Two of my friends are making a pilgrimage in Italy for the next few weeks. They are walking a portion of the Via Francigena from Sienna to Rome.  This morning, one of them posted a message that their bank card had been swallowed by a bank machine. This will disrupt their carefully planned journey, as the bank in the town where they are staying is closed today. They will be safe, though, staying at a local hostel.  I loved coming across the signs for the Via Francigena route in Tuscany, a small figure of a pilgrim and a rucksack and staff, with an arrow marking the next direction or turn. My friends been sending photographs of the journey, of rolling hills, plowed fields, mist on distant mountains, and the backs of pilgrims, moving through the landscape. Not far from them, along the coasts of the Mediterranean, refugees flee their countries, desperate for safety, dead children wash up on shores, masses of people move toward the unknown, driven by fear. Other friends, returning from a recent visit to Greek islands came back saying, “we have no idea” of what’s happening, the desperation, the need for care, shelter, and humanitarian relief.

My pilgrim friends love to walk–they have undertaken pilgrimages in the past, and they have looked forward to this one for a couple of years. I know they are safe, and will find ways to communicate should there be dangers. They are people of faith, too, who walk with prayers in their hearts. Both of them live lives of grace-filled service. This morning, they are walking on well-traveled paths at least 10 centuries old, and they know where they are going. They have a home waiting for them when they return.  My prayers are with them, and my prayers are with those who are refugees, whose journeys are forced upon them, fleeing violence and terror. For all those who are wandering, today, far from home, with or without maps, on journeys planned or unplanned, in hope or fear: may all be safe; may all find shelter; may all be welcomed by those they meet along the way.

http://www.san-quirico.com/francigena_eng.htm#.VhkEdCikLJs