pilgrimage - Related Content

As we continue into second week of our Advent pilgrimage, two words have come into my consciousness —discipline and commitment. I am a bit surprised: I typically associate these nouns with Lent yet here they are, popping up in a different season altogether.

It is normally this time of the year when my calendar overwhelms me with the extras of the season like holiday parties, special meal planning, choir practices, decorating and gatherings with friends and family. Suddenly, the extra intentional prayer time I had started at the beginning of Advent vanishes and, racing out the door to another event, I glance longingly at my stack of Advent books. I am grateful for the experiences, yet also I realize there is an invitation to once again reflect on my priorities. Not all the events I attend are ones I want to or perhaps really need to: some are obligations; sometimes it’s hard to say no. Where is the discipline and commitment I started with on day one?

Sunday’s readings call me back to awareness. It’s not too late to prepare my heart. Maybe it’s time to recalculate my pilgrimage and choose another route. Perhaps there is a course less chaotic, immersed in more solitude. I envision a back road beckoning me to slow down and enjoy the Advent scenery.

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Part of making straight the path in my life means making time. It’s time to move some of the boulders in the roadway of my calendar that don’t provide joy and light. It’s time to look at all the possibilities of the next few weeks, set priorities and leave some room for the Spirit and surprises along the way.

In your discernment journey this week, what are the boulders in your path that need to be cleared to make a way for your relationship with Jesus? How are you preparing your heart for this Advent pilgrimage?

*Do you know someone experiencing discernment of religious life? We invite you to share this link, www.fspa.org/showmeasign, and join the conversation. 

Whether on a trip to visit a friend with a detour along the way or forging my continual pilgrimage through religious life, I rely on mile markers and signs to point me in the direction of my destination. The lighting of the third candle of Advent this week is a beacon as I traverse the remaining days of my Advent journey. Closer to my destination, I am filled with joyful revelation of all I’ve experienced so far as well as hope and anticipation for what lies ahead. Even the dark moments of pilgrimage are illuminated with the joy of the lessons learned and the deepening of relationship with God. Spiritual blisters are a symbol for me of the road walked, and the joy I discovered in risking the journey. I am forever changed by walking the pilgrim road.

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The prophet Isiah proclaims encouraging words to nations who have been waiting for a sign. The long awaited time is now — life is about to change. What have you been looking for on your road of discernment? Are you waiting for assurance, courage, perfect timing to ask questions? Healing, freedom, and vindication are at hand and it’s time to celebrate! Are you ready to seize the moment and be bold? God provides, not only for you and me but for all nations. This is no small promise. This is life altering, earth shattering news — joy beyond measure. We are headed for the celebration of the incarnation, Emmanuel, God with us as one of us! Darkness is vanished all creation revels in great joy!

In the Gospel, John the Baptist continues to point the way. He is the humble messenger who will not be dissuaded from his task; even as they try to twist his words in attempt to bind his ego and catch him in the trap they are laying, top officials will not stop his progress. John knows who he is and who has sent him on this journey. His pilgrimage of faith has led him through the byways of his heart and to the road of public witness, sharing the good news of Christ’s coming. God is John the Baptist’s signpost; he will follow wherever the journey takes him, through the joy and trials along the road of his own pilgrimage. In many ways this question of identity echoes in the heart of all discerners. So who are you? What do you stand for? What is your message? How does your life point to God?

As you continue your Advent pilgrimage this week I invite you to ponder the following:

-- What have been some of the joys and trials along your Advent pilgrimage?

-- How do you depend on God to be a signpost for you on your journey?

*Do you know someone experiencing discernment of religious life? We invite you to share this link, www.fspa.org/showmeasign, and join the conversation.

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Do you like to travel? Have you ever been on a pilgrimage? A pilgrimage is a journey on which the participant commits to growing in faith, discovering lessons along the way and depending on God and the kindness of others to provide. This Advent season, I invite you to consider making your own spiritual pilgrimage, exploring the inner landscape of your heart in preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. It will require making time in your life to explore the questions that are most important to you; those that can serve as a map through your heart. What do you most need in your life of faith this Advent season? How is your journey of discernment part of the pilgrimage experience? The journey inward has the power to shape how you encounter the world around you. The Scriptures of Advent are rich sources of inspiration and food for the journey. Are you willing to enter the passage?

Two experienced guides of navigating inner terrain are Mary and Joseph. Faced with a decree from Caesar Augustus to fulfill the mandatory census in Bethlehem, they began a physical journey. From the vantage point of over 2,000 years later we can also imagine that the trip would spiritually transform their lives. I imagine many miles punctuated with conversation about their dreams for the future and periods of quiet reflection to gather the vastness of what may lie ahead. Many prayers formed the ground on which they walked. They were dealing with big changes — a new marital relationship, preparation for a baby like no other, and the danger of travel. I wonder how vividly they recalled each of their experiences leading to the road: Mary and her encounter with the angel and Joseph’s dream that changed his mind.

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They chose to rely on God in all the uncertainty and challenge of not only this new spiritual pilgrimage, but also the realization of their unfolding pilgrimage of life. And watching Mary and Joseph each day, Jesus would grow into his own awareness of his humanity as they traveled.

In the first Gospel reading of Advent we see Jesus, on his own pilgrimage, taking a moment to pass on to his disciples the wisdom of cultivating watchfulness in their lives. He uses a story to try to get his point across. While they do not fully understand the journey that lies ahead, he advises them to be on guard; to know what you are about and what others around you are up to.

For us in our time, His wisdom continues to ring true. It is dangerous to be lulled into acedia; to think we have all the time in the world to be watchful … until we don’t. Pick up any newspaper or skim articles online to see stories of lives suddenly shortened. Time waits for no one. During the holiday season there is additional pressure and expectation and it's easy to see how the lure of inattentiveness beckons as an easier route; to let things go, put off until another time. Well, there may not be another time. What happens then? How can you take time now to be watchful, not only for the bad but for all the joy around you as well? Will you miss an experience simply because you were distracted?

What do you need to do in order to begin a four-week pilgrimage of faith this Advent season?

How will you be ready to begin the journey?

*Do you know someone experiencing discernment of religious life? We invite you to share this link, www.fspa.org/showmeasign, and join the conversation. 

Over the course of the last several weeks our congregation has celebrated the commitment of “yes” to God with the vow renewal of Sister Laurie Sullivan, profession of perpetual vows by Sister Kristin Peters, and Golden Jubilee celebration for Sisters Romana Klaubauf and Esther Leis. We all experienced religious life unfolding before our very eyes; witnessed what it means to walk on the Gospel-centered journey of life as a religious sister—all on different stepping stones marking the way.  

Sister Karen Lueck (left) calls forth Laurie Sister Sullivan (right) to renew her vows. 

Sister Laurie opened our season of celebration by renewing her vows for three years at Villa St. Joseph surrounded by FSPA community members, many of whom she ministered among during her early formation days volunteering in spiritual care. For her prayer service she chose a Gospel reading about love. Sister Laurie has shown love to others guided by the spiritual and corporal works of mercy by accompanying patients in hospital rooms, feeding the hungry at food pantries, visiting the elderly in their homes, and nurturing spirituality as the coordinator of youth in a parish—each new place and ministry a reflection of her deepening commitment to religious life and her “yes” to God. Sister Laurie is following in the footprints of Jesus and St. Francis, moving to serve where she is needed. For her the Franciscan Gospel life has been eyes and ears open for the call to where God invites; feet ready to move. 

Sister Laurie, pictured here serving those in need at a food pantry.

From left to right, Sisters Laura Nettles, Eileen McKenzie, Katie Mitchell, Kristin Peters and Julia Walsh stand together on their Camino pilgrimage (photo courtesy of Sister Katie Mitchell). 

The open road has also been a call to Sister Kristin Peters who just returned from a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. As on some legs of her journey she was accompanied by her FSPA companions and on others she hiked alone, she discovered that her Camino experience mirrored religious life: you may walk with others but you also have to walk your own journey. Each step reveals insight. No one can walk for you, live for you. Sister Kristin's “yes” to religious life over the past 10 years has taken her to discover diverse paths to serve those with substance addiction and mental illness; to deliver, in ministry, help and compassion. She has ministered to many who others step over, walk past. It is no surprise that the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd inspires her and is what she chose to guide her final vow liturgy. Sister Kristin listens and reflects the knowledge each person gains as they find their own way back into the sheepfold of our civic communities.

Sister Kristin receives her FSPA ring from Sister Blanche Klein. 

Sister Romana Klaubauf receives her 50th Jubilee celebration corsage from Sister Karen Kappell.

A bit further down the road of religious life, Sisters Romana Klaubauf and Ester Leis shared their travel stories—their individual ministries—at a pre-jubilee pizza party. We watched a slide presentation of the sights they saw along their professions of 50 years, glimpsing decades of serving God's people and meeting new challenges in the changing landscapes of religious life. Mary of the Angels was filled to capacity as community members, family and friends gathered to witness their ongoing commitment. The readings they chose (Isaiah 43:1-10, Micah 6:8 and John 10) tell their stories of faithfulness to God.

Sister Esther Leis processes into Mass held in honor of her Golden Jubilee.

These three celebrations were each unique in time and experience yet all pointed to the goodness revealed through the faithfulness of “yes.” The song “I Say ‘Yes’ Lord/Digo ‘Sí’ Señor” by Donna Peña and Marty Haugen has been moving in my heart and mind as I ponder the blessing each of these celebrations have been. They are witnesses to our world of faithfulness and commitment in good times and challenges. We all walk terrain smooth and bumpy; mountainous and flat. God is with us in each step, and every breath of life. 

This week as you consider your own location in discernment ask yourself ...

What are the celebrations marking my journey?

Is there a theme to my experience so far?

How am I relying on God?