A young adult’s call to pilgrimage

My name is Johnny Higgins and I am a pilgrim. This is a sentence that only two or three years ago would have been a stretch of the imagination for those who know me. Although I was still attending Mass at Easter and Christmas, I had gone through a period of a decade where I was not a regular Mass attendee but always felt an emptiness in my soul each Sunday. Three years ago, whilst at a crossroads in my life and career I moved to a secluded seaside town on the South island of New Zealand to re-evaluate my life. Whilst living in this area, I had a revelation that I wished to start going back to mass again and thankfully availed of the one weekly Catholic Service in the town and realised that all my life in the comfort and security of the Western World, I had taken for granted the privilege to practice the Catholic faith which others in many parts of the world past and present are cruelly denied.

This makes the journey of Franciscan pilgrimage which I will undertake from Rome to Assisi this Summer and the practice of retreat sacrosanct as it allows me to devote my attention and love to The Father, Son and Holy Spirit and reflect on what is asked of me as St Francis of Assisi did when he renounced his families’ great fortune to live in the service and care of the poor more than eight centuries ago. Whilst living and working in modern times it is easy to be occupied by physical wealth and asset accumulation, however, nourishment of the soul and closeness with the creator are the only riches that can satisfy any of us in the context of eternity.

Pilgrimage at this time in the world is all the more important in the backdrop of the current participatory renaissance which is being undergone in the Catholic Church. Be this the record number of baptisms in France, the surge in mass attendance in the United Kingdom and the sheer momentum behind the conversion rates in the United States, I firmly believe that in centuries to come these years will be looked upon as a critical new dawn for the Church. For anyone to take part in a pilgrimage within this environment is as inspiring as it is an honour. As with all pilgrimages, not every element will be easy, and I am sure challenges will be ahead but there is no better way to take time out of one’s busy life schedule than to imitate the life of St Francis of Assisi.

I will walk to Assisi from Rome with a full heart and a number of dreams one of which is to meet the Holy Father who will be attendance at the ‘Go Assisi’ festival this August. Meeting Pope Leo has enormous spiritual significance for me as when I was returning to the faith, I was attending weekly mass at my local Augustinian Abbey in Fethard, Ireland which he visited in 2007. I touched his signature on the visitor book which was then of Prior Generalis Robert F. Prevost whilst praying that I would one day meet him. I hope that by making my Franciscan pilgrimage I can fulfil this dream and feel his grace to help all those who come into contact with me in my Spiritual and Earthly deeds. God bless the Pope, God Bless Francis of Assisi and God Bless all Pilgrims congregating at all Holy Christian sites this summer.