What does being a pilgrim mean?
Chapter VII of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Church is entitled "The Pilgrim Church." It reminds us that the Church is like a person on a journey who has not yet arrived at the journey's destination but is continually drawn to move ahead by the desire to reach the goal of the pilgrimage. The image of the Church as a pilgrim, as on a journey, has caused me to rethink many things about the Church.
Balancing this image of the pilgrim Church with the more traditional image of the institutional Church is not always easy; but seeing the Church as a pilgrim is basic to Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter, The Coming Third Millennium (CTM). In this plan, the Holy Father's theme for 1999 is our journey to the Father. "The whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father" (CTM #49).
When we are on a long journey we need to stop now and then to see how far we have come. We check to see if we are still on the right road and heading in the right direction. It is always possible to make a wrong turn. Imagine for a moment that you are driving somewhere and lose your way. You stop to ask someone for directions and the person tells you "Turn around! You are going the wrong way!" Now if the person giving you this advice spoke to you in New Testament Greek (which I know would be highly unlikely), you would have heard "metanoeite," meaning "turn around."
I find it helpful to know the root meaning of this Greek word because it plays an important role in the New Testament. Jesus' invitation in the Gospels, "metanoeite" (turn around) is translated into English by the words "convert," "repent" or "do penance." The gospel call to conversion, repentance and penance are essential components of our pilgrimage.
Click here to read a full article on this topic.
Balancing this image of the pilgrim Church with the more traditional image of the institutional Church is not always easy; but seeing the Church as a pilgrim is basic to Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter, The Coming Third Millennium (CTM). In this plan, the Holy Father's theme for 1999 is our journey to the Father. "The whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father" (CTM #49).
When we are on a long journey we need to stop now and then to see how far we have come. We check to see if we are still on the right road and heading in the right direction. It is always possible to make a wrong turn. Imagine for a moment that you are driving somewhere and lose your way. You stop to ask someone for directions and the person tells you "Turn around! You are going the wrong way!" Now if the person giving you this advice spoke to you in New Testament Greek (which I know would be highly unlikely), you would have heard "metanoeite," meaning "turn around."
I find it helpful to know the root meaning of this Greek word because it plays an important role in the New Testament. Jesus' invitation in the Gospels, "metanoeite" (turn around) is translated into English by the words "convert," "repent" or "do penance." The gospel call to conversion, repentance and penance are essential components of our pilgrimage.
Click here to read a full article on this topic.
posted by See Tho Zhang Jacob at
8:11 PM
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