Dear pilgrims of hope,
are we pilgrims or are we tourists?
Pilgrim – from Latin Peregrinus – means foreigner. As Christians we are foreigners on earth, on a constant pilgrimage to our eternal home. As I was growing up, I sometimes would say to myself that I want to go home although I was in the house where I lived. But it did not feel like a true home. Even back then, I knew that there was another home waiting for me. I did not know where this home was supposed to be, as I did not believe in Christ although I was brought up in the Catholic Church. Somehow while attending Holy Mass and Catechism classes, the belief in Christ did not enter my heart. Culture told me that my own happiness was all that I should care about.
A tourist journeys for pleasure, taking in the sights. The word origin describes a tour as circular. That makes sense as my life went around in circles instead of shaping a path that one day might lead to heaven. Scripture tells us that the road to heaven is narrow. Where there is pleasure, there are always many tourists presents. This does not mean we should always deprive us from pleasure and enjoyable things but we should be cautious when our life revolves (circles, tours) around finding pleasure without thinking about God. Earth is only our temporary home and we need to remind ourselves that our Priority should be to seek a relationship with our Creator so that one day we may encounter him in our true home, at the end of our pilgrimage.
