ROME(CS).- One hundred and fifty members of the Neo-Catechumenal Way from Sacred Heart Cathedral, St John Tuaran, St Thomas Kepayan and St Paul Dontozidon who have reached the "Stage of Loreto" made a pilgrimage to Rome and Loreto, Italy, June 11-20.
During the pilgrimage, the participants attended the Angelus at St Peter's Square June 12 as well as the Wednesday General Audience with Pope Benedict XVI June 17.
The pope acknowledged the presence of organisations and associations during the audience and noted the presence of Archbishop John Lee of Kota Kinabalu Archdiocese and the Neo-Catechumenal Communities from Sabah.
During dinner that evening, wait staff carried into the restaurant a huge cake from the Vatican, complete with a small Vatican flag stuck right in the middle.
Some of the activities during the pilgrimage included a visit to the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Rome, the Neo-Catechumenal Centre in Porto San Giorgio, sanctuaries and historical sites within close proximity to our destinations and Loreto.
The pilgrims also made a "bonus" visit to the Sanctuary of the Holy Face in Manoppello.
"Speaking for myself," said Irene Obon, "the pilgrimage was like attending Mary's school and attempting to learn from her to love Jesus just as she loved him."
Since the Way is a period of gestation and preparing for the birth of Jesus in me, Obon continued, from whom else can I learn best how to contemplate the face of Jesus than from his own Mother?
Obon noted that the sayings about "a son to win and a mother to begin" as well as "behind every great man is a woman" played on her mind coming back home.
"That strictly is my own experience. Every pilgrim has his own," she added.
Visiting the House of Mary at Loreto was an "awesome experience," she said.
"Within those walls, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and she consented to bear the Son of God and Saviour of the world. How remarkable her faith, how worthy of emulation her humility as she replied, 'I am the handmaid of the Lord'..." she continued.
Obon added: "I felt truly humbled and very much challenged. Mother Mary thus sets an example even as she gently urges me to do as her son tells me and to follow in his footsteps."