Viaticum (Food for the Journey)

Last night I had the opportunity to spend some time with my first-year brothers and Fr B. at the seminary. We prayed Vespers (Evening Prayer) together and settled down to watch an episode of one of my favourite ever TV series: Sherlock. And if there are any other fans of the franchise out there, make yourself known to me, because you’re exactly the kind of person I’d love to befriend. To top it all off we enjoyed a nightcap of delicious smoky scotch. Unfortunately, the pleasure was short lived, as I was kept awake most of the night with persistent stomach cramps. I’m still undecided whether to blame the scotch or my nervous excitement for the upcoming journey.

 This morning after Lauds (Morning Prayer) and Mass, Fr B. took us all out for breakfast, and bade us farewell as we embark on the second half of this extended holiday break. He was also kind enough to give my brother Ben and I a special pilgrim’s blessing to prepare us for our travels.

I’m now sitting back in my seminary room, waiting for my clothes to dry outside. I hope to get back home with enough time to say goodbye to my family and friends before I leave. I say “hope” because I’m still totally unaware of when I leave. I sense it must either be tomorrow night (Thursday) or Friday sometime. All will be revealed at 2:30pm today when I pick up my pilgrim pack from the diocesan head office; which will include my plane tickets and the like. I’m usually a very organised person, depending heavily on my own preparation. Being in such a last-minute rush is certainly unnerving, but also carries with it a romantic sense of self abandonment to God’s providence. “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself…” saith the Lord (Mt 6:34).

My challenge now is to work out God’s will in all of this. What is it that I am being called to do? As Fr B. made clear to me, I have a new state of life now. I am a seminarian, and must bear witness as such. My own hope is that this pilgrimage might offer an opportunity to meet other young men in the diocese who may have a calling to this amazing vocation. What better time to go out into the harvest than when the soil is rich in God’s grace? WYD is notorious for its power to predispose young people to the quiet voice of God in their hearts. After all, that is precisely what happened to me...