Remembering to be a holy pilgrim in your life

Continuing to read the articles that rightfully praise the splendid safety and hospitality provided by Saudi Arabia during the Haj, I have come across an insight by pilgrims that is an important reminder to all faiths. I want to in particular point it out to Westernized Christians, some of whom feel weary in their faith.

Many of the Haj pilgrims comment on the tremendous "spiritual refreshment" that they felt during the Haj. Remember that for Muslims the Haj is a pillar of the faith and often requires years of financial saving and sacrifice to perform the once in a lifetime that it is required. So it is not the same as going to daily prayer services or even a feast day. But what is the common denominator is that by going on the Haj people have, often for the first times in their life, an opportunity to commit time entirely to being in the presence of God, where their time is not divided by secular responsibilities. Three million people gathered together this past week to do nothing else but live in tent cities, socialize within the faith and perform their Haj rituals, worship and prayers to God. They had a taste of what it is like to not have to go to their job, or tend to their children, or worry about the poverty of their financial circumstances and only devote themselves to God. And for many they describe this, often with great emotion and tears, as the spiritual refreshment of their lifetime and how much they will miss being there in the holy places, even as they return to their own homes and families!

If you think about it, the Haj is in a way, a flashback to how God intended it to be. In Eden all that Adam and Eve had to do was enjoy being alive in the lush fertility and sustenance of the garden, and honor and obey God. Adam and Eve did not even have to worship God, nor perform any particular duties, except to obey his prohibitions for their own safety. God walked with them in the garden and they could keep him company and talk to him in dialogue.

Even after the fall God knew that people needed this type of spiritual refreshment, especially in a broken and fallen world of pressures and sin. So this is why the Sabbath, the one holy day of the week, was created by God. It is not that God "needs the attention" or was trying to inflict an odious chore. It is only in the last few decades that people have forgotten the refreshment that their parents, grandparents, and their ancestors received from the one day of week dedicated to God and his worship. People used to love to read the Bible! It was not a chore. People loved to dress up and go to Church; it was not a chore or an "imposition on their free time." That is an illusion and affectation that has resulted from the stress of a dysfunctional secularized society. It is not a coincidence that people in prison turn to the Bible and the Qur'an for their refreshment for there they have the enforced time to be able to engage in "non productive activities" (not job related and not entertainment rat race related) such as studying the holy Scriptures.

I myself feel refreshed when I sit down with not only the Bible or Qur'an, but the writings of the early Church fathers, the lives of the saints, and sermons by holy people past and religious figures present. This is how it used to be. God created the Sabbath for the refreshment and yes the sanity of his children. Families used to enjoy Bible study together. They used to enjoy going to Church together, praising together, the sacrifice of the Mass, Sunday school, and talking to their family and friends about God. There is all the rest of the week to worry about the job, the dwindling bank account, boyfriends and girlfriends, and the pressures to "fit in" an increasingly dysfunctional world. The chance to be in a holy place, whether literally or figuratively, within one's own dwelling, mind and heart, is the treat, the stability, the source ("where does my help come from? my help comes from the Lord") in order to cope with life and enjoy life to the fullest and recognize its blessings. This is what the people who go on Haj recognize, to their wonderment and delight. On the Haj people share the sacred space of God just as they did in Eden. (And again I must praise the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and all the Saudis and resident workers in the country who continue to remove obstacles and smooth the way for the pilgrims to better experience being the guests of God.)

This is one reason that many Catholics, even those who have fallen away from Mass, are increasingly drawn to attending shrines. At shrines, especially those affiliated with an active religious community, people find that sacred space. They are drawn away from the cell phones, the cars, the Internet, the bills, the heartaches and even the joyous secular pressures and demands and find themselves with their "spiritual kin" as guests of God. A visit to a shrine is often a way to recapture the rights, privileges and joys of the Sabbath that people have allowed themselves to be robbed of by secular society. I fully understand what it is like to work 50 hour plus weeks and then collapse on the weekend, wanting to sleep late, having to do errands such as the usual bank-dry cleaner-post office-grocery store-car fill up or repair. I ran on that gerbil wheel out of necessity for many years. It never gets better because employers, until very recently, are time and attention vampires. It is only recently that some employers dare to have Bible study groups, or let their employees come in or leave at hours that allow the attending of daily Mass. But they are still in the minority and the bulk of the population of Western culture is still brainwashed into giving up their God given rights to that peaceful and refreshing day of the week when they can connect with God and family.

It is not necessary to run inside the squeaky rat race wheel that goes to nowhere all the time. It is not necessary to believe that everything is plastic and flat. The Sabbath (whether it be the Jewish, Muslim, or Christian holy day of the week) is ruined only if you allow it to be ruined. Even the most oppressive boss cannot reach inside your house and ruin an hour of Bible study with your children on God's day in the week. YOU need that day, not God. God did not create the holy day of the week because he had nothing else to do but give a test to see "who shows up at Church." He understands the pressures. Remember the Bible says that on the seventh day God "rested." I mean come on, you know that God does not need "rest" in the fullness of his power. But God was setting an example of understanding that YOU need that day to spiritually refresh and reconnect with God. Without a day where you throw off the chains of secular and social demands people lose their perspective and eventually their humanity. Everyone needs to be a holy person on a pilgrimage each week of the year. Whether it is saying the rosary, reading the sacred Scriptures, or gazing on a grotto that nurtures reflection of God each human needs to feel worthy to demand and preserve this God given time to be "on pilgrimage."

This is why the Extraordinary Rite of the Catholic Mass will, mark and witness my words, expand the air of sanctity and pilgrimage for more and more people back to the weekly and even daily celebration of the sanctity of God and of God's human children. This is why the appalling situation of people not even knowing the basics of their own faiths will get turned around again. This is why vocations will return and by those who truly love the Lord. People will start to recognize, just as the Haj pilgrims do each year, that everyone, rich or poor, is entitled to love study of God and his works on their own holy pilgrimage, even if it is within the context of reclaiming the Sabbath.

Haj pilgrims have to save for years to afford the Haj, have to travel to Saudi Arabia, live in tents, perform physically challenging rituals and be in a crush of millions and yet what do they find when they have finished? That they have found "a home" in God's house that they will miss when they return to their own families and homes. Everyone can reclaim that feeling by sanctifying their own time and finding their own holy space in the God provided holy day of the week of their faith. Sometimes it means looking at your local mosque, Church, or shrine with "new eyes." There you will recognize Mecca, Rome, Jerusalem, and a foretelling taste of the heavenly mansion and garden. You just need to remember that feeling that our forefathers and mothers had and reclaim it as your own. God bless everyone in their own weekly holy pilgrimages and remember that children are God's treasure and adults must teach them the faith with orthodoxy and sobriety. Tinkling wind chimes and scented candles are not the way to preserve all of our children's spiritual good health and road to salvation.