Food, Faith, and Fellowship

Over the summer I was given the opportunity to go on nine day pilgrimage. While the sites and food were enough to make it memorable, the people on the trip really put it over the top. On paper, it shouldn’t have worked. Our group consisted of 40 people from all across the United States. From California to Boston and Chicago to Texas, we had every corner covered. Of the 40, only 3 were under the age of 30 (me being the youngest), 30 or so were my parents age, and the rest close to my grandparents’ age. Whenever I would tell friends about my trip, they thought I was crazy for going with 40 strangers.

During those nine days, I managed to either have dinner, joke around with, or get to know everyone in our group. It was a very unique group. One minute I can be hearing the story of one pilgrim who had a very rough life, recently began to find God, and is currently in RCIA. The next minute, I’m on the floor laughing over one of his jokes at dinner. One second we are all crying after a moving moment at Mass, the next we are shopping for souvenirs. It hit me, this is what we are called to do within our faith community. To share a meal together (both dinner and more importantly the Eucharist), to support each other spiritually, to help each other (like when one of the older members had a mini asthma attack and several members immediately sprang to help her), to laugh together, these are important parts of our community. Now no matter what corner of the United States I travel, I know I have a friend and a meal awaiting.

Imagine if we were like this with everyone in our local church, in our local diocese, in our town, in our country, in our world. If we could learn to laugh together, to cry together, to pray together, our world would change. Just like everyone on my pilgrimage was there for a common reason, so too is everyone in the world. We are all here because God loves us.