- Home
- Blog News
- Our Journey
- Sights and Sounds
- Resources
- Messages
Messages
12th June, 2009 - Posted by CatholicLIFE -
Would you like the pilgrimage group to pray for you?
Do you want to wish them well on their journey?
Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions for the pilgrimage group and/or the blog?
Leave us a note here!
Posted on: June 12, 2009
Filed under: You MUST use a Category for the Post to be seen!
39 Guestbook Entries
Archbishop Mark
July 6th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Nice to hear from you up there in Darwin, Greg. I’m now in Washington DC attending a meeting to do with the trannslation of the Missal. It seems a million miles away from the world of Paul through which we joyfully trudged, but I hope there is a link of some kind…the Gospel at least! The pilgrimage was a great experience, despite the hitches in Rome (some things never change). Next time we might have to arrange an Archdiocesan Pilgrimage to the Top End. Stay tuned on that. Regards to my old mate, Eugene Hurley.
Greg Thompson Anglican Bishop of the Northern Territory
July 6th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Hi Archbishop Mark and fellow pilgrims,
G’day from Darwin. All the best on your journey with St Paul.Canberra followers told me of your adventure. in my prayers and thoughts, Bp Greg Thompson Darwin NT
Martin Pannell
June 30th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Prayers & love from your Wollongong family friends =) Julian is now 5 & has a younger bother Sebastian 3 weeks today! Olivia is 10 & Emily is 8 & all 6 of us Pannells send our love & prayers. Peace…
Gemma Duffy
June 30th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Blessings to you all and wishing you a safe journey home. Have enjoyed following your footsteps and thank God for the courage of the early
Christians and the wonders of modern technology! Today here in Ballina we had the e-conference on St Paul. I remember the great journey of Fr. Francis in his ACT Synod and feel blessed to have had such experiences as these.
God be with you.
Stephen Utick
June 30th, 2009 at 8:13 am
Final Blog from Rome
Yesterday marked the end of this wonderful pilgrimage. The Papal mass to celebrate the Feast of St Peter and Paul was a blessed experience, but I shall not forget also the homily of reflection on Vatican II that Archbishop Francis gave in the chapel of St Columba in the crypt of St Peters on the Sunday.
Rome is an extraordinary mixture of the ancient, modern and postmodern. At the conclusion of the pilgrimage formalities I took the opportunity to climb the Palatine Hill through the Forum and to reflect on how Christianity eventually conquered the pagan might of Rome - from the Temples of Saturn, Adonis, Heliogabalus, and even the terrifying Temple of Cybele. The cross of Christ preached by Paul brought all to rubble.
Just a thought of hope as we face the challenges of our own times.
God bless and Arrivederci
Fr Jaison Mulerikkal CMI
June 30th, 2009 at 5:00 am
The pilgrimage is a great success, especially the curiosity it generated in the web space and around. Congrats to Bishop Mark, Fr Francis and to Catholic life - I think, they made this an event in the blogosphere!
Fr Simon Falk
June 30th, 2009 at 4:43 am
Greetings Pilgrims from Melbourne Australia!
As this message appears you may be in the air - homeward bound! It seems that what happens on pilgrimage does not stay on pilgrimage. May your travels be safe, peaceful and exciting as you bring your experiences back to enrich the faith of us all.
Grace and peace.
Fr Mick Mac Andrew
June 30th, 2009 at 3:28 am
To all the pilgrims in Rome, thank you for allowing us to share in the experience. Thanks for giving up your privacy. Really enjoyed the reflections, the “back of the bus” sharings and of course the pics and videos.
Special thanks to Neil Harrigan, Archbishop Coleridge and all posters for ‘going the extra mile’to make the Virtual Pilgrimage available to us.
Maureen O'Brien
June 30th, 2009 at 2:27 am
Hello to Archbishop Mark, Father Francis and all the pilgrims.
It sounds like you are all having a very prayerful and inspirational time following in St Pauls’ footsteps. We are especially thinking of Fr Francis as we have enjoyed many visits from him for Mass at Ariah Park in recent months. Tell him we have had rain and the crops are coming up nicely, please continue your prayers for all your rural friends out west, as we will for you all. Keep safe!
Footsteps of Saint Paul » PM Kevin Rudd joins the virtual pilgrimage
June 30th, 2009 at 1:45 am
[...] About the BloggersAbout the PilgrimageMessages Resources [...]
Kevin Rudd and Therese Rein
June 29th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Greetings to Ursula and Bob, Archbishop Mark and your fellow pilgrims.
St Peter’s is truly an inspiring place.
As is Paul, whose journeys you followed all the way to Rome. Truly the Apostle to the Gentiles.
While you’ve been in Rome today, I have been visiting the good Sisters at the Convent of Blessed Mary McKillop here in Kirribilli. They are excited at her progress towards sainthood. I told them in part it would be enhanced by her taking on the Archbishops of her day - but don’t tell Archbishop Mark I said so.
Next week I see the Holy Father in Rome myself and will pass on their greetings and yours too when I do so.
Peace to you all.
Aaron McDonnell
June 29th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Dear Pilgrims,
What a brilliant site this is! … Ive thoroughly enjoyed reading your regular posts and watching the clips! … We truly are journeying with you!
May you enjoy the rest of your pilgrimage and I pray that you will all be blessed and enlightened as you continue to journey in the footsteps of St Paul!
Regards and best wishes,
Aaron
anne Gallagher
June 27th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Thanks and blessings to the kind pilgrims who can pass this message on to Elizabeth from her daughter Anne. I am in Thailand and leave early Sunday morning for Burma where I will be cut off from all contact for a week (don’t ask…). I wish my dear mother and her fellow pilgrims a wonderful stay in Rome. What a way to end your amazing journey! Safe travels.
Zachary & Alex Griffith
June 27th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Hello Gran,(Elizabeth Gallagher) It is Zach and Alex. We have been looking at your journey and finally found a picture of you. We are glad that you are listening to your Ipod and having lots of rest!
We hope you are having a fabulous time and taking lots of photos to show us when you get home. We miss you and love you Gran, Zach and Ali xxx
Mum sends her love too. She said she will ring you soon.
Stephen Utick
June 26th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
The Viper at Philippi
In travelling in the footsteps of St Paul, we can gain an appreciation (from the comfort of the coach) the hardships experienced by the apostle Paul. In Acts 28: 3-4, we learn that Paul was bitten by a viper while in Malta.
As if on cue, while walking through the ruins in ancient Philippi in Northern Greece on Thursday 25 June, we encountered a small viper sunning itself on a newly excated stone at the exit to the ancient theatre. It was killed by the Greek workman on the archaeological site by chopping it up (although only after something of a panic from the work team). The pilgrims held their nerve!
Stephen Utick (PS just arrived in Rome)
Norman Ainsworth
June 25th, 2009 at 7:55 am
Dear Pilgrims, Thank you for your faithful sharing of the experience of walking in the footsteps of St Paul. The enormity of the impact of St Paul is coming alive through your daily blogs. Ann and I pray that the pilgrimage will continue to go well and for good health and safe travelling.A special thanks to Fr Fancis for connecting us to this site and for the blessing from Thessoloniki.
Anne Gallagher
June 24th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
After a week of careful scanning I finally found my mother, Elizabeth Gallagher, in one of the photos on your site. I would be most grateful if the web-savvy pilgrims could pass on our love to her. Congratulations on the Virtual Pilgrimage. It has been so enjoyable to follow your trip in this way.
Neil Harrigan
June 24th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I am sitting in the back of the bus with a storm all around us and listening to our extraordinary guide, a young Greek man whose knowledge on histroy and geography but especially on the context of the mission of St Paul has been an inspiration for us all. We are on the road from Thessoliniki to our next acquaintance with Paul in Phillipi.
all our prayers. Neil
Archbishop Francis Carroll
June 24th, 2009 at 9:36 am
St Paul was not only a spiritual giant but he must also have had great physical stamina to walk the distances we are travelling in the comfort of a bus. As we leave Thessoloniki may I join Paul in his blessing to the church there and sent it to you all “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ”.
+ Francis
Stephen Utick
June 24th, 2009 at 4:51 am
Alexander the Great and Paul - When Footsteps Cross
In the Monastery of Barlaam in Meteora, there is an intriguing fresco depicting the holy Blessed Sisois gazing upon and weeping over the skeleton of Alexander the Great. The lesson was to be a timeless one, all the world has to offer is nothing - God is everything. The contrast between the life and death of Alexander and that of Paul could not be more starker. Realistically, if you asked any testosterone-filled young man (of any time) which life he would prefer -the glory of conquest, athletic strength, the beauty, the georgeous women, the untold wealth, the adulation of the powerful, the death amidstluxury and orgy of Alexander or the life of Paul, I have no doubt that the big queue would be buying tickets to Alexander the Great. Both Alexander and Paul changed the world - the former with the power of his intellect, charisma and the sword; the latter armed with faith, intellect, driving energy and the sword of the Spirit. Paul had death by beheading and hard life full of persecution and contention everywhere.
With Alexander’s death, his Empire fragmented; with Paul’s death, Paul’s “Empire” so gained in the name of crucified Jesus would change the world in a way that an Alexander could never conceive.
God’s Blessings
Stephen Utick
June 23rd, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Who was that ‘Unknown God’? (Acts 17.23)
Athens and the Areopagus seem well behind the pilgrimage now and I felt so privileged to be there when Archbishop Mark led us in prayer and reflection on that most historical of sites. We also learned much from our scholarly Greek guide James who gave us some insights into who or what ‘the unknown god’ (which Paul noticed on an altar inscription) might have been. As you might know, Paul used this in his attempts to convert the sophisticated crowd in First Century Athens. There are four main theories bounching around in the scholarly literature:(i) The cautious piety of the Greek pagans to ensure no god was missed out; (ii) the pagan diety Pan who, according to myth, had once warned the Athenians during a close run battle that he had not been forgotten (iii) an offended diety referred to in a warning by 6th Century BC Cretan poet and oracle Epimenidis (Paul quotes him in the Letter to Titus). Epimenidis’ warning followed an outbreak of plague in Athens; and (iv) the “one great mind” or god of the philosophers (many philosophers such as Xenophanes of Colophon were highly sceptical of the pantheon of anthropomorphic gods). Athens was of course the home to many great schools of philosophy. Paul, that great apostle, knew the religious predicament of the ancient world so well!
Helen Browne
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:43 am
Hello Father Emil and all at Moruya Parish from our prlgrimage, having a wonderful time, each place excells the last. It is a different world over here. We have special tickets to Vespers with the Holy Father in Rome in a couple of days. Keeping you all in our prayers. Continuing our journey now to Berea in northern Greece.
God Bless, Ian, Helen and Norma.
Fr Warrick Tonkin
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:33 am
After the majesty of the monastic communities of Meteroea we are now traversing the central Macedonia, the home territory of Phillip and Alexander the Great. St. Paul knew this area well. While we are travelling by air-conditioned coach, Paul went on foot, and the landscape is far from flat. The apostle to the Gentiles was nothing if not fit. Soon we will celebrate Mass at Berea, where Paul also stopped and preached.
Neil Harrigan
June 23rd, 2009 at 10:27 am
We have just had one of our major exeperiences as we visited the monasteries of Meteora
Stephen Utick
June 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Greetings from a pilgrim and especially to anyone at ACU National! Hello and may the blessings of Our Blessed Lord be upon all who read the message board. We are currently at Amalia Hotel Kalambaka.
We have experienced a stunning panorama of religious and cultural experiences - Athens, Corinth, Rhodes, Patmos, Ephesus (Turkey) and now Meteora.
Many wonderful insights to reveal.
Stephen Utick
Archbishop Mark
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Hi Jude (Archbishop!)…what a pleasant surprise to see your comment and to know that you are journeying with us from the Central African Republic and Chad. You know, I hope, how much we valued your pilgrimage among us in Australia. Our pilgrim prayers go with this little message: “may God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfilment”. Arrivederci, caro…
Catherine Smibert
June 22nd, 2009 at 7:40 am
Blessings Pilgrim Team -
Please pray for evangelisation through the new media in the bold spirit of St Paul!
Mary Gallagher
June 20th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Hello, my name is Mary and I am one of Elizabeth Gallagher’s daughters. It has been wonderful to read the various blogs and view the clips! This has allowed our family to have an insight into Mum’s exciting journey. If any of the pilgrims read this, I would appreciate you telling Elizabeth how much she is missed and we are praying for a joyful trip and safe return. All our love, Mary, Scott, Zach and Alex.
Heidi-May McReynolds
June 20th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Hey all I am the grand daughter of Ted McReynolds. I’m praying for all of the pilgrims and Oliver Ross whose missing his mother
Jen Roberts
June 20th, 2009 at 8:02 am
I am Jennifer, daughter of Eileen who is taking part in this pilgrimage. I pray for Oliver Ross who is 14 and missing his mum. God belss you all and have a safe trip.
Creos Mary Roman
June 20th, 2009 at 2:06 am
Dear Archbishop Mark,
It is so good to see you leading pilgrims on this and life’s journey.
We still miss you in Melbourne, but we can see the mighty things you are doing for the Lord as Archbishop.
I ask for prayers for my intention to return and live in Kolkata, I want this to be, but it is up to God, please pray for me.
I pray all God’s blessings on you all and may Mary protect you on your journey.
I hope know one develops a thorn in thier side!
In Christ
Br CreosMary
Anne Gallagher
June 20th, 2009 at 12:42 am
Hello, I am the daughter of Elizabeth Gallagher, one of the pilgrims on this exciting trip. Elizabeth’s children (Mary, Paul, John, myself, William, Frances and Patrick) as well as her many friends are thrilled that she is there and ask the fellow pilgrims to keep a special eye on this wonderful person.
Dennis Sleigh
June 18th, 2009 at 5:46 am
And for all those years I thought I had been named after Denis the Air Pilot! Isn’t a bit of culture a wonderful thing!
Now is the time for the Spiritual Support Group back in Oz to pray sincerely for the pilgrims – we don’t want any of you to get sick, even for one day. The coming days will, of course, be a wonderful opportunity for the spiritual enrichment of each of you, and I was wondering if maybe one or two of you (different people each day, perhaps) could compose and share a short prayer that captures some of what you are experiencing. It would be a special gift to us back home.
Travel in joy.
Dennis
Jude Thaddeus Okolo (Apostolic Nuncio)
June 17th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Your Grace, Archbishop Mark,
Dear Pilgims following the footsteps of St Paul,
I join in praising this wonderful initiative. May the Good Lord bless your missionary pilgrimage and may He make it very fruitful for you all and for your dear families. Australia continues to offer the best for its sons and daughters. I cherished my stay in your wonderful and exotic land. May the faith of the people grow stronger everyday. Have a nice and safe trip, as you follow St Paul. God bless you.
Jude M T Okolo (Archbishop)
Bernadette Taylor
June 17th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Hello! my name is Bernadette Taylor. I am Ted McReynolds’ eldest daughter. Could you please give dad this message. I come from Forbes in central NSW. I am praying for all the pilgrims and hope you all pray for me and my family. Thanks Dad for the phone call. It was good to hear from you.
Bernadette
Oliver Ross
June 16th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Please reply soon Mum.
OLiver Ross
June 16th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Hi I am Oliver Ross, son of Donna Ross who is on the pilgrimage I am 14 and pray for Donna 2 B safe.
Fr Jaison Mulerikkal CMI
June 16th, 2009 at 1:28 am
Dear Bishop Mark and all fellow pilgrims, It’s a wonderful idea to follow the footsteps of Paul in this year of Paul. I would have loved to do that. Unfortunately my studies dont permit me at this time
But I am really interested in this blog! Another wonderful idea. I shall keep a keen watch on it. Even though I’m not with you, I’m happy that I could draw inspiration from your experiences, thru this blog. God bless. Keep us all in your prayers.
Judy Mac Andrew
June 14th, 2009 at 4:55 am
Hello my name is Judy MacAndrew. I am Fr Mick MacAndrew’a sister. I live in Brisbane. I think this is a marvelous idea and I feel I am walking the Footsteps of St Paul with you. All my prayers and blessings for a safe trip. Prayers for me as you visit all the beautiful places following in Saint Paul’s footsteps. God Bless. Judy.
Sign My Guestbook