Catholic Outlook Magazine Ordinary Time Spring Edition 2022

A renewed era of pilgrimage
STORY SELINA HASHAM
Engraved in marble along the side of St Mary of
the Cross MacKillop’s tomb at her shrine in North
Sydney are her words “Remember we are but
travelers here”.
Sage words from a woman who made a pilgrim
of herself while on earth, travelling the length and
breadth of Australia to fulfil her mission of serving
the poor and remote, often on horseback in the most
challenging conditions.
Pilgrimage has long been part of our spiritual heritage
as the people of God. As the prophet Jeremiah (6:16)
reminds us:
Stand at the crossroads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way lies;
and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
In Australia, the profile of a typical pilgrim is
dynamic, and varied. Many pilgrims are young like
those who attend World Youth Days, and many
are older who have the time and means to travel;
some are workers, professionals, parents, and
students seeking to walk a pathway that will lead to
meaningful and spiritual encounters.
Some are religious including priests and consecrated
women and men. Others are not as engaged in
the Church and come as seekers, open to all
the experiences that pilgrimage provides. Many
are looking for friendship and fellowship, and an
enriching break from the everyday. In recent years
there has been an increase in the number of pilgrims
from Church agency sectors (particularly Catholic
Education) for the purposes of faith formation and
professional development.
Whatever a typical pilgrim might look like, the
wonderful thing about pilgrimage is, that it is a great
leveller. We are all pilgrims on the journey and walk
the sacred pathways together.
Embarking on a pilgrimage to a holy place, for a
sacred purpose, reminds us that we are but travellers
in this life, and like every Christian pilgrim before us,
are wanderers without permanency, destined for an
eternal home.
After an extraordinary two years, with international
travel interrupted on a global scale as never before,
the appetite for travel, and for travel with meaning
and purpose, is bouncing back.
Well-worn pilgrimage paths, such as the Camino
in Spain, the via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, and the
entrance to St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, smooth with
the footsteps of the faithful over hundreds of years,
after a pandemic reprieve, are once again receiving
pilgrims.
Lesser-known pilgrimage paths in our own country,
such as the footsteps of Mary MacKillop from
Melbourne to Adelaide, or the outback trail to the
Red Centre, are revealing themselves and being
discovered by a new cohort of Aussie pilgrims eager
to walk the pathways of the Great South Land of
the Holy Spirit.
Selina Hasham is the CEO of Harvest Journeys.
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