For several years on Easter Weekend, Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre has been the destination for families and individuals. They come for a pilgrimage. They come to walk the grounds, to pray, to find solace in the peace, and to remember the final steps of the earthly life of Christ by walking the Way of the Cross.
When I first moved to The Mount and was told of the pilgrims coming during these holy days, I first thought nothing of it. Until I saw it unfold before me, from morning until sunset, in car after car, family after family, person after person, coming to “our” place in the foothills of the Rockies to journey with their Savior. I stood in awe to see the mix of cultures and practices together. Groups being led, individuals seeking a quiet moment, neighbours connecting with each other, all together on this holy ground. It filled me with awe and invited me to pay attention to the journey of faith that was expressed time and again.
This annual pilgrimage of young and old, black and white, and everything in between gives me hope this Easter. It speaks to our desire to connect with story, with truth, with depth, and with the still small voice of God. It encourages me to connect my story with their stories and the story of St. Francis of Assisi, the saint whose name these acres in the foothills bear. This saint was so caught up by his understanding of the Passion of Christ to see the cross with loving eyes as a life-giving place for discernment.
St. Francis invites us in these holy days to discern how we encounter the love of the cross. Maybe St. Francis best captured the cross as a place of love and a place which is life-giving because he encountered the divine in all parts of life. He once wrote, “You, God, are love, you are wisdom, you are rest, you are peace. You are joy and gladness. You are our haven and our hope.” I believe this speaks to the depth of what carries people to The Mount during Easter Weekend and then back into their daily living as people of the resurrection.
This is indeed Easter Hope.
