Preparations...

As the day of departure for Australia got closer there were many details that needed to be taken care of. Ensuring that my credit card company knows I will be out of the country and does not lock my account for suspected fraud the first time I charge something in Australia. Making sure that a family member here has a copy of my passport. Doing laundry. Making sure that my pets will be cared for in my absence. Packing.

But in the midst of these more immediate preparations, I was reminded that the preparation process for this pilgrimage has been nearly a year and a half in the making. It was that long ago that I was invited to consider applying to be a Passionist Pilgrim to World Youth Day (WYD). The invitation caught me a little by surprise.

It turns out, much to my surprise, that WYD is not primarily geared to people we here in the states speak about as youth. Instead this is mostly a gathering of young adults. I will be celebrating my 35th birthday while in Sydney, so even in this regard I just barely qualify.

One of the key things about being a pilgrim is that there was going to be a lot more to this preparation process than just getting materially ready for the trip. There was a great deal of spiritual preparation needed for this pilgrimage as well. The group of which I was a part numbered over 40 throughout the "western" part of the United States and began with eight of us in the greater Houston area. Eventually three would drop out and one would be added so there are six of us now. We have met at least monthly for a year and a half for study, prayer, and formation.

This was an essential part of what makes this trip more a pilgrimage and less a vacation.Pilgrims travel with a purpose. That is to say, they both know where they are going and why they are doing it. The journey itself is an essential part of the pilgrimage experience, both there and back. And the pilgrim comes back changed.On Wednesday the local Passionist community, together with the community of Passionist partners and the board of directors of the Holy Name Retreat Center gathered to send us off with a blessing. It was a humbling experience to have so many people make a special effort to gather on a weekday evening to have dinner and pray for us. I feel a sense of responsibilty to all these people to make sure that I both remember them in my prayers on this trip and represent them well.

Traveling in a group is always an interesting experience. Nothing moves nearly as fast as when you do things by yourself. This morning five of us that live in the same part of Houston gathered together for our trip to the airport. There was much confusion and great drama as people made their last minute packing decisions. In fact, when we got to Intercontinental we spent quite some time shifting things around before we ever checked in. Once we got to LAX there was considerable confusion on where we were supposed to go to check in for our international flight. It turns out that you check in at different places depending on whether you are flying to Sydney or Melbourne. Once we finally found the right place, we were delayed when we discovered that one of our group had been issued a visa by the Australian government with his name as Martinezc. I guess they thought he must have been from eastern Europe. Ten minutes were enought to figure that out at least.

Right now I am sitting in the International Airport in Los Angeles, having flown in this morning from Houston, awaiting my flight to Melbourne. I am meeting the other Passionist pilgrims from around the United States, all of whom have now flown in the from every corner of the country. These are the people with whom I will be traveling, praying, eating, and being formed for the next two weeks. Right now I am struggling just to remember all of their names!

Trying to find ones place in the midst of a group is always a challenge. Trying to feel like I belong is never something that I have done easily or naturally. Being a pretty strong introvert does not help. This will probably be the biggest challenge that I face as we continue.

I must say that I am not looking forward to the flight itself. Approximately 15 hours on a single plane without a stop is quite some time.

The pilgrimage has begun.