Reflection on Search and Pilgrimage

The call to pilgrimage is an ancient rite in our Church.  Since the early centuries of Christianity, the faithful came from different parts of the world as pilgrims to visit the Holy Land and the places that were significant to Jesus’ life and ministry.  Later, when travel to the Holy Land became difficult, places like Santiago de Compostela in Spain and Rome became popular pilgrimage destinations.  In our modern times, places like Lourdes and Fatima have drawn the faithful to pilgrimage.  This Saturday, we celebrate the feast day of St James the Greater.  He is the inspiration for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain (Santiago means James in Spanish, and Compostela comes from the Latin for field of stars, as the Milky Way is said to guide that pilgrimage trail.)

Receiving a call to go on pilgrimage is an important part of the pilgrimage journey.  At the heart of it, pilgrimage is also intrinsically connected to a search for the sacred in our lives as well.  In connection with this, I thought of the author Walker Percy, who has strong ties to Mississippi. Percy is considered one of our great Catholic philosophers and thinkers.  He and his brothers were raised in Greenville, Mississippi by the famous Mississippi Delta Percy family.  I taught at Greenville High School for four years (from 2000 to 2004), where Walker Percy and the acclaimed Civil War historian Shelby Foote were classmates.  The Moviegoer, the unexpected winner of the National Book Award in 1962, is one of my favorite books.  I have read it several times and will likely read it several times more.  Here is a great quote from this remarkable book.  Not only is a search important to pilgrimage, but we are all on a search for something in our lives.  We as disciples of Christ are specifically called to a search on our journey of faith.  If you have not read it, I highly recommend The Moviegoer. 

“What is the nature of the search? you ask. The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life. To become aware of the search is to be onto something. Not to be onto something is to be in despair.”  ― Walker Percy, The Moviegoer

Blessings to all of you.  Have a good week.  Father Lincoln.