Marian Pilgrimage Diary: Last Day

Day 12: Pilgrims Live In Tents, Not Castles

Another Day In Rome:

St. John Lateran, Scala Santa, & A Visit To OFWs

Let me begin with a story I love to share.
One day, a tourist with a camera visited a monastery—and saw how austere the room of a monk was. He could only see a single bed that looked more like a bench, an old table and a wooden chair that wasn’t very comfortable. Nothing else.
When a monk came by, he asked him, “Father, how could you live this way? Where are your things? Your computer? Your refrigerator? Your stereo?”
The monk smiled at him and asked, “Where are your things, my friend?”
The tourist said, “My things? I’m just passing by here. I don’t have my stuff with me. It’s at home.”
The monk said: “So am I. I’m also passing by here. My stuff is at home as well.”
Friend, you’re a pilgrim.
And your stuff is at home. And God is your home.
If you forget that you’re a pilgrim, you are prone to live in castles instead of tents (Hebrews 11:9-10).

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Today, we visited St. John Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome—another beautiful church that will blow your mind. Remember that the Pope is also the Bishop of Rome, so this is his Cathedral. Thus, St. John Lateran is the mother of all churches. (Who is St. John? Both John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. Who is Lateran? Just the name of the family who owned that piece of land confiscated by Emperor Constantine and who gave it to the Church. At least, after 1700 years, their name is still remembered.)
We also visited the Scala Santa or Holy Steps. This is the entire staircase of the palace of Pontius Pilate. It was “imported” from Jerusalem by St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine. (I told you her balikbayan box is huge.) It was the stairs that Jesus walked on when Pilate before the Crucifixion tried him.
Through the centuries, they’ forbade any human being to walk on these steps. You have to kneel all the way up. And that’s what we did. Beautiful. Very painful, mind you, but still beautiful.
In the afternoon, we paused our pilgrimage to do ministry. I preached at a gathering of the Filipino OFW’s here in Rome. Kerygma Preacher Adrian Panganiban led worship, Fish Editor George Gabriel gave a song, and Fr. Joseph Skelton celebrated the Mass.
I know we inspired them. But I feel they blessed me more by their strong faith amidst their hardship. I was leading 70 people in my pilgrim group, but my gosh, these OFW’s are the real pilgrims!
You see, many of them are domestic helpers, caregivers, drivers, and janitors in Rome. But back home in the Philippines, they worked in offices and taught in schools. But for the sake of their kids, they came here, forgot their pride, and worked in whatever job they could find.
I marvelled at their extreme sacrifice.
I was touched when the organizer of our event, a lovely woman by the name of Judy, showed her callused hands to me. “Brother Bo, my hands have been cleaning for 17 years. But I’m proud of these hands. And God has blessed me here.”
Today, my pilgrim group from the Philippines walked up the steps of the Scala Santa on our knees—once. But I realized that these OFW’s do it every single day, kneeling their way up to God as they scrub the homes of rich Europeans. For the love for their children.
(One day, I pray that my OFW friends outgrow their jobs here, discover their God-given core gifts and use them to earn a living.)
Friends, when you love, you live in tents, not castles.
If you love, you get out of your comfort zones.
If you love, you keep on growing.
Here are the other “castles” that we build when we forget that we’re pilgrims on this earth:

Example #1: Poverty
Why do many Filipinos not get out of poverty? Here’s one of the biggest reasons: They’ve become accustomed to it. (I hope you read my book, 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich, so you can learn how to be financially blessed.)

Example #2: Abuse
Even chains, no matter how painful, become comfortable if it has become an identity. I was talking to a woman who was beaten violently by her husband for 17 long years. For her, there was no other home but this one 60% of battered wives were abused children. It’s absolutely nuts. But here’s the truth: We recreate our childhood homes, no matter how painful it was. So we marry spouses who will replicate the weaknesses of our parents.
People choose certainty, no matter how painful, over uncertainty. For many people, uncertainty is more painful than the greatest pain of certainty. (Read another book I wrote, Your Past Does Not Define Your Future. It will change you.)

Example #3: Bondage
Addictions are castles. We grow comfortable with them, they become our identity. As pilgrims, we’re called by God to move on, to get out of our addictions, and live a life of freedom.

Example #4: Present Success
I started preaching at age 13 and that blew my mind; A year later, we started our own prayer group called Light of Jesus and again, that excited me tremendously; But when I was 20, I published my first book—and I thought that was wonderful; At 24, we published Kerygma magazine; So I thought that was my life—preaching, community building, and publishing work; But when I was 30, we were inspired to build Anawim, our home for the poor.
And now, we’re on TV, Radio, the Internet….
I could have gotten stuck with early success and stayed there. Because it is so easy to be comfortable with what you’re doing now. Why learn something new? Why take a new challenge? But that’s what my team have been doing year after year after year.
Friend, never make your present success your castle. Because castles are very difficult to expand. Tents, however, are more flexible. You can extend the borders of your tents anytime.
God may want you to move.
Don’t be too comfortable.
Get out of your comfort zone and stretch your boundaries for God!
Once in a while, pray, “Disturb Me, Lord.”

Tomorrow, I write my last diary entry on the pilgrimage.

Abangan…

I remain your friend,

Bo Sanchez

PS. Get inspired. You can watch me on KerygmaTV on ABC Channel 5, every Tuesday, 10pm. Spread the word!

PS2. I am preaching in the United States on the following dates and places:

May 21, 2007 St. Christopher Catholic Church Moreno Valley, CA 92553-4373
May 22, 2007 St. Ciprian Church Long Beach, CA 90808
May 23, 2007 St. Patrick’s Catholic Church North Hollywood, CA 91606
May 24, 2007 St. Lorenzo Ruiz Catholic Church Walnut, CA 91789
May 25-27, 2007 Northern CA Charismatic Convention
Santa Clara Convention Center
May 27 , 2007 All Saints Church (7pm Mass), Hayward, CA 94541
May 28, 2007 St. Paul of the Shipwreck Church, SF, CA, 94124
May 29, 2007 St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, SF, CA 94080

For more details, click here. Tell your friends to go!

PS3. Each month, I send to my partners FREE issues of Kerygma magazine plus my Life Dreams Success Journal, also for free. (The Life Dreams Success Journal is a small powerful tool I made that has already helped thousands of people fulfil their goals in life.) Yes, I give these to all KerygmaFamily members who support the ministry through a monthly love offering of at least P100 (local) or $20 (international). If you’re not yet a KerygmaFamily member, log onto http://www.kerygmafamily.com/ now and receive Kerygma magazine each month plus the Life Dreams Success Journal as my thank you gifts. Don’t miss this month’s issue! Log on at http://www.kerygmafamily.com/ now.