Taking off and in Paris

Firstly, every member of the 2012 Champagnat Pilgrimage group has been thinking of everyone back home; you have been in our prayers and thoughts!! The blog entry you are about to read was initially set up as a breakdown of what happened each day, but due to the fact that last night was the first time we were able to upload any information, I have decided to condense it down to a rough snapshot of what has already been a very moving and memorable experience of walking in the footsteps of Marcellin Champagnat.

The beginning of our journey, has already been one of surprises. Those initial feelings of nervous anticipation and contained excitement have quickly dissipated within our first few days here in Paris. Having visited the magnificent Saint Sulpice Basilica where Marcellin must have prayed and maybe even said mass and also having stood in the courtyard of Missions Etrangers where Marcellin stayed whilst in Paris (both resting and recuperating)...you can understand that Marcellin found some peace and contentment whilst spending time in Paris...there is a sense of escaping the world and you can get lost in the beauty that lies hidden behind so many corners. 

Here is just a snapshot of what it was like getting from Australia to Paris:

We basically all arrived in Singapore having had about a 7.5 hour flight. It was a movie marathon session with The Descendants and The Artist seeming to be the main movies of choice. Disembarking the plane, the pilgrims from across Australia finally met and what was (for example) a group of 8 from Adelaide became a group of 38 from Australia...the Marist Pilgrimage group of 2012.

The next leg of our journey was the 13.5 hour flight from Singapore to London...mega movie marathon for those that couldn’t sleep!! Huge cudos to Marie, Carole and Brother Tony (our fearless and tireless leaders) who managed to negotiate such a large group through the various airport terminals to see us connect with our flight from London to Paris (not as smooth as one would imagine...security section nearly had a couple of people miss their flight).  Needless to say, God was working with us...and the third leg of our journey saw us negotiating our way out of the baggage carousel in Paris into a ground swell of people...and yes, we did find each other and our pink bus. With a sigh of relief (and that was from many of our swollen ankles), we sat back and allowed our bus driver to driect us to our place of residence for the next few days: Hotel Magendie, Rue Corvisert, Paris.

I believe you can tell the fundamental cohesiveness of a group when they are hit with a mild sniff of adversity...we had ours when discovering that after 24+ hours in planes and airports and somewhat in need of freshening up and putting on our best visage for Paris...that our rooms were not going to be ready until 2pm. Our response to that: we dumped our bags in a few rooms and went out to greet Paris...the sun was shining, the sky was blue...not a moment was to be wasted!  

From the tourist perspective, the group has definitely made the most of every prominent site across this spectacular landscape. Each day has seen us crisscross the terrain and every morning over breakfast, the banquet of what was devoured the day before has been shared: Notre Dame, Champs Elysees, Le Louvre, Tomb of Napoleon I, Sacre Coeur, Montmartre...and who could forget...the Eiffel Tower (both by day and night, unbelievably spectacular..and it is that reality check that  you are actually in Paris...it is no longer surreal)!  And the food...well, all I can say is...creme brulee!!

It’s been more than just  site seeing though (and gaining a few blisters along the way)...it’s been about absorbing an historical perspective of Marcellin...not only where he walked and what he would have seen but also, through the sharings of Brother Neville, we have gained an awareness of what was happening in his world at the same time. Napoleon and the Revolution, the changes within the Church...Marcellin’s own vision for his order...I know we have only scratched the surface and there is so much to still discover. Paris was enchanting, mesmerising and the memories...especially shared with this groupd of people, will stay with me for my lifetime...but what is even more exciting is that the Hermitage awaits!!

Brother John McMahon...we know that you have been with us in spirit...and our prayers are with you!!

Tracey Dorian

Wednesday April 4 6.00 p.m - Messages from Paris

Have now spent 2 and 1/2 days in Paris, part of our time walking in the steps of Marcellin, while other times we are just walking between the architectural beauties of this famous city.

We have all been working hard trying to remember names of all in group. With 38 this is a bit of a challenge, especially for those of us who don’t have a good head for names. The bigger challenge will be to ensure we take the opportunity to spend some quality time with as many in the group as possible to find out their story and to learn from them within this three weeks of shared experience. John McMahon provided what appeared sound advice prior to our departure from Melbourne which was to ensure that we spent time listening. Important for our interactions within the group and for those whom we encounter on the way to ensure we develop the richness of the experience.

So in short some highlights to now:

·         The architecture, everywhere you look just another magnificent structure.

·         The Louvre. The opulence and the obvious historical wealth and excess which led to such a place is difficult to comprehend.

·         Br Neville Solomon’s sharing of his wisdom and insights into Marcellin Champagnat and bringing him to life so richly in Marcellin’s homeland.

·         St. Sulpice, Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. What magnificent celebrations of the richness of our Catholic traditions and how Jesus Christ can inspire such creativity, craftship and care. They are breath taking.

·         Mons. Jeffrey’s leading us with humility and great insight in a wonderful shared mass this morning at the Seminary of the Foreign Missions. A place where Marcellin lived and worked in 1838 while unwell but determined to work through the politics of the day to have the work of the Brothers approved by the government. Thanks Mons. for a service we are so appreciative to be a part of and thankful you are with us.

The group is all going well. Some tired legs and a few blisters. Our thoughts and prayers are ever present for John McMahon. As after three or so days it is so difficult to describe how fortunate, privileged and blessed we feel for the gift that John has provided to us through his work in establishing and maintaining the pilgrimage.

I know others will also place posts on the blog for this part of the trip, with some photos to follow. All the best to those back home.

John Geary

Catholic College Bendigo

Up, up and away!

Nearly forty pilgrims left Australia today for the commencement of the 2012 Champagnat Pilgrimage. Pilgrims flew from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Airports and will assemble in Singapore this evening prior to their flight together to London and then on to Paris tomorrow morning.  All seem to be looking forward to sharing their experiences together and to gaining a deeper insight into the spirituality and mission of Marcellin Champagnat.  We wish them bon voyage!

John McMahon

Pilgrims leaving from Melbourne being farewelled by a few supporters

Learning about Africa

Br Rod Thomson has pointed us to this very valuable presentation about the importance of understanding context when we meet a new people.  The video takes about 18 minutes and will help us prepare for our time away, particularly our time in Africa.  The video can be viewed here: Learning about Africa

John McMahon

Pilgrimage in Africa

Carole Wark kindly offers us the following tribute to recently deceased Br Charles Howard:

'[Charles] also wrote a pastoral letter to the Brothers of Africa, entitled "Pilgrimage in Africa".  This letter must have remained close to his heart since he quoted it at length in some private memoirs.  "The title may seem strange.  But it has been a pilgrimage in a real sense, a visiting of holy places, if one defines a holy place as one where God is found, where God speaks to us - through the goodness of people, through the needs of others, through the terrible suffering of many of His sons and daughters...

How often, as I saw hundreds and thousands of young people going to school in the morning, I wondered about their future... all their dreams and hopes and aspirations... knowing that, unless there were drastic changes, many of them would be frustrated in their efforts to find employment, to use the skills they had learnt, to fulfill their dreams...

Any visitor to Africa cannot but be struck by the role of women in society.  As the bishops of Zambia mentioned recently, "they are the background of our families and the leading actors in our economy."  ...  Here, as in most countries, women constitute the majority of the active Church members, whether lay or religious.  But for a variety of reasons - lack of formation, male dominance, forms of clericalism - they are often absent from decision-making in the Church.

The question for us is:  what are we being called to do?... what does this mean for us?... or do we think it is something that concerns only the politicians and other leaders?  Are there some signs of the times for [Marists] here?" '

Carole adds:

'These thoughts of Charles and his questions echo my reflections following some other reading I was doing yesterday on the numbers and patterns of attendance of girls in Kenyan schools and how the HIV/AIDS situation has impacted on the education of post-primary school girls in particular.  Our time together in Africa will have much to say to our hearts, I'm sure, and challenge significantly the work of our hands on our return.'

Thank you Carole.

John McMahon

Visiting the Travel Doctor

Hello fellow Marist pilgrims.

I hope that you are all enjoying counting down the short time remaining until we hit the skies together heading for Champagnat country. I can't wait!

As part of our preparation we were reminded about ensuring that our vaccinations were all up to date for Africa.  I had my jabs on Monday, have the second lot booked for Monday of next week and the final series one month away.  

Not being a seasoned traveller to Asia or Africa, I was interested to find that my local doctor was not able to give me the required yellow fever vaccination and suggested that I head for my closest Travel Vaccination Centre.  The doctor there was passionate about his work, and spent quite some time explaining to me every possibility for germ and virus disaster imaginable.  Suffice to say that I'd urge you, my fellow pilgrims, to make sure that you don't leave organising the jabs until the last minute.  Apparently we'll need the vaccination certificate to enter Rwanda as much as we'll need our passports.

The doctor also issued me with this advice:

When travelling in Africa and thinking food, which is me always, cook it, boil it, peel it and don't touch the animals.  I passed on the rabies shots, at $500 a pop and with 3 in the series.  My friendly doctor assured me that my travel insurance company will be happy to pay for immediate evacuation to London should I be unlucky enough to be bitten by a bat, a monkey or a dog.  I'll be relying on all of you to remind me when we're there to avoid anything with fur and teeth!!!

No pain, no gain.  Go get your shots.  See you for our meetings in just a few weeks.

Blessings,

Carole

Twelve weeks until our Pilgrimage!

A very happy New Year to each of you! Two of our 2012 pilgrims, Tracey Dorian and Steve Chapman have kindly agreed to upload posts to our blog.  We look forward to hearing from them and any others who would like to contribute.

Our 2010 blog proved to be a great means of communicating and sharing with each other and our families and friends back home.  This photograph shows Peter White, surrounded by other pilgrims, making a presentation to the Principal of one of our Marist schools in Guatemala during our last Champagnat Pilgrimage.

John McMahon