Tourists or Pilgrims? – Sermon by Father Levine

Fr. Joseph Levine; Holy Family Catholic Church, Burns, Oregon; February 18, 2026

Tourists or Pilgrims?

Well, tourism may have a role to play in modern life, and it may be a legitimate form of relaxation, nevertheless it is a modern phenomenon that serves well as a symbol for a whole outlook on life that stands in contrast to the traditional Christian view of life as a pilgrimage.

There is a view of life that sees the “golden years” as a time of retirement, in which a couple can travel the world together, seeing sights, having new experiences, and pretty much enjoying themselves. The destination has no more meaning than present enjoyment that will, in turn, become a pleasant memory.

The “tourist” view of life sees life, finally, as no more than a venue for us to pass through, like Disney World, seeking out enjoyable experiences, which in turn can be treasured as memories. We even hear parents being concerned about providing “memories” for their children. Friendship means no more than a “travelling companion” with whom we share experiences.

Note that memories accumulate in the past, before they disappear with the onset of dementia, while the possibility for new experiences diminishes with the diminishing capacity of body and mind.

To which the “tourist” will reply: “You only live once.” To which the reply is, “Life is short, after that comes death and judgment and eternity.”

Both the tourist and the pilgrim are passing through, but their attitude and purpose is very different.

The pilgrim travels to a destination that is more than a sight to see, more than an experience, and will become something more than a memory, it is a holy place, sanctified in some unique way by the presence and action of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. While the modern pilgrim may travel in relative comfort on a pilgrimage that is arranged much like a tour, the full notion of a pilgrimage involves some level of penitential renunciation to attain the goal of the pilgrimage. People who go on foot pilgrimages – and they still exist today – the most famous, perhaps, being the “Camino” through Spain to tomb of St. James at Santiago de Compostella, show forth this penitential aspect of the pilgrimage.

The tourist either wants to minimize the way as much as possible by way of airplane travel and maximize the enjoyment of the destination, or the tourist makes the way itself part of the pleasurable “experience”, as in a cruise, or for those who are more adventurous, a rafting trip.

The pilgrim, when he is on the way, is focused on the goal. Even though the way is hard, there may be great moments of relaxation and enjoyment that come up, but the pilgrim must keep his focus on the goal.

While the tourist has travel companions who share in the pleasures of the journey, the pilgrim has pilgrim companions, who help each other on the way to the common goal.

The tourist completes his trip and returns to his daily activities back home, shares his memories and experiences with friends, and waits for the next opportunity for adventure. The pilgrim might go on only one major pilgrimage in his whole life, but he returns a changed person and lives his daily life at home in light of the “vision” he gained on the pilgrimage.

Through making a pilgrimage to a holy place in this world, something further takes place; the pilgrim enacts, as a sort of living parable, a symbol of the pilgrimage of the whole life, whose destination is the heavenly Jerusalem. Every holy place in this world represents that supreme holy place; that is true also for the parish church and the little weekly pilgrimage to Sunday Mass.

Our opening prayer spoke of “this campaign of Christian service”, which makes us think perhaps of a “Crusade”. The Crusades could be defined as “armed pilgrimages”, armed because the destination, Jerusalem, was blocked by hostile powers. So also, our life’s pilgrimage needs to be a “Crusade” because we are opposed by the flesh, the world, and the devil, which we must combat, acting in the sight of our Father who sees in secret, with the spiritual weapons mentioned in today’s Gospel: works of mercy, prayer, and fasting.

Now, remember what I said about the tourist seeking to “enjoy himself”. Now, there are lesser “enjoyments” in this life, which are like the refreshing waystations along the pilgrim route, but they are not the goal, the supreme enjoyment. With that in mind, consider these words of St. Augustine that really embody the spirit of the pilgrimage.

“To enjoy a thing is to rest with satisfaction in it for its own sake. To use, on the other hand, is to employ whatever means are at one’s disposal to obtain what one desires, if it is a proper object of desire; for an unlawful use ought rather to be called an abuse. Suppose, then, we were wanderers in a strange country, and could not live happily away from our fatherland, and that we felt wretched in our wandering, and wishing to put an end to our misery, determined to return home. We find, however, that we must make use of some mode of conveyance, either by land or water, in order to reach that fatherland where our enjoyment is to commence. But the beauty of the country through which we pass, and the very pleasure of the motion, charm our hearts, and turning these things which we ought to use into objects of enjoyment, we become unwilling to hasten the end of our journey; and becoming engrossed in a factitious delight, our thoughts are diverted from that home whose delights would make us truly happy. Such is a picture of our condition in this life of mortality. We have wandered far from God, and if we wish to return to our Father’s home, this world must be used, not enjoyed, … that by means of what is material and temporary we may lay hold upon that which is spiritual and eternal.” (On Christian Doctrine, I,4)

Lent is a time for us to remember that in this life, we are on a pilgrimage; 40 days to represent the 40 years the Israelites journeyed through the desert to reach the promised land. Lent is a time for us to remember that the delightful waystations that we come across in this life are, after all, just waystations that must not distract us from our goal. Lent is a time for us to refocus on the goal of the journey and so examine how we use the good things of this life, what is material and temporary, to stop abusing them and learn to use them rightly, so as to reach the goal of heaven.

When we hear the words Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return as the ashes are imposed on our foreheads, we should indeed remember that this life is passing quickly, is but a pilgrim’s journey, while at the same time we should raise our hearts in hope to the Father’s house that awaits at the journey’s end.