杏MAP导航 at Marian Shrine of 艦umuleu Ciuc: We are pilgrims
By Christopher Wells
鈥淲e have come here as children to meet our Mother, and to acknowledge that we are all brothers and sisters鈥�, 杏MAP导航 Francis said at the Marian Shrine at 艦umuleu Ciuc. 鈥淪hrines鈥�, he explained, 鈥渁re like 鈥榮acraments鈥� of a Church that is a field hospital: they keep alive the memory of God鈥檚 faithful people who, in the midst of tribulation, continue to seek the source of living water that renews our hope鈥�.
The Shrine at 艦umuleu Ciuc is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in eastern Europe. Each year, tens of thousands of pilgrims, many from Hungary, travel to the shrine on the Saturday before Pentecost to commemorate a 16th century victory over a Protestant force that had been sent to convert them.
We are pilgrims
In his homily, 杏MAP导航 Francis said, 鈥淲e have come here for a reason: we are pilgrims鈥�; and he reflected on what it means to go on pilgrimage.
Going on pilgrimage: Looking to past, present, and future
鈥淭o go on pilgrimage鈥�, he said, 鈥渋s to realize that we are in a way returning home as a people鈥�. Alluding to the history of the shrine, the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥淐omplicated and sorrow-filled situations from the past must not be forgotten or denied, yet neither must they be an obstacle or an excuse standing in the way of our desire to live together as brothers and sisters鈥�.
Going on pilgrimage, he continued, involves feeling 鈥渃alled and compelled to journey together, asking the Lord for the grace to change past and present resentments and mistrust into new opportunities for fellowship鈥�.
Finally, he said, 鈥淭o go on pilgrimage is to look not so much at what might have been (and wasn鈥檛), but at everything that awaits us and cannot be put off much longer鈥�. It means building a future that includes everyone. This, the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥渞equires a certain skill, the art of weaving the threads of the future鈥�. That, he said, 鈥渋s why we are here today, to say together, 鈥楳other, teach us to weave the future鈥欌��.
Let us journey together
Recalling the Annunciation, 杏MAP导航 Francis invoked the image of Mary saying 鈥榶es鈥� to the message of an angel. 鈥淪uch is the mystery of God鈥檚 election鈥�, he said. 鈥淗e looks to the lowly and confounds the powerful; he encourages and inspires us to say 鈥榊es鈥�, like Mary, and to set out on the paths of reconciliation鈥�.
So, he concluded, 鈥渓et us journey, and let us journey together鈥�.
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