Allow 'journey of a lifetime' to set you on path to heaven

By Bishop Peter Baldacchino -

Miami Auxiliary Bishop Peter Baldacchino preached this homily before the blessing of World Youth Day pilgrims and distribution of pilgrim crosses, during a Mass celebrated July 17 at St. Mary Cathedral.

In his first letter, St. Peter describes life like "a time of pilgrimage” and speaks of Christians as "foreigners and pilgrims.” In the Acts of the Apostles, Christians are called "people of the Way," and Christianity "the Way" or "the Path." Jesus himself says about himself: "I am the Way.”

Abram is our “father of faith.” Because of faith he started a journey, abandoned his country, his kinsfolk, and became a pilgrim in a foreign land. People decided to build the Tower of Babel because they left the East (God!) and "settled down" (Gn.11:3). When we “settle down,” relying only on our securities, we separate ourselves from God and we place our hope in this world; we become blinded and are seriously deceived: We seek stability in what is passing and in what soon vanishes. As a consequence, we live in fear of the future, terrorized by death and anything related to it; indeed, we become slaves of selfishness (thinking only about ourselves and our own needs!). On the contrary, a pilgrim who has received, and has welcomed the announcement of the love of god (same as Abraham in today’s First Reading), is able to live in the “present,” in the “here and now” that God provides him day by day, while enjoying what he has in utter freedom.

The mission of every Christian is born precisely from the realization that we are in exile on this earth – meaning to say, that we are only passing through. We are ambassadors of the heavenly homeland: our permanent dwelling place is elsewhere; it is in heaven! Like one who has left the world behind, his country and all his possessions in order to start out on a journey toward the Kingdom of God, pilgrims leave their homeland in order to look for their true homeland; they start off on a life-changing journey, the adventure of a lifetime!

Before departing, a pilgrim would celebrate something which can be compared to a second baptism: therefore, a pilgrim makes a general confession; reconciles with his enemies; asks forgiveness of everybody; pays his debts; gives away everything he owns; writes a will, puts on a special garment which he (or she) will wear for many years, perhaps for the rest of his life! From that moment onwards, the pilgrim is dead to this world; does not own anything any longer and radically and totally depends on God alone! The pilgrim can truly experience that God provides.

This experience is precisely opposite to the one of sin, in which one refuses to accept that he (or she) is a creature and therefore makes oneself a judge of every reality (of everything and everyone!). On the contrary, the pilgrim recognizes the presence of God in every event. The pilgrim sees every event as a Word of God for the good of his salvation, and therefore a pilgrim is willing to submit to challenges and contradictions without rebelling against God. Throughout the journey, the pilgrim remains in total abandonment to Providence; in total solidarity with his pilgrimage companions; mortifying oneself to the concupiscence of the world.

In this sense, we can understand that (far from tourism, where a journey is organized to provide an “experience” or a “learning opportunity”), a pilgrimage is an eschatological event: It proclaims the existence: of God, of eternal life and of a future judgment.

So already in the Middle Ages we see that a pilgrimage is not so much an experience or a devotion, but rather a true Christian initiation (almost a condensed RCIA; a catechumenate, albeit post-baptismal!) which unfolds more in space than in time. Upon arrival at their destination, pilgrims entered through the portal of glory where the gate has the shape of a cross, as though they were entering heaven. At the completion of the pilgrimage, after visiting the shrine or holy place of welcome, pilgrims collected shells or little stones or souvenirs, as a sign of having reached their destination, almost as if it were a down-payment of heaven here on earth, and a sign of having concluded their adventure on this earth. The pilgrim who succeeded to return home (because many did not survive the ordeal and died on their way!) was no longer the same person as when he set out on pilgrimage: The one who discovers God has indeed discovered freedom and rest:

In the words of St. Teresa of Avila:

Nothing should bother you
nothing should frighten you
everything vanishes
God alone does not change
patience achieves everything
he who has God
does not need anything
God alone is enough.

Dear pilgrims, receive these crucifixes as a sign of Christ, “The Way, The Truth and the Life,” who accompanies you on your pilgrimage to meet with Pope Francis in Poland where you will receive a Word of God for you, as you seek to live out the Faith in our society and in our times.