I have been watching a documentary on BBC 2...we are
very fortunate to have some really good programmes on our UK television
uninterrupted by advertisements....in a three part series entitled 'Pilgrimage
to Rome '. Eight celebrities of varying faiths or no faith at all were followed
through all the ups and downs, both physical and emotional of their journey on
foot to Rome. They followed the pilgrim's way which has been used by pilgrims
for many hundreds of years. It starts at Canterbury but these modern day
pilgrims began their journey in Switzerland.
Watching this, and the dialogue as the pilgrims walked,
prompted my own thoughts about faith. One said 'I don't know what I believe'
and another...a non practising Jew, 'I don't know what I am supposed to
believe.' So I looked up what I wrote about pilgrimages in the book
'Walking with White Eagle in Sacred Places'. I wrote about how White Eagle
encourages us all to go on inner pilgrimages, especially if our health or
circumstances prevent physical walking. I explained, 'A pilgrimage is not a
holiday; it is a rite of passage during which significant inner transformation
takes place. After the pilgrimage your eyes are opened. You see the world
differently.'
That was so true for every one of the eight pilgrims to
Rome, former believers and non-believers alike. Their journey
culminated in a private audience with Pope Francis. By that point they were all
open to his loving non-judgemental welcome and blessing. Even those
unsure of any spiritual belief at all were touched and changed and I remembered
my mum (Joan Hodgson) saying to me when I was quite young, 'Faith is caught,
not taught.'
This was truly demonstrated by the way our amazingly
inspiring present-day Pope Francis encouraged every one of the eight
pilgrims to look at their lives in a new light.
