It is just astounding to me sometimes how much time is spent going from one place to another.
Of course, a pilgrimage is basically all about the journey itself, but I’ve still been amazed by all the time we spend on the move: flying, in the car, walking, WALKING, on the metro, on the bus, etc. And in the past, even more time was spent in transit because the methods of travel were mostly slower. I always think back to Dorothy Day’s choice to take a boat from New York City to Rome in order to be in the Eternal City for a few weeks of the Second Vatican Council to fast and pray. Honestly, my natural response to this is always, “What a waste!!!!!”
However, my supernatural response is somewhat different! Obviously, there is a rich tradition of pilgrimage in the Church: travel to holy places or to see holy people. Many people were historically given the penance of a pilgrimage as a way of reforming their lives and of these not a few died on the way.
The Magi are archetypal pilgrims: leaving behind what they knew and the comforts of home, they found God. The road was necessary both for the sake of arriving and also for the sake of assimilation. I have long loved T.S. Eliot’s poem imagining their journey and recommend that you listen to him read it here: https://poetryarchive.org/poem/journey-magi/
Blessings on the journey!
- Sr. Agnes Therese Davis, T.O.R.
