"Journey of a Lifetime" - 3rd Sunday of Easter Homily

It's good to be back home after a 10 day pilgrimage with over 20 parishioners and guests.

Sorry I didn't bring anything home to you except for a cold.

That's not good.

But amazing experience going to Lourdes and Fatima where our Lady appeared in 1858 and 1917 respectively.

To homes of saints in Spain like Teresa of Avila and Ignatius of Loyola.

Just supreme graces throughout the experience and the trip.

Highlights for me was to offer mass in all these holy places, especially at Lord's and Fatima the very spots where Mary appeared.

That was unbelievable.

The baths at Lourdes blew away our whole group.

was so powerful and healing and refreshing.

I was able to hear confessions in English in Lourdes for like an hour.

That was really moving.

Least favorite part of the trip is when they canceled our flight home.

That stunk.

A day before basically the pilots of Lufthanza went on strike.

Thanks guys and girls.

So we had a scramble and with God's help, somehow, minor miracle, we found another airline and got us home on time.

Just about all of us.

was incredible.

So a pilgrimage is not a sightseeing tour or vacation.

We had one rule, no complaining.

And I was really impressed.

The group did really well.

But it's to open ourselves in different ways to graces.

the gifts God likes to bestow on pilgrims.

Those making a spiritual journey with faith in Him and faith in the church, visiting spots that are sacred.

Sacred to our faith and our history.

And we walked into those, again, no complaining, humble yourself.

It's blown away.

And what God did through the Blessed Mother, through the saints, and here we are in those places.

It's also good to come out of our Catholic bubble, our Darnestown bubble, and see these places that our faith began or was spread so long ago.

There's one cathedral in Spain, it was called the New Cathedral, it 500 years old.

And they're like, we're not going to go see the old cathedral.

I'm how old is that?

But our church is a baby church in the US, basically.

The journey was to seek God and the things of God, led by the Spirit and really to know the Father.

It was deeply personal.

called by God and experiencing this personal message from the apparitions or miracles, intentions people brought.

So offer up your discomforts or inconveniences out of your comfort zone.

Offer up for people that you're praying for.

And there'll be graces and signs that what they're praying for was being heard

or answered in ways never experienced before.

One pilgrim told me it was the most meaningful and beautiful experience this person's ever had.

Awesome.

And so to seek the Father and the Son and the Mother and the brothers and sisters of our faith, our tour guide constantly called us family.

It was like a family trip seeking our roots.

And again, our roots go way back in distant lands.

But yet, and you probably heard this, in different country, different language, different culture, you come to the church, and you come to the mass, and it's home.

The experience we were having was home, capital H, like heaven on earth.

We still can't put into words and we might not for a little bit of time.

But just like the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

They said, we're not our hearts burning within us.

They're pilgrims.

They're on the path.

We are all pilgrims.

The 27 of us were not residents or citizens of Europe.

We were so journers We're just passing through as visitors.

But that's what scripture says about all of us in this world.

Our citizenship is in heaven.

We're all on this journey seeking our homeland, seeking heaven.

And so the disciples on the road to Emmaus is represented so well because they're journeying and then heaven joins them on the path.

As Psalm 16 says, the path of life.

Christ joins them and their hearts are burning within them.

as he explains the scriptures.

If you know this passage, you know Jesus is celebrating Mass with Breaks open the scriptures, the Word.

Then breaks bread, lit.

the Eucharist.

And they recognize him in the breaking of bread.

The best part of each day of our pilgrimage was having Mass wherever we were.

Total bonus, like, this is where the Blessed Mother appeared, like, 100 years ago.

Incredible.

Or this is where St.

Ignatius had his conversion.

Or St.

Teresa was born.

Just surreal spots for me as a priest and for our group.

But what we were really experiencing, what we're all searching for, is again what Psalm 16 says on this path of life.

Abounding joy in your presence, fullness of joy in your presence.

Those who have reached heaven have reached the fullness that you and I are searching for.

Like we experienced in the pilgrimage that hopefully you have or will one day, the disciples on the road to Emmaus while we sojourn.

We experience that happiness and joy in Jesus Christ.