click here for full bulletin
Letter From Fr. John Tetlow
Recently I wrote to you about my pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Now that I have had this experience I would like to share a few thoughts.
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into a foreign place, a sacred place. It is a journey made for an exalted spiritual experience.
In the Christian pilgrimage tradition, the practice revolves around visiting either sites of significance in the Bible, those concerning the life of Christ, or the lives of the saints. The three main destinations of Christian pilgrimage for the Catholic Church are Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela.
A pilgrimage is an experience to which we are called. It is a journey to walk with Christ. Our life is a pilgrimage. We are called to seek and to walk with our Lord on a daily basis – spending time in prayer, seeking to find God’s desire for us and growing in holiness.
God is, and always is, waiting for us to come to Him. His invitation is ever present. Our human hearts are made for God and will only be finally satisfied when in union with Him. How correct Saint Augustine was when he stated “our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” There are times in prayer when we are quiet and still, that we become deeply affected by His call and we become aware of His summons. He is always calling us to more and wanting to draw us to Himself.
Following Christ can be difficult and some people quit. Jesus says try to enter through the narrow gate. The road that leads to life is narrow. Our response to Christ’s call must be total. We have to be willing to offer everything we are to God. The Gospel exhorts us to no longer walk for ourselves but to desire to walk in step with the Lord who gave everything for us.
Living with Christ at our center, desiring his will in our life, wanting only to serve Him in others is the only path to true joy and happiness. It is the path that leads to the house of the Father.
Father John