Dear pilgrims of hope,
are we going on a pilgrimage every Sunday?
A pilgrimage is a journey to a journey to a sacred place. Every Catholic Church is a sacred place since we have the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle and we can receive Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Are we making an effort to get there?
A few months after I had returned to the Catholic Church, I was planning to go on holiday to Bali. As I was planning my trip, a Catholic friend asked me where I was planning to attend Mass there. I had not even considered it. Surely God understands that I am on holiday and if there isn’t a church close by, I do not have to go, right? My friend challenged me simply by asking if I had even checked if there was a Catholic Church close by and that although I might not be able to go, I needed at least to try.
I was ready to dismiss it, but over the next few days the thought kept coming back to me. After all there are so many persecuted Christians all over the world that cannot attend Mass or have to travel vast distances. In other places, there is no priest available or a priest can only celebrate Mass every few weeks.
With the invention of the Internet, it was easy enough to check. I was surprised to find out that there were a lot of Catholic Churches on Bali. As I was travelling with as part of group, I was not completely free to make my own itinerary and I did not have transport on my own so I was not sure if I could get there.
The trip was beautiful and I made some friends along the way. The group parted on a Saturday evening when the tour finished and Sunday was a free day. There was no Catholic Church in the town where we ended the tour and where I had booked accommodation to stay for a couple extra days. However one of my new friends had booked accommodation in another town and I saw that there was Mass there. It took a little convincing and the promise of shopping in Kuta to convince another lady to go with me and share the taxi fare. We had a lovely afternoon and while the others went shopping, I went to the English 6 pm Mass at Santo Fransiskus Xaverius.
It was a beautiful Church and a beautiful Mass. I did not feel out of place as I was at home away from home. Thankfully Mass is celebrated the same way all over the world.
Would you share a picture of your local church or a church you visited while travelling with us?
A pilgrimage is a journey to a journey to a sacred place. Every Catholic Church is a sacred place since we have the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle and we can receive Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Are we making an effort to get there?
A few months after I had returned to the Catholic Church, I was planning to go on holiday to Bali. As I was planning my trip, a Catholic friend asked me where I was planning to attend Mass there. I had not even considered it. Surely God understands that I am on holiday and if there isn’t a church close by, I do not have to go, right? My friend challenged me simply by asking if I had even checked if there was a Catholic Church close by and that although I might not be able to go, I needed at least to try.
I was ready to dismiss it, but over the next few days the thought kept coming back to me. After all there are so many persecuted Christians all over the world that cannot attend Mass or have to travel vast distances. In other places, there is no priest available or a priest can only celebrate Mass every few weeks.
With the invention of the Internet, it was easy enough to check. I was surprised to find out that there were a lot of Catholic Churches on Bali. As I was travelling with as part of group, I was not completely free to make my own itinerary and I did not have transport on my own so I was not sure if I could get there.
The trip was beautiful and I made some friends along the way. The group parted on a Saturday evening when the tour finished and Sunday was a free day. There was no Catholic Church in the town where we ended the tour and where I had booked accommodation to stay for a couple extra days. However one of my new friends had booked accommodation in another town and I saw that there was Mass there. It took a little convincing and the promise of shopping in Kuta to convince another lady to go with me and share the taxi fare. We had a lovely afternoon and while the others went shopping, I went to the English 6 pm Mass at Santo Fransiskus Xaverius.
It was a beautiful Church and a beautiful Mass. I did not feel out of place as I was at home away from home. Thankfully Mass is celebrated the same way all over the world.
Would you share a picture of your local church or a church you visited while travelling with us?
