By Angela E. Pometto
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 3/4/04)

Come the end of the school year, eyes begin to turn toward the freedom of summer and with that, the family vacation. Children are hoping for a trip to Disney World and adults lean toward a relaxing trip to the beach. Another option is to go on a family retreat or pilgrimage. Instead of roller coasters and sun-bathing naps, the family has a chance to strengthen their unity and grow spiritually.

"You don’t have to take a plane to go on pilgrimage," said Dan Callahan, owner of JMJ Tours based in Virginia and father of 10 children. He observed that most family pilgrimages are to national sites. Because of the expenses, it is difficult to get one entire family to travel together internationally. He also said there is a difference between a pilgrimage and a retreat.

"A pilgrimage is a spiritual journey to a holy place," Callahan said. "It is an escape from day to day life to a place of significance. It reminds us we have no fixed place on earth. We are on a heavenly journey."

Pilgrimage focuses on "place," while retreats are a time to get spiritually focused. While prayer is often a part of a pilgrimage, it is not the main event. Retreats, on the other hand, are primarily a time to pray and grow closer to God.

It is important to realize that going on any spiritual journey as a family will involve sacrifice. "A person doesn’t go on retreat for a vacation or rest and relaxation, they go to experience God," said Anna Thompson, public relations coordinator with Catholic Familyland in Ohio.

"It’s a sacrifice of time to experience an aspect of God," Thompson said. She emphasized the importance of sacrifice in a family retreat experience, and explained how many families experience a spiritual battle in trying to go away on retreat. "When you try to do something good, you get attacked," she said.

Catholic Familyland’s ministry to families is to "provide for them a Catholic culture for a week," said Thompson. Along with fun vacation activities, such as swimming, horseback riding, hiking and bon fires, this family vacation offers participants a chance to grow in their faith. Each day of the retreat involves seminars for adults and children to learn about the truth of the Catholic faith, as well as devotional opportunities of Mass, Eucharistic adoration, the chaplet of divine mercy and the rosary.

Families who go on a spiritual vacation are often given the grace to experience healing from the Lord, said Thompson.

"Many families come during a crisis," said Dale Sibley, pilgrimage coordinator for EWTN studios in Alabama. Whether the crisis is an untimely pregnancy or drug or alcohol abuse, the presence of God brings healing, comfort and a call to repentance.

"In a family, what hurts one member hurts the entire family," she said. "There is a general drawing closer to God and an opportunity to draw closer to one another."

Families who travel together are "forced" to be together without the noise of TV or radio. They are renewed and refreshed as a family after sharing a week together. On the way home, they all talk together, and it’s the togetherness that helps the experience last. In the end, it’s not just the teaching of the faith that draws people back, it’s the experience of being in a place where "people believe the same things I do," said Thompson.

Callahan called it a "family reunion with the Lord." When going on an international pilgrimage, all you have is what you can put on your back. The same is true for family journeys. "What you have with you is just your family and God and prayer," said Callahan.

A religious family vacation is essential, "not just for the spiritual aspect, but for life in general," said Callahan. Sibley agreed that there is a need to bring the family back to Jesus in today’s world.

"The culture is not supportive of the family," said Sibley. Children who see the adults humble before God are changed. "It strengthens the family as a ‘house-church,’" she said, referring to Pope John Paul II’s title for the family as a "domestic church."

For religious vacations, the coming home part is included in the experience. To take what the family has learned or gained, and bring it back into their local society.

"When they go home, they become a light in a dark world to their neighbors and friends at school," Sibley said. When, one by one, the family draws closer to Christ, they are more able to reach out and minister to those around them, she said.

"It is a break from the battle of living in the world," Thompson said. When they go home, they are refreshed and spiritually renewed to continue to battle.