NOTE: In our terminology, Faith and Light comprises
- Young people (those with handicaps)
- their Parents
- Friends (everyone else)
The smallest among us, the most wounded, teach us what it means to be "pilgrims": to travel light, unburdened by unnecessary baggage, and therefore ready to share the weight others carry; trusting that our guides will lead us down the right path, even when we cannot see it ourselves; patient, even when the road is long and we move at the pace of the smallest, arriving far later than we wish; and full of joy, ready to celebrate and sing along the way.
Every day we are called to be "pilgrims" in just this way. So why, then, undertake a pilgrimage?
Paradoxically, for us a pilgrimage is a "stopping point" along the road we walk always. A pause in a holy place where we meet together, having traveled from distant lands, and rest while listening to what the Lord wants to say to our hearts.
These moments help us keep our pace steady and give us proof that we are on the right road. We take heart seeing so many old friends again—but above all, so many new ones, a sign that Faith and Light moves forward, that the Holy Spirit has never stopped working for us in extraordinary ways.
So when we grow weary, our step steadies; when we have lost our way, we find light again. At Assisi especially, we went to meet Saint Francis and sit at his school of poverty, humility, and simplicity—of harmony with all creation. A school of peace.
And today more than ever, a pilgrimage means seeking the path of peace and marking it so the whole world can follow. The more we walk it, the easier it becomes for everyone to find. And when our voices rise together like this in pilgrimage, so many of us speaking at once, they reach higher still—straight into the Lord's heart—and they are heard.
To walk together, above all, teaches us to hold the smallest ones closer and to affirm their place of honor at the heart of our communities. That is what our pilgrimage means. That is already to have found the way.
by Anna Cece, 1986
