words, if we hold onto Jesus and the Gospel message He gave, we will be filled with the strength of His love which will enable us to remain steadfast in our faith as we share it with others.  May we learn the value of waiting as an essential tool in our spiritual life! May we continually trust in the Lord and His mercy even when things don’t make sense! And may we trust that everything truly is in His hands! Let us meet in the Heart of Jesus! Peace!
©Michele L. Catanese * Some examples are Noah, who had to wait 40 days and nights of rain and flooding aboard the ark, only to have to wait again for the waters to recede; Elijah, who had to wait three years for God to send rain to Israel; David, who had to wait many years to finally accede to the throne, and the people of Israel, who had to wait at least 50 years to be freed from the Babylonian exile. Images: 1. My photo; Via Francigena, a pilgrimage road that begins in Cantebury, England, and ends in Rome, Italy. This was taken during our hike, not far from San Gimignano, Italy. 2. My photo of a photo; St. Padre Pio. This photo hangs in the museum just outside where his tomb is located; San Giovanni Rotando, Foggia, Italy. 3. My photo; Jesus as a boy with Mary and Joseph. This photo was taken in the Church of the Holy House of Loreto; Loreto, Italy. 4. My photo; on the Via Francigena, near Monteriggioni, Italy. 5. Icon; The Risen Christ, by Fr. William Hart McNichols. You can find this at fineartamerica.com/featured/the-risen-christ-014-william-hart-mcnichols.html 6. My photo of a photo; young St. Padre Pio; This undated photo was in the hotel where we stayed in San Giovanni Rotando. I chose this because Padre Pio probably had not yet received his stigmata when this was taken, but it must have happened not long after. He had to wait 50 years, enduring the pain and suffering, before the wounds disappeared at his death. Additionally, he faced opposition during his time as a friar and often had to wait long periods while being silenced, not able to hear confessions or say public Masses; subsequently he would be cleared to return to ministry since he was falsely accused every time. He bore it all with patience and grace. Note: In compliance with GDPR rules, I wish to make it clear that I do not gather any information on any of my readers at any time.
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