Fr. Jim’s talk to begin each day of our pilgrimage has been very important for me, but on Friday morning he spoke about something I was wrestling with at the very moment it was rattling around in my brain... with only one day left after this in our pilgrimage, there was a certain sadness about losing our community.  Out of many disparate parts, we had truly become one body; a church in every sense. How do we leave this joyfully?  Of course Fr. Jim had an answer—he said we are called to return to our homes and share what we had experienced. Simple as that.

Here, in this ancient city of our “elder brothers in faith”, Fr. Jim’s words remind me of the wisdom of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel:

"In every person's life there are moments when there is a lifting of the veil at the horizon of the known, giving us a glimpse of the eternal. Each of us has - at least once in our lives - experienced the momentous reality of God.  Each of us has caught a glimpse of the beauty, the peace and the power that flow through our souls. 

But such experiences are rare events. To some people, they are like shooting stars, passing and unremembered.  
But in others, they kindle a light that is never quenched ... and the remembrance of that experience and the loyalty to the response of that moment are the forces that sustain our faith."  
             
-Abraham Joshua Heschel, "I Asked For Wonder"

It feels like an unquenchable light has been kindled in all of us. May we all be loyal to the response of that moment and become the force to sustain our faith.

Lisa Woodall