We don't say "goodbye" we say see you again.

We have had some lovely tour guides on this trip (Yanni, Melina, Aret and Paola) and have become quite attached to them. They travel with us, eat with us, amaze us with their knowledge, joke with us and teach us some of their language. But they never say "good bye" when we move on and they never call us "tourists". They always say "see you again" and we have been regarded as "guests" in their countries.
Sadly, I am heading home early following the passing of my father-in-law Bob Stoddart. It's time to be with my family and pass on the beautiful support that I have received at this time from my wonderful fellow pilgrims. I'd like to thank them for their friendship, companionship, knowledge, sense of spirit, humour and open hearts, and could not have asked for a better group of people to journey with. A special thanks goes to Dr Dan White for his vision in making this pilgrimage possible. It's a wonderful initiative where a group of people can travel spiritually together regardless of workplace or the positions that we hold. We were simply all pilgrims on the same journey. I highly recommend it if the opportunity becomes available again. Thank you also to Cardinal Pell. It had been an absolute privilege to have come to know him and learn from him. Each day when we celebrated mass the readings and homilies built on each other, giving us a real sense of what St Paul was on about and discerning what really is important. I'd like to mention Deacon Sam who is also a wealth of knowledge and very willing to share his insights as well as support the Cardinal throughout this journey. I wish him all the best for his ordination in August. Any parish would be lucky to have him! Chris from "Harvest" has been the man behind the scenes and has travelled with us with patience, kindness and friendship. I'd especially like to thank him for his concern and efforts to get me home quickly and safely.
I hope that this blog has given you a small insight into the life of St Paul and might encourage you to find out a little more about him. He was the first true evangelist and was a superb model of faith, courage and persistence.
At the end of this trip I have been thinking about what the all encompassing Message for me has been and I think it is this: our Catholic faith and tradition is very special and very real. There have been many people throughout history who have made it their life's work to grow and preserve it. Many of them have been martyred in their attempts to do so.We are lucky in Australia that we are free to practice our religion openly and should do all we can to treasure it so that it will always be possible. There's no denying that numbers in our church are on the decline and we are called to be brave like St Paul and spread the message of one true God and His Son Jesus.

If you want to see how the other pilgrims finish up please visit: www.footstepsstpaulceo2012.posterous.com
Highlights will include: Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel and Assisi.

Signing off,
Rachel x

In the Footsteps of Another - St Mary of the Cross Mackillop

Content to come

Footsteps, flights and buses.........to Roma!

A day of travel with a very special home at the end. We bussed it from Cappadocia to Kayseri Airport, flew to Istanbul, another plane to Rome and then a bus to Domus Australia (with a few footsteps in between). A long day with a very happy ending. Upon arrival we were welcomed into the most beautiful church that is the central part of the pilgrim house that was completed last year. We sat in awe and had this overwhelming sense that we had come home. Of course, being guests of the Cardinal did mean that we were absolutely looked after. If you ever choose to stay in Rome, this accommodation comes highly recommended. It has a special spirit and was a apt way to begin the last leg of our journey.

St Paul - Larger than life

The Romans certainty knew how to built a church and how to create a monument. They are all do beautiful and larger than life! Our first stop today was with St Paul at the 'Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls'. This place gives honour tithe Church's greatest evangelist and in my opinion has done him justice. We enjoyed mass one of the chapels of the Basilica and marvelled at the scale of this place.
Onwards, we visited the ancient catacombs that served asunder ground burial tunnels for early Christians Nd Jews.

Our Home Away From Home

Anyone for Hide 'n Seek?

Cappadocia would have to be one of the most interesting landscapes that I have ever visited. Volcanic deposits from ancient volcanoes are now homes to people, restaurants, churches and early Christian underground cities. St Paul did travelled here and established its first Christian community. However, it was quite dangerous practicing Christianity openly and today we were able to visit one of these underground hideouts. At times we had to reduce ourselves to the size of a 6 year old to fit through the small tunnels that connected various rooms. We all agreed that we knew Early Christians had to gather in secret but didn't truly have a sense for what these people really went through. It must have been so hard and scary for them. It made me reflect on something that a lovely priest said to us at the 'House of Mother Mary' a few days ago. He was a priest who had recently lost his Bishop in an assassination by his driver. He explained to us how lucky we were that we could openly worship and share our faith and that it is something that we should never take for granted. He said that he would pray that this would never change for us. I think it's easy for us to be believers in our Australian context and find it hard to imagine what it would have been like for those who today are still tested with their lives and for those who lived in hiding in early AD times.
Our day today also involved a visit to Goreme, an open air museum holding the earliest churches that were in huge volcanic rocks and filled with amazing Byzantine frescos. I felt my high school Art History lessons coming to life.
The highlight however, would have been the mass that we celebrated in a small chapel that was built into the mountains by the early Christians in Avanos. It was just big enough to fit the 40 of us and reminded us of our origins - very special and very beautiful.

The Church of Many Faiths

Our last day in Istanbul had us visit the Byzantine Hippodrome where chariot horse races took place in times gone by. Next was the Blue Mosque- probably the most famous mosque in the city. It's walls we're lined with hand painted tiles and it was hard to imagine the amount of work that had gone into creating this place of worship.
Our final stop before travelling was quite an interesting one - Hagia Sophia (meaning Holy Wisdom). Built in 548 AD, Hagia Sophia was the greatest church in Christendom until 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire. It was then turned into a mosque, as has happened to many former churches in Turkey. The government has now taken control of Hagia Sophia and there is much debate about whether it should be permanently a mosque or a church as there are many features of both religions there. However, the government has decided to leave it as it is so that Hagia Sophia is opened to everyone.
The afternoon saw us catching a flight from Istanbul to Kayseri and then a bus ride to Cappadocia.