This story takes place this past summer. I went on pilgrimage with 90 Americans, to World Youth Day in Krakow. But before going to Poland we spent a couple of weeks in France, and made a smaller pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, which is where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette. After a couple of apparitions, Mary told Bernadette to dig and Bernadette miraculously found a spring. Many people come to be healed in these miraculous waters every day.
At it’s core pilgrimage means to journey somewhere, generally by foot and for a religious reason, in other words, it's praying with your feet. We started our pilgrimage in Nay, France, being told it would be around 24 kilometers (15 miles) to Lourdes, which should take us around five hours to walk. As we were walking we thought we were making great time, breezing through the first five miles in what seemed like a short time. We stopped for a water break and found some kind mechanics who let us use their bathroom. Refreshed and ready to go we walked, and walked, and walked some more. We were expecting to eat lunch around noon, the plan was to eat in a town a little over halfway to Lourdes, which we calculated should be no more than 10 miles away, but by the time we made it there it was two o’clock and we had walked close to 13 miles. We were informed that there was still another 10 miles to go, it was at that point when there was the option to hop on the bus to go to Lourdes, or to walk. I knew that this was potentially my only day in Lourdes so I rode the bus. Those who ended up walking walked close to 24 miles.
Upon arriving to Lourdes we made our way down to the sanctuary, and split off into smaller groups. The sanctuary of Lourdes is a huge compound with at least 10 churches/chapels, the grotto, baths, and other buildings. My group was comprised of Corinne, and Sr. Agnes, who being a native of France, knew where everything was in the sanctuary. We tried going to the baths, but found that they were closed for the day. So we went to the grotto where Mary appeared to Bernadette and prayed there. After praying we were walking around enjoying the sanctuary and all the people there. As we were walking we started talking to a Dominican brother, who was about to make his final vows in August. He was on pilgrimage in Lourdes to go on retreat before making his vows. The time for Mass was approaching so we had to wrap up our conversation. In America when saying goodbye it is common to say things like “See you soon” or “I’ll see you later.” As we were saying goodbye Corinne says something along the lines of “I’ll See you...” she wasn’t sure what to say being that we weren’t sure if we would ever see him again, and without hesitation our Dominican friend says “I’ll see you in Heaven.”
Woah.
Corinne, Sr. Agnes, and I stopped dead in our tracks. As we started making our way to the church we remarked at how simple, yet profound that statement was.
“I’ll see you in Heaven.”
Reflecting back on that encounter now fills me with joy. I think it’s something that we need to hear more often. Just think about it, Heaven is where we get to come face to face with God and all the Saints, like one big family reunion! As we go along in our day to day life it’s easy to forget that Heaven is a place. But it’s encounters like this that get you thinking. Heaven is our true home, and home is where the heart is. My heart lies with those I’ve encountered, even if it was only a short conversation. It is comforting, in a sense, that these people, these souls, you encounter may one day be reunited in Heaven.
I’ll see you in Heaven!
