Invitation to Pilgrimage (June)
Welcome to Step One of Mercy…Our Pilgrimage of Hope. Our theme for this month is an Invitation to Pilgrimage and you are invited to prepare for the pilgrimage by:
- Watching the four-part video (which can be viewed as one 20-minute video or four separate videos)
- Reflecting on the four questions that are posed, perhaps you might like to reflect on one per week
- Reflecting on the artwork
- Singing the pilgrims’ song
- Sharing your reflections in the pilgrims’ place
- Approaching someone or a small group of people to be your pilgrimage companion(s).
Step One Complete Video
To view the complete video for Step One (approximately 20 minutes) click on the arrow on the video above. To enlarge the video so it takes up your full screen, click on the four arrows on the bottom right or the V also on the bottom right. If you prefer to view this video in sections and spread it out over the four weeks, then you can do so at Parts 1 – 4 below.
Part One: The Invitation
In the first part, Sister Elizabeth Dowling reflects on what it means to be invited to be on a Mercy Pilgrimage of Hope. Like any invitation, she says that is one that involves choice. It is up to each of us to reflect on whether and how we will participate. Sister Liz says:
The invitation for us is to be on a pilgrimage of hope. A pilgrimage can be a physical journey like walking the Camino or going to Baggot St. It can also be an internal journey and it can be both.
I am reminded of the God of invitation. When he was interviewed for the Mercy International Reflection Process by Adele Howard, American theologian and scientist, John F. Haught. spoke of ‘God seeding the universe with promise’. It evokes in me an image of a gracious God who is continually inviting all of creation to identify, nurture and grow these seeds of promise for the flourishing of all life.
Mary Reynolds RSM, describes pilgrimage as a ‘journey undertaken in light of a story’. Our pilgrimage is undertaken in light of our Mercy story, our Gospel story and we are invited to make it one of hope.
Hope is different from naive optimism. It doesn’t mean that we think everything is going to be wonderful. Hope is grounded in our experience, so it is grounded in our understanding of the pain and suffering in the world. It is also grounded in our experience of God with us on the journey and we trust that God will continue to be with us on the journey into the future.
According to Cherice Bock, who speaks of the concept of critical hope, we need to be aware of the pain and suffering in our world and bring a prophetic critique to that. We can criticise the structures and action that bring about the devastation and suffering in our world, though that critique isn’t enough. We need to enact hope and bring that hope even in the midst of devastation. Otherwise, the despair will engulf us and we will become paralysed. Enacting hope means taking an action – it might be a small individual action, community action or it might be on a grander scale.
Part Two: Encountering the Risen Jesus on the Journey
In Part Two, Sister Liz shares the familiar story of the disciples on the walk to Emmaus, which she says speaks to journey, invitation and hope. Sister Liz says:
Two disciples, possibly a married couple, are heading away from Jerusalem, away from the community of disciples, on their way to Emmaus. They were devastated and had lost hope. What do we do now? Where do we go? These questions are familiar to us all at different stages in our lives, particularly when we may lose hope in the face of devastation both personally and globally.
Yet, it is through their encounter with the risen Jesus, someone they did not immediately recognise, that they came to experience a sense of hope that brings about transformation for them. In recognising Jesus, they say, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road” (Luke 24:32).
The greek word ‘kaíō’ means to burn, light and to kindle. In this context, Sister Liz says the translation to kindle speaks to her most strongly.
You don’t go from devastation to euphoria and hearts burning within us instantaneously. You need something to provide the spark in the devastation which will eventually increase in intensity. On the road, they have a spark in the midst of their devastation and it is in the breaking of the bread [afterwards] that this spark bursts into flame when they recognise Jesus.
All of a sudden they have got hope. The hope brings transformation. They get up and go straight to Jerusalem, back to the community and this is the start of a whole new Chapter in their story.
Sister Liz concludes with a quote from Elizabeth Davis RSM regarding the motto and emblem of the Jubilee year which reminds us that there is never an endpoint to hope: we are always on the journey with hope.
Questions for Reflection
In the coming month, you are invited to reflect and consider these questions. You may like to consider one a week over the next four weeks:
- How might this story speak to our Mercy experience?
- What is the journey that we are being called to undertake in the light of our story?
- What gives us hope for the journey?
- What kindling do we need to produce a burning flame?
Part Three: Collecting Hope – Encounters of Pilgrimage
As we accept the invitation for this pilgrimage, one of the members from Young Mercy Links Victoria, Ruby Glenister, has created an artwork on which you are invited to reflect – Encounters of Pilgrimage – is inspired by a cabinet of curiosities mirroring the seven steps of pilgrimage.
Click here to download a copy of this artwork
Part Four: A Song for the Journey
Sisters Helen Kearins has composed a song especially for our Mercy pilgrimage. It reminds us that we are following in the footsteps of people over tens of thousands of years who have been pilgrims of hope in the ancient lands of Australia and Papua New Guinea. These include – our indigenous brothers and sisters, migrants, the first Sisters of Mercy and all who have followed in their footsteps. You are invited to sing this song over the next seven months as a reminder of the pilgrimage we are undertaking together and all who have been pilgrims on these lands before us.
Click here to download a copy of the lyrics
Companion for the Journey
In the coming month, you are encouraged to reflect on the artwork and questions. You may also like to approach someone or a small group of people to be your pilgrimage companion(s) who you can check in with regularly throughout the journey. It is preferably people you may not have journeyed with before. It might be someone that you can have a phone call or a cup of tea with every so often during the pilgrimage.
Thank you to following people who were involved in preparing this material : Sisters Rosie Carroll, Angela Jordan, Elizabeth Dowling, Kerry Willison, Helen Kearins, Kate Mannes, Michelle Goh, Theresia Tina and Duyen Nguyen; Thomas O’Rourke; Young Tsao; Ruby Glenister; Mia and the Members of Young Mercy Links South Australia and Victoria; Brenda Drumm (Mercy International Association); Cynthia Mulholland; John Rochester; and, the sisters and other Mercy people who either filmed or are featured in various parts of the video.