However, the fervour with which I had signed up for this event was now somewhat diminished as a result of the homework I had awaiting me, and I lost much of my enthusiasm before the trip even started.
I travelled with fellow parishioners and we were reciting the rosary as we made our way to Midland; yet I couldn’t quite get my mind off the fact that I had a test the next day. (My cellphone’s non-existent reception didn’t help the situation.)
During this pilgrimage, group representatives are given the privilege of reciting a bead of the rosary on the podium and this year was no different.
There were six children, some as young as kindergarten, waiting their turn.
These children stood with their guardians in the sweltering heat with no complaints and recited their decade with such zeal and clarity that it was impossible for me or anyone else to doubt then that “from the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise” (Matthew 21:16).
Their decade was the major epiphany of my pilgrimage. It hit me. I had fallen into the trap that many homilies preach against. I had become too concerned about the petty things in life to remember that God’s place in my life should remain uncontested.
Before going on the pilgrimage, I told myself that this experience could in some way make up for the many times I had neglected to include God in my life.
But what good was that if I continued in my “old” ways afterwards?
In fact, I didn’t have to wait to go on a pilgrimage to experience the inner peace — it was mine for the taking whenever I wanted. I was reminded that “those who use the things of the world should not be engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31). The funny thing is I can recite this by heart but it had ceased to hold any real meaning once I failed to see its significance in my life.
I went home that day feeling more at peace than I had been in a long time.
(Chigbo is a first-year communication, culture and information technology student at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Read her profile at youthspeaknews.org)
Seek and ye shall find serenity on pilgrimage
By Adanna Chigbo, Youth Speak NewsDragging myself out of bed one Sunday morning, all I could think about was the pile of school work I still had to finish by Monday.
I had signed up for the 27th annual Rosary Sunday pilgrimage held at Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ont., because of the guilt I felt in neglecting to say the rosary as frequently as I ought to. But mostly, I wanted to experience the sense of fulfilment and serenity I had heard a lot of people experienced after going on pilgrimages.
Home to the remains of saints like Jean de Brébeuf, Martyrs’ Shrine reminds pilgrims of the sacrifices others have made for their faith in the past — a good way to set the mood for the solemnity that is pilgrimage.
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