Assessment †Pilgrimage Essay Example Essay Example

Assessment – Pilgrimage Essay Example Paper Assessment – Pilgrimage Essay Introduction 1. Pilgrimage is a journey taken by somebody for sentimental and personal reasons, though not always for religious ones; it could even be the journey that is life. For Christians, it is – the journey from birth to Heaven – as well as being the way to grow closer to God. 2 Nazareth. This is one of the more obvious places of Christian pilgrimage, as Jesus was born and raised here all those years ago when he walked the Earth. The Son of God Himself preached, performed miracles, lived and breathed there, so naturally it’s a special place with a strong link with Biblical history. Pilgrims will go there to experience that connection – one of the closest connections to /imprints of Jesus on Earth. Lourdes. This place is popular for Christian pilgrimage because Saint Bernadette was acclaimed to have had 14 whole apparitions of Our Lady, Mary, Mother of God. Pilgrims flock here to feel history under their feet. Mary’s an important figure to the Church â€⠀œ especially the Catholic one – and she told Bernadette about the healing holy waters which people still can collect and sprinkle themselves with to this day. Also, Mary told her to ask the local priest to build a chapel at the location of the visitations. Assessment – Pilgrimage Essay Body Paragraphs 3 Christians might wish to do a variety of different things in a place of pilgrimage, such as: Visit historical places, where important and miraculous events occurred. In Lourdes, for instance, the ideal place would be the Grotto where Our Lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. Seek forgiveness for sins and seek spiritual healing from God [and his mercy], through prayer and reflection. They might use a pilgrimage as a chance to properly have a â€Å"sit down† with God as it were and come clean. Go to Mass/receive the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ; he died on the cross to save us from our sins. Pilgrims would want to go, because the Eucharist commemorates the Last Supper – Jesus’ last meal with all his disciples – and it’s very special. It’s like you’re with God, in his sanctuary. 4 There are a various number of different effects of pilgrimage and why it’s important. For instance, it’s i mportant to get away from the rush of real life and put it all aside – to slow down and take time to think about everything [and talk to/reflect on God]. Also, pilgrimage can be used as a chance to re-communicate with God in a way and connect with Him again if you feel you haven’t been close to Him lately. Through pilgrimage, you can ask for forgiveness and be forgiven through God’s love and kindness; it can be a form of reconciliation. Pilgrimage is a very sharing experience, with fellow pilgrims. Both spiritual and physical can additionally be gained through pilgrimage, whether it be through prayer or holy water (etc). It’s all important because pilgrimage is all about getting closer to God spiritually, and pilgrimage allows that to happen as your mind is focused and motivated. You leave anxieties and troubles from reality aside to spend time with God in a particular place of pilgrimage. It’s elite. By focusing solely on God, you can develop a cl oser relationship with Him but only if you want to. It’s all part of our Christian pilgrimage through life; it may not be a sacrament but it’s near enough as important. 5 When Christians describe life as a pilgrimage, it’s meant that it’s a long journey from birth to Heaven. Heaven is the one true destination and life is part of the process to reaching it. Everything that happens in life is included in this pilgrimage – all the bad times, the good times, the ups and downs. You’ll always get over the hardships as they’ll only be brief, temporary, and there’s always God to help you overcome these things. He’s always at your side and if you trust in Him, you can get through anything – it’s just up to us as Christians to reach out to Him through prayer, going to mass, etc. No problem is too big for God. The pilgrimage of life is all about finding God spiritually and forming/building a relationship with Him thro ugh life – with the aid of the sacraments. The sacraments will strengthen us, as they help us understand more of our faith and help us practise what Jesus did/went through while he was on Earth. In a sense, each sacrament brings us closer. 6 The sacraments might be important to Christians in their pilgrimage through life in many ways. All 7 sacraments are important, because they’re like spiritual blessings in your life. Baptism, for example, is important as it’s when we’re forgiven for our original sins and clothed in Christ. It’s a new beginning. The Eucharist/communion is important because it’s when we commemorate Jesus’ actions all those years ago at the Last Supper. The bread and wine represent – and change to – Jesus’ body and blood, which he gave us in memory of him when he died to save us from out sins. Thus, when we eat the bread and drink the wine, we get closer to God; we have a part of him inside of us, always. Confirmation is when we get fully accepted into the church as adults and we take full responsibility for our actions at that point on, confirming our faith in Christ. We renew the promises made at baptism ourselves this time and choose to. This helps strengthen our faith as full people of God. Through the sacrament of Reconciliation, we experience God’s love as we’re freed and forgiven from/for the sins we’ve committed through the priest. God’s mercy allows us to become even closer. The sacrament of the sick – in which the suck are anointed with a healing oil – enables us to know that God’s always going to be there for us, even when we’re ill and/or dying. We share a better understanding with him. With marriage, a man and woman are bonded through Christ for life. It’s a big twist in both peoples’ lives as they’ll now have to commit to a life together where they’ll have to share everything an d suffer through everything together. All in all, the sacraments are essential as they’re rituals in which Christians learn to commit to something – which can be pretty difficult at times. They’re symbols of moving on through life and building a relationship with God as you go along. They help us appreciate life and understand more, helping us open our hearts to God. However, it’s more of a spiritual/philosophical journey rather than a physical one. 7 Some people believe you can go on a pilgrimage without ever visiting a holy place, simply because it is believed that life itself is a pilgrimage. Though you may not visit historical places and such, you can still experience the grace and spirit of God working in your life. You can still go to mass, seek forgiveness, get spiritual/physical healing, find guidance. – all particularly through prayer. The destination is Heaven and the different things you experience to get there are the sacraments  œ predominantly for Catholics. It’s a long pilgrimage, full of many obstacles that may detract you from the right path of God. Things might want to throw you off track and block the way; but through God you can be given a new beginning and/or get over your troubles. Praying to God regularly is more than enough to make up part of the pilgrimage and grow closer to God – â€Å"ask and you shall receive†. Miracles in your life don’t have to be big things, so you don’t have to go to a holy place where miracles happen – they can just be the little prayers that God have answered. Also, you can still seek forgiveness through Reconciliation at a church. You can taste the body and blood of Christ at mass, as well. Also, you can build a bond with God simply by doing things such as reading the Bible and following it in everyday life (loving everyone, sharing, being kind, loving your enemy, setting a good example, etc). You can get away from everyday lif e by giving yourself a day off from everything to reflect on God, perhaps on a bank holiday. You can relieve yourself from stress and cast your worries aside. Every step of your life is a pilgrimage. 8 I think Christians can learn a variety of things from the pilgrimage experiences of other faiths, such as their different practices and how they differ to Christian pilgrimage. We can learn how they practise their own faith in [their] God. Through this, we can compare and contrast. Take a Muslim’s pilgrimage to mecca, for example – it’s a Muslim’s duty to take the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Well, any Muslim who is fit and capable to do so (good financial capacity, for example) is expected to take the pilgrimage. When they’re there, they all have to wear white and speak Arabic as they’re reading from the Qu’ran in the Masjid al-Haram. They all worship in unison. They have to walk around a giant cube – the Kaba – seven times, praying to Allah. Muslims have to pray five times a day – well, at least the truly devout Muslims do – on a mat facing towards Mecca, their holy land. Mecca is an incredibly important place to Muslims. They also have to go about their faith according to the Five Pillars, which are Shahadah (declaring faith); Salat (praying five times a day) ; Zakat (giving money to the poor and needy, the amount depending on the wealth of the person); Sawn (fasting on the ninth month in the Muslim Calendar that’s alternately known as ‘Ramadan’); Hajj (making the pilgrimage to Mekka). Those are the five pillars – in that order – holding up the Islamic faith. Furthermore, we can learn about how they fast for their faith (for a month at Ramadan) – it shows that have a lot of determination and dedication to be able to do this. Christians can learn about how relaxed the Christian faith is compared to the Muslim faith in te rms of pilgrimage. There’s no strict law or list of duties you have to do while on pilgrimage – it’s up to you, and completely your choice. It informs us, also, of how we can learn from the things that other faiths do so we can reflect on it and perhaps take in so Christian pilgrimage can be taken more seriously. Muslims pray five times a day, yet there are some Christians who pray maybe once a month. It just shows how maybe we can sort-of learn from them. We will write a custom essay sample on Assessment – Pilgrimage Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Assessment – Pilgrimage Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Assessment – Pilgrimage Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer