Pilgrimage

Some Hiking/Walking tips for the Pilgrimage

This Pilgrimage may look like a "walk in the park" with some prayer along the way.   But five to ten miles a day is a serious hike for any but the most “trained” of us.   Even if you walk every day or even jog or run long, slow distances, a pilgrimage is a very different ballgame than that 2-3 mile walk you take every day.  

It is important to know your limitations: there is no shame in walking a half a mile with us, or driving along the way, or praying for and with us from your home. This is not a race; it is not a marathon…it is prayerful walking with a purpose. 

That said, it's going to be a wonderful Pilgrimage, personally and spiritually.  If you choose to walk parts of the pilgrim’s route, you need to be prepared, both physically and logistically, even on what amounts to a series of day-hikes.  

Here are some practical considerations which we respectfully request you read and follow:

 ·         Hiking-specific shoes and clothing are preferable. You can get by with good walking/running shoes but again, hiking is just a different kind of event; your feet will let you know that you needed better equipment.   We don't advise you to go out and spend a lot of money on equipment but you might consider it; if you do buy new shoes, break them in "before" the Pilgrimage - or your feet will suffer.  Whatever you are planning to wear, footwear-wise, we suggest you actually take a few long walks/hikes, to test yourself and your equipment. 

·          Be sure your socks provide cushioning, and will wick away the sweat.  

·          Clothing should be light weight, and cooling.  At the same time, layers are always needed, as is rain gear.

 ·         We suggest NOT taking your dog or small children.  Again, this is not a short "walk in the park." The dog's pads on its paws are not as thick as the soles on your shoes or the support in your boots. Smaller children will fade in the heat, even if in strollers - and you know how it can be when they get cranky :-(. 

·         Remember, there is no corporate organization ensuring supplies, food, water, etc.  It is up to each pilgrim to ensure their own safety along the walk. Please pack a mini-first aid kit with special emphasis on bandages, moleskin to cover tender-ing spots on the feet – (blisters are the bane of hikers - and will happen eventually, unless you take preventive measures before they "pop up"). 

 ·         Please have some money with you as well; some churches are proving food, but we cannot guarantee that for any given stop.  Breakfast is likely to be “on your own” as well.

 ·         Your leaders will have maps but it's always a good idea to know exactly what your route is going to be each day; some days you may want to stop a bit when the rest of the group will still be moving - if you lose track of the group you'll want to know where they'll be at any time during that portion of the Pilgrimage if you need to catch up.

·         If at all possible, have a cell phone with you.  Mary’s phone is360-820-4958.  Lee’s is 360-661-2965.  Please enter both of these numbers into your cell phone right now.  And also enter names and numbers of whom to contact in case of emergency (you can add ICE next to it, if there is no confusion with Immigration and Customers Enforcement).

 ·         A light backpack, such as kids use for their school books or as some adults use for their own "stuff" should be sufficient to hold the basics for the day - some food, water, snacks, light raingear, change of socks, head gear (for sun or rain), and other stuff you may need - but remember to travel as light as possible - after a while even a light pack gets heavy. If you can use a fanny pack for water and food, that would be good!

 ·         Sunscreen, every day -  remember, even without sunshine it's the ultra-violet rays (ever present, even on a cloudy day) that do the damage (tops of ears, face, arms, backs of legs, any skin that shows should get a dose of sunscreen).   Sunglasses are good (even in Washington).    Always a hat of some sort. 

  ·     Bathrooms: we will be at the mercy of merchants in urban areas. For portions of the Skagit Valley we will rely on the support car to ferry us to potty breaks. 

We know this note sounds very cautionary, but we want to be sure everyone realizes that this pilgrimage covers more than a hundred miles in 15 days.  There are lots of opportunities for things to go wrong…and so please think through your commitment seriously, and also your physical limitations, and prepare yourself well for all of these possibilities. 

 

Some Specifics

At recent gatherings, the first question people have asked when they hear about our pilgrimage is, "So, which side are you on?"  To say we are on the side of justice is accurate but not very specific.  So, we are praying for immigration reform legislation that includes five elements identified as essential by the U.S. Catholic Bishops:

1)  an earned legalization program that allows undocumented persons to earn permanent residency;
2)  a worker program that protects foreign-born workers and safeguards against the displacement of U.S. workers;
3)  family-based immigration reform that reduces waiting time for family reunification;
4)  restoration of due process protections for immigrants; and
5)  policies that address the root causes of migration.

These five priorities address injustice and unfairness whether they affect undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants and U.S. citizens.  We want to address the injustices in our immigration system and in our current situation that affect all of us and all of our communities.

One week from today, we begin

The Church of the Assumption is giving us a special blessing as pilgrims at the 12:30 Spanish Mass on Sunday, July 26th. Meet in the gathering space at 12:20 to be seated together.

The ROUTE is linked here. We are working on permits where needed, logistics and answering those questions we are able to answer.

In the meantime, we would appreciate your prayers as we attend in the next week to our families - Lee has visiting family, Nick and I will attend my uncle's funeral in San Francisco, Jim Bloss has his grandson's birthday. All of this is blessing. with love, Mary Helene Mele

from the bulletin of St. Mary of the Valley in Monroe, WA

COME WALK WITH ME

    from Fr.Bloom

 

           Starting Aug. 1st a group of parishioners from Assumption parish in Bellingham are beginning a two-week Pilgrimage from their church to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Center in Tacoma:  they are walking to pray for comprehensive immigration reform.   As you know many faith traditions include a pilgrimage as a form of prayer.  Although most pilgrimages are to sites associated with prophets, saints or important events, some pilgrimages have also had the goal of addressing conflicts, as when Francis of Assisi journeyed to the Holy Land to seek peace in the midst of the Crusades.

 

            The issue of immigration is complex; enough so that our national Congressional leadership has had difficulty coming to agreement as to the best way to structure the rules and regulations associated with the processes of immigration.  You yourself may have conflicting feelings about the issues; but by becoming a part of this event perhaps some of those conflicts will be resolved.  We Catholics do have guidance re the issues with the pilgrims on this walk praying for legislation that incorporates all of the priorities articulated by the U.S. and Mexican Catholic Bishops in their letter "Strangers No Longer, Together on the Journey of Hope" and later statements by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).  Since this is such a vital issue for our parish, I encourage you to prayerfully read and reflect on our bishops' statements. 

 

             In prayerful and spiritual solidarity with the pilgrims I'm asking you to join me (and Samwise) in walking with them on just one leg of their journey - from St. Mary's Catholic Church in Marysville to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Everett - this part of the Pilgrimage will take place on Saturday, Aug. 8th, starting at about 9am and is advertised to be about a 7.2 mile walk according to the event planners to take about 2 1/2 hours to walk - that's probably optimistic and anyone walking should probably plan for about a 4 hour hike.    If you wish to join me I would ask that you either call or stop by the church office ... God bless you.  Father Bloom

Gaining momentum

If you cannot get into the spreadsheet (some people report finding it problematic), please email Lee Langdon ([email protected]) and she will add your name. 

We do need to have some idea of how many are planning to join us on which days. Last week my husband Nick Mele and I went to Mass at a migrant camp in the Skagit Valley, thanks to St. Charles' Jose Ortiz. Someone asked us how many were going on this Pilgrimage. Jose and I answered at the same time. I said, "Ten." He said "Hundreds." So: somewhere between 10 and 200, we can safely predict. If you email Lee, we'll be able to predict a little more accurately. 

The police departments and local jurisdictions have all been notified. We are still in need of some support car drivers. You can sign up with Lee. 

The Progress Posts Pilgrimage

Click here for a link!

Walking? Let us know.

You can add your name here to this spreadsheet. You DO have permission to edit. 

Alternatively, you can call Lee Langdon and she'll add you, and answer questions as well!

(360) 661-2965

Route Segments Link to Maps and Directions

If you look at the latest update to "The Route" post, you will see that each segment is now linked to Google Maps and Directions for that portion of the pilgrimage.  Now you can follow our progress, walk with us for a bit or simply come out to wave as we pass you on our way.  If any of you know a better route for any segment, please send it to us in a comment or e-mail! 

Planning a start time

We have the route here and we are planning to start walking at 9 a.m. each morning. You can call (360) 823-4098 for an update while the pilgrimage is in progress if you would like to join us along the way. We will (God willing) be updating this blog daily along the way, complete with photos.

THE FIRST DAY is following a different schedule. We will start at 3:30 p.m. at Church of the Assumption and walk to Sacred Heart across town (about 3 miles) where we will have Mass at 5:00 and a potluck afterwards in the parish hall. Right now we plan on using the route which Google Maps proposes in their "walking" directions. 

Statement of Purpose

From August 1 through August 15, a group of people will walk a pilgrimage from Assumption Church, Bellingham, WA, to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency Detention Center in Tacoma, WA, to pray for comprehensive immigration reform. We are moved to walk by our faith, by our awareness of the injustice which pervades the daily life of all immigrants, documented or not, and by our awareness that we are also the descendants of people who immigrated to this nation.

We are praying for immigration reform legislation that incorporates all of the priorities articulated by the U.S. and Mexican Catholic Bishops in their letter “Strangers No Longer, Together on the Journey of Hope” and subsequent statements by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Although we are Roman Catholic Christians, we invite all people of faith to join us in our prayer and in our pilgrimage. Additional walkers can and will join the core group for as long as they wish as all make their way from church to church on the road to the Tacoma Detention Center. We especially call Washington State's Congressional leaders, both Senators and Representatives, to join us in prayer and to work to incorporate all of the USCCB priorities in a comprehensive legislative package as soon as possible.