Dan Allen ’07, ’11 M.Div.
Spirituality Program Director, Notre Dame Alumni Association

Leaving home is a rite of passage and something that most of us experience. I still remember vividly the day my parents left me at O’Neill Family Hall my first year at Notre Dame. It had been such an exciting weekend, almost like a vacation for all of us, that the goodbye came rather abruptly. My mother was crying, which was not altogether out of the ordinary, but as my dad choked up and gave me a hug, it hit me just how big of a moment this was. I would always be their son, but I was now stepping into a new phase of my life and leaving behind what I had, up to that point, always known.

My uncle Bill, a Capuchin-Franciscan priest who had made the trip as well and had long been a spiritual mentor to me, smiled knowingly. He, too, had left home for the seminary, following God’s calling for him in life and transitioning to a decidedly new reality. Such a moment requires courage, so tempted are we to look back while putting our hand to the plow of our vocation. And yet, we have an example in Jesus, who left the comfort of his home and upbringing to venture into the desert and afterward begin his public ministry.

I find myself thinking about all these scenes as we depart for the Holy Land. There is a potent mixture of excitement, wonder, and a bit of fear of the unknown. Who will our fellow pilgrims be? How will we acclimate to the weather, the culture, and the food? What challenges or surprises will we encounter each day? Where will we discover spiritual insights that we will treasure the rest of our lives?

These are questions that not only apply to this trip but that have parallels in our pilgrimage of the Christian life. There are people, experiences, crosses, and discoveries to be made on the way. It strikes me that some of the graces that God desires to give us are too easily missed as our lives fill with work, finances, commutes, household tasks, technology, and a host of other things that make up the general busyness that we all know too well. It is precisely in the midst of this that we often encounter the season of Lent, a time to prune and focus our prayer, appetites, and generosity so as to recenter our lives on the most important things.

However, we must be willing to make the trip, to leave the familiar and the sometimes unexamined life in order to allow God to stretch us into something more complete. It is like leaving home—we cannot stay there forever. We must step into the uncertainty of life’s next phase, knowing that we will never be the same. That is one of my hopes for this pilgrimage, that it would leave each of us travelers forever changed for having undertaken this venture.

Another hope I hold is for you, our FaithND audience, and it is that you and your experience of Lent will be enriched by the stories of this journey as well. Not everyone is able to make such a trip due to limitations of time, finances, or health. Nevertheless, it is our aim that everyone reading these reflections would be able to glean some sense of meaning from our experiences here.

Anyone who has left a loving home knows that the prayers of those who remain behind go with them, guiding them during moments of difficulty or confusion. It is a beautiful reality that, no matter the distance, we hold one another in prayer. Our Notre Dame family of faith submitted over 2,000 prayers that I have printed and brought with me. Each of these intentions will be offered by pilgrims in the holy places where Jesus walked, and we ask for each of your prayers as we travel, too.

To depart our familiar surroundings can be hard, but when I find myself hesitating, I think about the cost of never going. What do we lose if we hold back from the full measure to which God is calling us, if we never soar to heights unimagined or plumb the depths of our heart so as to know ourselves as God created us to be? If this Lent passes by in an ordinary way, what might we be missing?

Thus, we invite you to come with us virtually on this journey of faith. Pray with the pilgrims who will walk in the footsteps of Christ and his followers. Leave the ordinary behind and visit the places that changed the course of human history and our eternal destinies. After all, no matter the homes that each of us leaves today, we are marching towards a common path to our eternal home of heaven.