Many Catholics probably think pilgrimage is an optional aspect of the Christian life, an exotic extra for those with time and money, like young people who head off for World Youth Day, or empty-nesters with a comfortable savings account who go on a “religious vacation” to Rome or Israel. But the truth is far different.
Pilgrimage is, in fact, a deep theological reality that lies at the foundation of salvation history, Christian discipleship, and the life of the Church.
God's people have always been on pilgrimage
God’s people have been pilgrims from the very beginning, ever since God called Abraham, our “Father in Faith” (Rom 4:12, 16), to leave his home city of Ur and everything he was familiar with to journey to land that God would show him (Gen 12:1). When he arrived, Abraham built an altar and worshipped in the promised land (Gen 12:7-8), for the goal of all pilgrimage is worship and communion with God in sacred space.
Later in salvation history, God would call Abraham’s descendants out of Egypt to journey once more to the promised land, the land of their forefathers (Exod 3:10). The initial reason for this famous “exodus” was actually worship, not political liberation. Moses’s first message to Pharaoh was “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness” (Exod 5:1). The journey of God’s people is always toward purer worship and deeper communion with God. Pharaoh’s resistance escalated the exodus into a permanent departure of Israel from the land of Egypt, a fundamental paradigm for the pilgrimage of God’s people throughout salvation history.
However, it would prove easier to get Israel out of Egypt than to get Egypt out of Israel. So quickly after God re-establishes true worship and communion with his people at the sacred mountain of Sinai (Exod 24:1-8), Israel returns to the worship of the Egyptian bull god (Exod 32:1-6). Pilgrimage is always a time of testing and purification, when we need to throw the false gods out of our luggage and be cleansed of all but worship of the one true God. Israel would need forty years of this testing and purification before she was finally ready to enter the Promised Land, the goal of the pilgrimage begun by Moses but completed by Joshua (Josh 1:1-2).
When Israel entered the land, the liturgical year set up by Moses came into effect, which was structured by three annual pilgrimage feasts: Passover in the Spring, Pentecost in early Summer, and Tabernacles in the Fall (Lev 23:1-44). Three times a year all the men of Israel were obliged to make the journey to the central sanctuary, which was at first the Tabernacle and later the Temple (Exod 23:14-17). For each feast, they brought animals to sacrifice in worship: no one was to appear before God “empty-handed” (Exod 23:15), that is, not ready to show him proper praise and honor.
The books of Samuel and Kings tell the long story of Israel in their land. In the end, the message of these books is that, since Israel did not keep God’s covenant, the Lord sent them on a kind of “anti-pilgrimage” into exile, away from the holy place and holy land, to a place filled with false worship of false gods, Babylon (2 Chron 36:17-21). For seventy years they waited there, making reparation for their sins, till God called them once more to, like their Father Abraham, leave the land of the Chaldeans (that is, the Babylonians, Gen 11:31, 15:7) and journey to the promised land (2 Chron 36:22-23). The Judeans who made this return pilgrimage became the ancestors of Jesus and the Apostles.
The theme of pilgrimage in Jesus' life
When Jesus arrives at the climax of salvation history, his ministry is strongly marked by a pilgrimage motif. He passes by the way and calls men immediately to follow him (Mark 1:16-20), not to “sit with him” or “stand by him,” which implies that he is on a journey toward a destination. In John’s Gospel, Jesus identifies himself as “the Way” (John 14:6) a reference to Isaiah's prophecy that God would make a highway one day on which the redeemed of the Lord would return to Zion and thus to God himself: “A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way … and the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion” (Isa 35:8-10). Likewise, in Luke's Gospel, the culmination of Jesus earthly ministry is an epic pilgrimage from Galilee to Jerusalem for the Passover, which scholars call “The Travel Narrative” (Luke 9:51–19:48). On this pilgrimage, Jesus gathers many fellow pilgrims, who swell to a great multitude that bursts with joy when they finally arrive at the Holy City (Luke 19:37-38). It culminates in the greatest act of worship in human history, the establishment of the Holy Eucharist (Luke 22:14-20).
Christian life: a pilgrimage to the New Jerusalem
In the Epistles, the sacred authors of the New Testament continue to speak of the Christian life as a journey. St. Paul, for example, says, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward toward what lies ahead, I press on toward the prize of the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Likewise, the author of Hebrews declares: “Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come” (Heb 13:14). So we are all, at all times, on a journey, a pilgrimage, toward the city which is to come, the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:2-4).
Thus, the Christian life is one long pilgrimage, and each of the baptized is a pilgrim called to “deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). It is not so much space as time through which we are traveling, as we journey toward the Second Coming, the Final Judgment, and the sweetness of communion with God, who will “wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev 21:4).
Practical implications of being a pilgrim people
The pilgrim nature of the Christian life, in which we are constantly following in the footsteps of Jesus as he leads us toward the heavenly Zion, has several practical implications for the believer.
First of all, it means that the Christian life is never static. We can never stand still, content with what we have attained, considering ourselves to have arrived. Even St. Paul, when describing the holiness to which we are called in Christ, explains: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Phil 3:12).
“Pressing on” is a journeying image, conveying the idea of having to gather one’s strength to continue moving forward toward one’s destination, even though the path may be challenging. Therefore, no matter how many sacraments received, degrees in theology attained, or spiritual books read, a Christian may never consider himself to have “arrived,” no longer needing to grow in holiness and practice the disciplines that lead to that growth.
Second, the Christian life requires effort. Anyone who has been on pilgrimage knows that, even in the modern day with all our comforts, all the travel required puts strain on body and mind. Woe to the physically unfit! But the pilgrimage of the Christian life needs spiritual fitness: “while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way” (1 Tim 4:18)
The Christian needs to establish a daily pattern of (1) prayer, (2) scripture, (3) spiritual reading, (4) the sacraments, especially the Blessed Sacrament, and other spiritual disciplines if he is going to maintain the fitness necessary for this journey. Consider the first converts: “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).
Thirdly, the Christian life will never be without suffering and challenges. In ancient times, pilgrimage was outright life-threatening: a pilgrim realistically did not know whether he or she would return alive from Rome, the Holy Land, or some other holy destination. Even today, with all of our technological advantages, so many setbacks—like lost luggage or passports, missed connections, mechanical failures of planes and boats, miscommunication and separation from one’s traveling companions in a remote place, etc.—are constant and realistic possibilities.
More seriously, our earthly pilgrimage is filled with analogous challenges as well: physical illnesses, death of loved ones, financial setbacks, humiliations, personal attacks, moral failures, and so much more. Yet the apostles counsel us to be ready for such things: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you,” St. Peter tells us, “as though something strange were happening to you!” (1 Pet 4:12, emphasis added). All these things are in due course! Rather, “Rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Pet 4:13). Indeed, as Catholics, we are all in Peter’s boat, the “barque (ship) of Peter,” and the great saint, acting through his successor the Pope, is like our pilgrimage leader as we sail through the heavy seas of history, both personally and as spiritual family, headed toward our heavenly homeland. More than a mental image or word picture, this profound truth gives meaning and direction to our lives, provides us hope in the midst of hardship, helps us see purpose in our sufferings, draws us closer to our brothers and sisters in faith, and offers us a reason for joy in our daily struggles.
Dr. John Bergsma is a Professor of Theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and the Vice President of Mission at The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology
