By Pilgrim Alison Collet
It's really hard to comprehend summing up the most amazing three weeks of my life into a few short paragraphs. Speaking to some of the other pilgrims and experiencing this myself since I've been back... there are no other words to describe such a journey. It was simply... amazing!
To use a cliché, this pilgrimage has honestly been life changing. I began it knowing Christ to a certain extent but wanting to know Him so much more. I knew that there had to be more out there and I was determined to find out exactly what "it" was!
After an overwhelming two weeks, following the footsteps of our ancestors in Egypt and those of Jesus Himself in the Holy Land, I reached Madrid and began to understand the reason for Salvation a lot more. One of the reasons that Christ came to the Earth was to reveal the love of His Father to us all through His humanity. As I began to meet and greet many friends from Sydney and Australia, it became clear that we had all travelled so far for a sole purpose. Like many of the other millions of young people, we all wanted to meet in this place to share in this one aspect of our lives, our belief in Christ.
We took what Fr Simon had said before we left for the overnight vigil quite lightly. Those whom we had been travelling with had become more than just fellow pilgrims, they were like our extended family. He said, “You will miss them”. This is true. The places we visited and things we had experienced were shared amongst a tight knit group and is something that will be remembered for the rest of our lives. Surely the images of places we've seen coupled with stories they describe will forever be implanted in our minds but what remains is the life-long friendships that have formed in our hearts.
Plane trips and long car rides may keep us apart but what holds us together, what binds us together with the millions of other young Catholics around the world is the faith entrusted to us by our ancestors. The love and knowledge of Christ is the most valuable gift we could have ever asked to have come away with. We all began this journey with expectations and pre-dispositions about who God is and a miraculous revelation but what we have found is that God Himself exists in the people we have met and the relationships formed. This remains the greater and most invaluable gift.
It's really hard to comprehend summing up the most amazing three weeks of my life into a few short paragraphs. Speaking to some of the other pilgrims and experiencing this myself since I've been back... there are no other words to describe such a journey. It was simply... amazing!
To use a cliché, this pilgrimage has honestly been life changing. I began it knowing Christ to a certain extent but wanting to know Him so much more. I knew that there had to be more out there and I was determined to find out exactly what "it" was!
After an overwhelming two weeks, following the footsteps of our ancestors in Egypt and those of Jesus Himself in the Holy Land, I reached Madrid and began to understand the reason for Salvation a lot more. One of the reasons that Christ came to the Earth was to reveal the love of His Father to us all through His humanity. As I began to meet and greet many friends from Sydney and Australia, it became clear that we had all travelled so far for a sole purpose. Like many of the other millions of young people, we all wanted to meet in this place to share in this one aspect of our lives, our belief in Christ.
We took what Fr Simon had said before we left for the overnight vigil quite lightly. Those whom we had been travelling with had become more than just fellow pilgrims, they were like our extended family. He said, “You will miss them”. This is true. The places we visited and things we had experienced were shared amongst a tight knit group and is something that will be remembered for the rest of our lives. Surely the images of places we've seen coupled with stories they describe will forever be implanted in our minds but what remains is the life-long friendships that have formed in our hearts.
Plane trips and long car rides may keep us apart but what holds us together, what binds us together with the millions of other young Catholics around the world is the faith entrusted to us by our ancestors. The love and knowledge of Christ is the most valuable gift we could have ever asked to have come away with. We all began this journey with expectations and pre-dispositions about who God is and a miraculous revelation but what we have found is that God Himself exists in the people we have met and the relationships formed. This remains the greater and most invaluable gift.
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