Reflections on my Pilgrimage to Poland

         Although I didn't advertise it much, I recently made a pilgrimage to Poland with a small group of young adults from the Frassati Society of Young Adult Catholics.  I was the spiritual director for the trip which was based in Krakow, the same place where World Youth Day will be held later this month.  One week ago today we returned to the States.  With a week to recover from jet lag and to reflect on my experience, I thought I'd try to share some of the highlights with you who read my blog.

         First, I was very blessed to be the spiritual guide of a beautiful group of young women who impressed me with their enthusiasm, reverence, love for God and overall joie de vivre.  Although I joked about how difficult it would be for me, a man, to spend nine emotional days with nine women, I cannot help but sing their praises, as the strong witness to faith that they showed deeply bolstered my own.  (There were, of course, plenty of times that I wished there were guys on the trip, but the ladies truly gave me very little to complain about.)

Our pilgrim group after landing in Poland

         Next, my reflections.  As I've been reflecting on my experience, I found that there were so many things that impacted me.  I don't know that I can share them all, however, so I thought I'd try to boil them down into some highlights that might summarize my experience.

1. Saint John Paul II

Without doubt, the face that dominated this pilgrimage was the face of Saint John Paul II.  This makes sense, of course, since we were staying in Krakow, which many have called "the city of John Paul II".  As the first Polish Pope and a canonized saint, it's no wonder that his face dominated our journey.  The Polish people are rightly proud of their saintly son and it certainly showed in every place that we visited.

I myself had to admit that I didn't know St. JPII very well before setting off on this journey.  I knew of him and some of the highlights of his life, but I didn't really know him.  I got to know him both in preparation for this trip and during the trip in a very special way.  He was a very special man who suffered greatly in his life, but who God had obviously destined for great things and who, through faith, achieved them.  Somehow, through all of the darkness he experienced, he continued to live with positivity.  He believed, even through the darkness, that Jesus had overcome it and that all we had to do was to continue to live with this confidence and share it with others to see the victory of Christ realized.  He truly was, as his biographer George Weigel called him, a "Witness to Hope".

From the Saint John Paul II Shrine, just outside of Krakow

Now that I know him better, I feel and understand the powerful devotion that so many people have to him.  I will now look to him as both an example and an intercessor as I strive to become a pastor after the heart of the Good Shepherd.

2. Devotion to Mary

In an article that I read on the way back to the States, it said that St. JPII was greatly responsible for restoring devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary after it had become something "passe" after the Second Vatican Council.  Although I know that Vatican II never downplayed who Mary is and her role in the life of the Church, I read those words and felt a sense that there truly has been a loss of devotion to Mary in many parts of the Church.

This pilgrimage, however, awakened in me my own devotion to Mary.  Our Lady of Czestochowa is a national icon in Poland and I cannot think of one church in which this icon wasn't found.  Poles definitely see her as their mother and John Paul II was no exception.  After his mother died at a young age, his father took him into the parish church in Wadowice where they knelt before the miraculous image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.  His father pointed to the image and said to young Karol, "She is your mother now." Praying before that very same image was powerful for me as I've had a particular devotion to Mary under the that same title.  Seeing that image along with visiting the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa were powerful reminders to me both of Mary's maternal love for me and of her powerful presence in the Church.

Miraculous image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Minor Basilica of the Presentation of Mary in Wadowice, Poland, the childhood home of Pope Saint John Paul II

If all this wasn't enough, there was a museum right next door to our hotel in which an exhibit featuring different images of Mary under the title "Mother of Mercy" was opening while we visited.  Mary was a big part of our pilgrimage experience.

3. Merciful Love

We, of course, are in the middle of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  No pilgrimage to Poland would be complete without a visit to the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy, where Saint Faustina Kowalska received her mystical visions of Jesus who asked her to reignite devotion to his Divine Mercy in the world.  To prepare ourselves for our visit to this shrine, we completed Fr. Michael Gaitley's "33 Days to Merciful Love" as a preparation to consecrate ourselves to Jesus' merciful love.  God's providence could not have been better as our consecration day fell on a Friday, which was the solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist, and in which we could pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy with St. Faustina's sisters at the hour of mercy (3:00 p.m.) in the chapel in which St. Faustina is buried!  The day was overflowing with God's mercy as we (unintentionally) received Benediction from the Blessed Sacrament THREE TIMES that day: once after praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet and then, after returning to Krakow, two more times in two different churches that we visited!

Image of Divine Mercy in the Lower Church of the Sanctuary where we made our consecration to Merciful Love.

Convent and chapel where St. Faustina is buried.

Our hearts were definitely full of God's Mercy on this day and since then.  This is the time of Mercy and I myself know that it is now my task to share both what I've received (an outpouring of God's Mercy) and this devotion with everyone I encounter.

          Wrapping up this reflection, all I can say is how grateful I am to have been invited to be a part of this trip.  The Frassati Society was a big part of what re-integrated me into the Church and led to my discerning a vocation to the priesthood.  Being up in Logansport, I've felt somewhat separated from that group and so being able to be a part of this pilgrimage was a great gift to me.  That, coupled with the chance to celebrate Mass in these holy places did this priest's heart much good.

         My brothers and sisters, this is the time of Mercy!  We must proclaim it from the rooftops that darkness is not the end, but rather that God's goodness and mercy overcomes all.  May Mary, the Mother of Mercy, keep us in her heart and the heart of her Son, Jesus, so that we might have the courage live this message in our lives.

Verso l'alto!