domingo, agosto 11, 2019

Pilgrimage

Em português
En français
My husband and I took a quick trip this August, driving around the Gaspé Peninsula on "Route des Navigateurs", a classic road trip. Seeing the crowded roads, full of people going toward some destination, I remembered my departed loved ones, also thinking of all the people who went on their last trip – roads are full of pilgrims. And, maybe, because Father's Day in Brazil was approaching, I thought a lot about mine. To my surprise, we passed a small town named St-Yvon. I had never heard of it, nor did I know that there was a saint – another one – with my father's name.
My father was a saint. Not only me who say that, I have always heard about it – even when he was still alive – from people who knew him. His vast culture helped by his privileged intelligence caused him no affectation; his humility was sincere and true. He spent his life giving to others what he was and what he learned, possessing a rare kindness, cultivated by a great faith.
Our holidays also reminded us of the trip of St. Joseph and St. Mary, pregnant with the Child Jesus, to Bethlehem, for the census. We've had a tiny idea of what their suffering had been, finding no lodging anywhere. We ended up finding a place to stay, after an entire day on the road, stopping in every city, knocking on the door of every hotel we saw. All of them were already complete. When we were exhausted, in the evening, we were finally welcomed by a booking cancellation.
We were not in a stable; on the contrary, the hotel was far more luxurious – and more expensive – than what we wanted, and it also was another frustration. This is our life here. We may try to improve it, but there will always be some kind of suffering. If we had booked a hotel before, we would not have gone through this trouble, but we certainly can’t avoid all the problems in our lives.
This experience has been useful, and made me think more deeply about life, inspired by the Holy Family and St-Yvon. The mystery of Jesus' participation in the history of suffering and then redeeming us by his Resurrection... In honor of my father, who was Catholic (I won't say very Catholic, because we are or are not), I will try to meditate on all this for not to throw away everything he taught us and passed on. Although it is tiny I give my testimony; it may be somehow effective in order to avoid the footsteps of our pilgrimage to be lost.
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