My
trip to Italy was my first time out of the United States. I was with 30+
other pilgrims, and so I was in a kind of insular bubble of translator,
brilliant tour guides, and meals prepared by some of the finest restaurants. But when I stepped out on my own, I found the
Italian people to be kind, gracious, and more than willing to speak English
when all I could say was “Buongiorgno, Scusami, Grazie, and Prego” in what was a decidedly American accent, I’m
sure.
Our group traveled first to Assisi,
home to St. Francis and St. Clare. We
then went to Siena, home to St. Catherine, to Florence, and then ended in
Venice. Throughout the time, we were
greeted with beautifully sunny (and really warm) late summer days and nights, and it
wasn’t until we were in Venice that we saw early morning cloudiness – which gave
way in no time to glorious skies. There was a
palpable presence of God everywhere we went.
Every corner, every view, every window provided an amazing
picture-postcard sight! I can’t begin to
describe what I saw and how I had to keep reminding myself that I was really
walking the streets where Francis and Clare walked as youngsters, and that I
was viewing the room where Catherine of Siena spent countless hours in prayer. And these type of experiences went on and on. Like I wrote, I am just beginning to unpack
this experience… How do I come down from The Mountaintop and go back to my regular
life?
I think the answer is that I don’t.
It’s not because I stayed in fine
hotels, drank wine at most every meal, and enjoyed days of gastronomical delicacies –
it’s because I was hungering for more, before I left that makes it impossible to return to my regular life. Because now I feel satiated.
The hunger I felt before I left home
was for a deeper life with Christ, but I hadn’t been able to identify what it
was exactly, until I recognized it on our trip. I think I had become a little too
complacent in my prayer life, on some days.
I think I walked around with my own self-assurance of God’s Love, but I wasn’t
spending the time with God that I need and want in order to maintain that
relationship. How can I keep my love for
God fresh and new when I don’t spend time with Jesus, or when I don’t listen
for the Holy Spirit?
I will be starting The Spiritual Exercises again in two
weeks. This retreat in daily life
changed my life forever, when I completed it two years ago, and it helped me with consolations to continue on the path that I walk today. This time though I will be experiencing the Exercises in a group setting, rather
than one-on-one with my spiritual director.
It will be a whole new way to learn Christ and to follow Him, and I hope
it will create community for me as well.
I loved experiencing my pilgrimage
to Italy in a community of strong Christians and with our two
accompanying Franciscan friars. We are
not meant to be completely alone in our journeys – not necessarily – and not in the
beginning. It is good to have the
fellowship of others, as we grow in our love of God and in our life of prayer.
I leave you today with this prayer that
was recorded in one of the earliest documents about St. Francis, in the
1200s. He spoke it before the cross of
San Damiano in Assisi…
Most high
and glorious God,
enlighten
the darkness of my heart
and give me
truer faith,
more certain
hope,
and perfect
charity,
sense and
knowledge of you,
so that I
may carry out
your holy
and true command
for my life.
From this
Prayerful Heart to yours,
Pace e Bene –
Peace and all Good!
💙
💙
