Pilgrims of Hope
It was good to join the walking pilgrims who started the southern part of the National Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope last Monday. By now the perpetual pilgrims (those walking the entire route from Southwark to Nottingham) will be well on their way. We hope that they don’t have too many blisters.
One thing I noticed as we walked, as well as the awful rubbish strewn by the Grand Union Canal, was the prayerful and positive spirit of the 20 or so pilgrims. I was reminded of Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims, whom I met when I was studying for my ‘A’ levels many moons ago. According to Geoffrey Chaucer, they walked to Canterbury ‘with devoute corage’ So it was with the intrepid walking pilgrims of 2025.
In connection with this, I was pleased to hear about a family from this parish recently walking from Rochester to Aylesford Priory. This route is part of the Augustine Camino (https://augustinecamino.co.uk/) which looks excellent. The word Camino is, as you may know, a Spanish word meaning road, way or path. It is so well known through the famous and ever popular Camino paths to Santiago de Compostela, in northern Spain.
In this diocese we have devised a walk through the Cities of London and Westminster (the Westminster Way) which takes in various churches and sites involved with our Catholic history and culture. Fr Axcel took our Confirmandi on this pilgrim walk earlier this year and we are going to walk it as a parish on Saturday 18th October. (https://rcdow.org.uk/jubilee-2025/westminster-way/)
When we walk towards a pilgrim destination we do so in hopeful expectation, but also acknowledging that along the way the Lord may well change us and reveal His way to us. In this Sunday’s Gospel we hear that great crowds accompanied Jesus. These crowds were pilgrims of hope. Perhaps we might join them in one way or another.
From your fellow pilgrim,
