During this Jubilee year of 2025 we are called to go on a pilgrimage,
to move out of “where we are” – both physically and spiritually –
to “vary our neural pathways “… to cross boundaries and set out,
allowing God’s Spirit to guide us.
Abraham was asked by God to “leave your country… and go to the land that I will show you.” (Gen12,1). Jesus’ ministry is described as a journey… from Galilee to Jerusalem. This year we are called to set out on pilgrimage… and allow ourselves to be changed in the process. It is a characteristic of all the great epic journeys (think of Homer’s Odysseus or Virgil’s Aeneas) that the hero or heroine returns a changed person – wiser, more forgiving, more loving.
On this journey, pilgrimage, we are called to walk with others, as pilgrims of Hope, perhaps drawing strength from coming together for talks or common prayer (in church or in our homes), travelling to a place of pilgrimage (Rome, Lourdes, Knock, Carfin, our local cathedral…). It might involve going outside and gazing at the night sky or taking a walk in a park or paying attention to what we see in our garden or flower pots …or, as some say, varying our neural pathways!
Our Holy Year Pilgrimage of Hope aims at making us stop and reflect on the direction of our lives; it’s a time to ask God to “turn us around” – con-vert us – transforming us so that we move more in sync with Him and his purposes for us and our world.
by Fr Bernard Fox, MHM
Republished from Saint Joseph’s Advocate Scotland. Originally published in Spring-Summer 2025
