At the end of May, I spoke to approximately
100,000 pilgrims at the basilica in Piekary
Śląskie, a city in southern Poland. Speaking
before men from every part of the country and
from beyond its borders, I recognized that
pilgrimage is an excellent metaphor for our own
lives.
I was proud to have joined a large delegation
of brother Knights from Poland and the United
States as together we walked several miles from
a local parish to the basilica.
Pilgrimage – in the traditional sense –
occurs when a person travels to a place that
holds special spiritual promise. During a
pilgrim-age, the pilgrim encounters days of
journey and prayer completely oriented to
increasing one‘s faith. In fact, a person is a
pilgrim both during the journey and at the
actual pilgrimage site, since the journey –
often a difficult one – is part of the
preparation for arriving at a holy place. The
pilgrim gives witness along the way, as well as
at his destination.
As on a pilgrimage, our lives should be a
journey toward a spiritual destination. If an
eternity with Christ is our goal, then our
journey should be oriented to that objective. In
addition, our witness during the pilgrimage of
life must be complete. Each moment in each
aspect of our lives must be oriented toward our
expectation of full unity with Christ in heaven.
In the 1980s, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – now
Pope Benedict XVI – wrote, ―Faith means entering
into solidarity with salvation history, taking
up its ‗already‘ and on that basis working
toward its ‗not yet.‘‖
He continued: ―Faith is the appropriation of
the past history, which finds itself transposed
through love into the present and so be-comes
once more hope for the future. Salvation history
is, therefore, not merely the past. It is also
the present and the future as we continue on our
pilgrimage till the Lord‘s return.‖
In other words, each day of our own spiritual
journey and that of the Church should witness to
the significance of Christ‘s life and death for
both our present lives and our future hope.
In my remarks to those gathered for the
pilgrimage in Poland, I recalled that the Second
Vatican Council called the lay faithful to seek
the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal
affairs and directing them according to God‘s
will. Lay people ―are called by God so that
they, led by the spirit of the Gospel, might
contribute to the sanctification of the world,
as from within like leaven, by fulfilling their
own particular duties. Thus, especially by the
witness of their life, resplendent in faith,
hope and charity they must manifest Christ to
others‖ (Christifideles Laici, 15; cf. Lumen
Gentium, 31).
For Knights of Columbus, this means two
things: First, we must witness to the love of
Jesus Christ whether in private or in public, at
home, at work or in the public square. This
means witnessing to charity for all, to unity
with ll people (especially with our fellow
Christians), and to a sense of fraternity with
our brother Knights with whom we work together
to better our communities and the world.
Second, as we enter ―into solidarity with
salvation history, in the words of Pope
Benedict, we should also take up Pope John Paul
II‘s challenge of solidarity – a communion among
Catholics that is based upon a common tradition
and a common heritage, and unity based in the
sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist.
This solidarity ought to transcend political
boundaries, cultural differences and economic
interests. And in keeping with the Order‘s first
principle of charity, it should be based on the
ancient and enduring wisdom of our faith – that
we are our brother‘s keeper.
If we can witness to our faith daily,
especially by living out Christ‘s commandment to
love one another, then we will be living
wit-nesses to Christ‘s love for us along the way
and will find ourselves at the end of life‘s
journey ready for our eternal destination.
