Home again

And so we come to the end of our pilgrimage. The last week in Italy has flown by in comparison with our time in Spain. The good thing for us is that we have been on our own because all the other groups from Parramatta returned to Sydney from Spain. We have become our own family as we discussed in the early days prior to leaving Australia.

Our last day was a bit free form. Most of us breakfasted together the we wandered down to the Basilica of St Francis for 9am Mass. The Mass was in a side chapel of the Basilica. Following this we wandered around the Basilica - it has been constructed around the original chapel built by St. Francis. Amazing doesn't quite cover it, but the last thing I expected when i walked through the cathedral doors was a chapel, complete with roof, altar and paintings in the ceiling. The original chapel of St. Francis sits directly below the dome of the cathedral. There were many side chapels and altars each one as inspiring as the last. We then went around to the legendary rose garden and on to the obligatory souvenir shop.

I forget to mention yesterday that the old area of Assisi is carved out of the side of a mountain. Our journey yesterday involved us being transported up and down the mountain in a series of taxis. It was all very James Bondish and I'm sure that our driver was related to Mario Andredretti (google that gen y), the 8 of us in the taxi had never prayed so intently. Obviously we survived, but I would not wish to have that experience again.

I'm not sure how much I wrote about the nature of pilgrimage in earlier blogs but it is not a holiday, or as I said when our group first came together, a Contiki tour. Pilgrimage is about the journey, being open to the experience, accepting change and returning home as a changed person. Our little family of 27 have certainly embraced the concept. We journeyed together, shared our experiences - exhilarating and otherwise, shared our meals, our accommodation, our stories and our life' s journey. We have all embraced the notion of pilgrimage and Bishop Fisher's challenge to return changed people. I guess all that remains is to see what we do to make that change live.

So, as we journey toward the airport in Rome this will probably be my last entry, until I doctor some of the pages from home to add some photos. It has been for me, as I'm sure it has for all of us, a journey of mixed emotions, but I have been most fortunate to be able to share my time with our group. Love you guys, you're awesome. Thank you for making my job easy and for sharing yourselves with me. A special thanks to our group leaders, Ben, Chris, Darwin, Mary E, Shelby and Steve, and our spiritual guide Fr. Suresh. And to the rest of our family (in no particular order): Michael, Shelwin, Annabelle, Andrew, Dani, Jon, Luke, Hazel, Sr. Rachel, Tom, Jack, Mary G, Sherwin, Fr. Luan, Mel, Stefan, Bishop Jarrett, Falenga, Julie and Claire thanks for being open to the experience of the pilgrimage and bringing something special of you to our journey. In a little while we will farewell Fr. Suresh, Annabelle and Chris, while the rest of us head for Sydney. Actually, Hazel slipped away quietly in Dubai to spend some time with her sister. We hope that she has a wonderful visit and a safe trip home in a week or so. Our group of 28 is now 22 as our pilgrimage comes to an end and and we return home.

I know Bishop Anthony has meetings scheduled so that we don't lose the momentum and the spirit we have developed over the last few weeks, so it's not really goodbye, it's see you later. It's time for us step up as evagelisers and to live our faith and share it with others.

God bless.

See you in Rio.

Joking, I'm too old to do this again.

But maybe you guys need to consider what role you will play in two years time, we have learned much together that will be of value when planning future pilgrimages.

Adios amigos.