Pilgrims in the Body of Christ

In the last few weeks l walked almost 400km through the South of France and over the Pyrenees. I was on pilgrimage, walking the way of St James, as countless others have done over the last thousand years.

One of the great debates we had walking along our daily 25km was about the nature of pilgrimage. Should pilgrims walk or drive, look like pilgrims, carry their own bags, attend Mass, visit Churches on the way, say the Rosary, do penance, drink, go out, whinge about blisters, be kind to each other, walk long or short daily distances? The only thing we all agreed on was that these were all the wrong questions, because they are externals. Pilgrimage is about journey, connection, being open to surprises. You cannot undertake a pilgrimage knowing exactly how and where it will end.

Our little pilgrimage group was fortunate, we had daily Eucharist. Each day people joined us because they understood what it was. Some came close and some looked from afar, some received communion & others did not. Eucharist is pilgrims food for a pilgrim people, and we are all able to participate to the extent we are comfortable.

The other day Pope Francis said, "the Eucharist sanctifies us, purifies us and unites us in a marvellous communion with God. In that way we learn that the Eucharist is not a prize for the good, but strength for the weak; for sinners it is pardon; it is the viaticum that helps us move forward, to walk."

In other words: Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect but sustenance for the sinful! That is not to beat up ourselves or others, it is just an acknowledgement of our human condition.

We are that pilgrim people and this is our sustenance. Today the Liturgy of the Hours exhorts us: "Eat this sacred food, so that your bond of unity with Christ may never be broken. Drink this sacred blood, the price he paid for you, so that you may never lose heart because of your sinfulness."

Eucharist is not just about feeding. It is about unity. We receive the body of Christ because we are the body of Christ!

Pope Francis continued: "Christ, present among us under the sign of bread and wine, demands that power of love overcome every fracture and, at the same time, become communion with the poor, support for the weak and fraternal concern for those who struggle to bear the weight of daily life and are in danger of losing their faith,"

Being Eucharist changes us, it opens and heals us, it changes us from being competitive, arrogant, triumphant and vain. These things. says Francis: "devalues us, makes us mediocre, tepid, insipid Christians, pagans."

We are on pilgrimage together, the great unwashed with our strengths and weaknesses, our sanctity and sinfulness. We are the Body of Christ: we put ourselves on this altar and receive from it the Body of Christ, our meagre but honest gifts sacramentally transformed through the power of the redemption and the Holy Spirit.