Pilgrimage

I spent part of this evening with a small group assigned to work on a Mission Action Plan for our parish. There are a number of different ideas about how to approach a Mission Action Plan, or MAP. But the acronym itself implies a journey. Since our parish shares a patron with the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, traditional pilgrimage destination for Christians over many centuries, the idea of pilgrimage or journey has shaped our discussions significantly.

The idea of the Christian Life as a journey is very ancient. Many early Christians called their new faith The Way for precisely that reason. As we mature in our faith, we journey into a deeper and more profound relationship with Jesus.

The pilgrimage motif also encourages us to look at evangelism differently. Instead of inviting people to come to our Church, we invite them to come on a journey with us. This radically changes the nature of the invitation.

We are ready to take the next step towards our parish MAP, and I am hopeful that our MAP will guide us on a pilgrimage which will help us to grow in faith, to share our faith and to bring glory to the God of our journey.