We don’t always realize it, but we are deeply marked by the ideology in which we live, that of capitalism. We take by buying what advertising makes us desire; we demand because we pay; and we want everything, right away. The same is true when traveling: we demand and take the services we have chosen and paid for. This is what is called capitalist “tourism.”
But this is not the only way to travel. We can choose to leave in a completely different spirit: that of receiving. Instead of demanding, taking, planning everything, distrusting everything and everyone… we can instead go with a spirit that waits, that is patient, that hopes, that seeks to encounter oneself, others, and also God; a spirit that believes that everything is possible even when it seems improbable! This is a completely different spirit; it is the spirit of true “pilgrimage” in communion.
And this Spirit comes to us from the Lord Jesus himself. When we contemplate his life through the Word, especially the Gospels, we see that the Lord never asks or demands anything for himself; on the contrary, he expects everything from his Father and from others. Jesus was not a “tourist” on earth but the authentic “Pilgrim.”
A pilgrimage in the Christian spirit, no matter where we go (Charlevoix, monastery, desert, Compostela, Holy Land, etc.), is essentially a received moment to rediscover or deepen spirituality with Christ: to live like him, “receiving” ourselves entirely from his Father, each in the necessities of their state of life. After this experience of change of scenery, it is our everyday life that can, in contradiction with the world, become a pilgrimage! Have a good journey…
Christian Bourgault, Priest
N.B.: Father Christian Bourgault will have the joy of accompanying a group of pilgrims alongside Thea van de Kraats in the Holy Land from October 12 to 23, 2023.
