Following our pilgrim path

The 46 pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis traveling to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families and to worship with Pope Francis next Sunday started on their path this morning shortly before 8 a.m. We’re now driving through the hills of western Pennsylvania. You can learn more about the archdiocesan pilgrimage to the World Meeting of Families here.

Since the earliest days of the Church, pilgrimages have been understood at a deep level as being suggestive of the entire life of faith in which followers of the Lord make their way by faith through this world to their heavenly homeland.  Indeed, The Didache (“The Teachings of the 12 Apostles”), considered the earliest non-scriptural Christian writing, dating from the late first or early second century, calls Christianity simply “The Way.”

What was true for the first Christians is true for the 46 pilgrims upon this motor coach.  We are all seeking our way by faith through the twists and turns of life, much like the byways of western Pennsylvania, always seeking to keep our eyes on the Lord.

The first Christians were a diverse lot. Some were social pariahs like St. Matthew, whose feast the Church celebrates today. Although a wealthy man, he and other tax collectors were on the margins of Jewish society because of his collaboration with the occupying Roman forces.  Others were deep in their Jewish faith and at the heart of the Hebrew nation. Still others were not Hebrew at all but pagan gentiles who had been drawn to the Lord through grace much like the first Jewish believers.

Today’s pilgrims have followed their own unique path. But they have all done it with the grace that God provides, with the same heavenly destination in mind and in a context marked by the life of the family.

The goal of this particular pilgrimage is the World Meeting of Families to be held in Philadelphia from Sept. 22-25.  It is a gathering sponsored by the Catholic Church about every three years in cities around the world that is intended to strengthen families in their faith and their love for each other and to help them spread Christ’s vision for marriage and family life in the broader world.

The pilgrims from central and southern Indiana who are making their way to Philadelphia will gather there with Catholic families from around the world who have all followed their own pilgrim path. And they’ll join with Pope Francis, too, who is currently finishing up his pilgrimage to Cuba and who will arrive in the U.S. tomorrow.

We all make our way through the pilgrimage of this life with the help of the prayers of fellow believers.  Please keep the pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in your prayers. And know that they are praying for you.