Join Discerning Deacons for a Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe
August 31 – September 5, 2022
To make a pilgrimage is to go on a journey to a holy place and experience new graces and spiritual renewal. To visit “La Virgen Morena” during our synodal journey is to build bridges of friendship across our continents, heal together and make miracles happen.
Discerning Deacons is pleased to offer a unique pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, August 31 – September 5, 2022. We will visit the Basilica on the feast day of St. Phoebe (September 3) for a private Mass and veneration of the Tilma. We will visit Cuautitlan, the birthplace of St. Juan Diego as well as the Church of the 5th Apparition. We will visit the Pyramids of Teotihuacan to learn more about the indigenous history and culture of Mexico.
Many of us continually seek the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as the patroness of the Americas, our loving mother who seeks to walk with the pueblo and with the marginalized, and guide us all towards unity among all our peoples.
As diaconal women, we also seek to grow in our devotion of St. Phoebe, whom St. Paul called diakonos and whom he entrusted to deliver his letter to the new faith community in Rome (Romans 16:1-2)
We have built time into our journey for prayer, faith-sharing and conversation as women and men continually renewing our diaconal heart for mission, justice and for spreading Christ’s good news in our constantly changing world. We will seek the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as the patroness of the Americas, our loving mother who seeks to walk with all peoples, especially with the marginalized, and guide us towards unity among all our peoples.
If you are interested, please visit our page with Verso Ministries to view the itinerary and costs, and reserve your place. Space is limited, and pilgrims will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis. There is an option for scholarship support so that more people can participate. Deadline to register is May 18.
Thanks to the pandemic vaccines, we are confident we will be able to travel to Mexico. We will likely be required to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination and a booster to travel to Mexico, so we can be assured to travel safely.
We look forward to leading this faith-filled journey. We know this pilgrimage will be a life-changing encounter as we place our trust in the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe to guide and to protect us on our synodal path. We hope you will join us.
Throughout the synodal journey which Pope Francis and General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops have initiated for the global Church, women of faith have been pivotal in organizing synodal consultations in our local communities. We have created many opportunities to encounter, listen, and discern how the Holy Spirit is inviting us to journey together better as the People of God for the third millennium. We are building bridges of friendship, prayer, and forming missionary disciples across our continents in the Americas as women who radiate a deacon’s heart for mission, justice and for spreading Christ’s good news in our constantly changing world.
Discerning Deacons has taken shape largely through the gift of technology and the use of zoom! We have been animating synodal processes, learning together, finding ways to collaborate across geographies. But we have not yet had the opportunity to break bread together, to sing and embrace, or to celebrate the Mass in person with each other.
This year, Discerning Deacons invite women and men of faith to pilgrimage with us to deepen our understanding of the synodal path to which we are called; to learn about deacon circles; to plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, and allow hope to flourish.
Our Lady of Guadalupe entrusted St. Juan Diego to deliver a message to the bishop that would forever change the experience of the Catholic faith in the Americas and the world. Upon seeing the miraculous sign of roses in winter and Juan Diego’s tilma bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the bishop received Our Lady’s message and built a shrine to her as she requested. Her presence in the hearts of the people has also built the sense of dignity and full humanity among all God’s people and challenged the faithful to stand for and with the marginalized.
During this pilgrimage we will visit the Shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe and other important faith sites to seek renewal for the journey ahead.
We hope to share with one another how we are incarnating the process of synodality in our local communities, learn about diaconate circles as a way to deepen our vocation to mission, and launch the Year of St. Phoebe as we journey towards the Global Synod in Rome, October 2023.
Maybe you cannot make the journey, but you are able to offer support towards another pilgrim.
We are looking to raise resources so that cost will not be prohibitive to those who seek to come along this pilgrimage.
To make donation and help sponsor another pilgrim’s journey please follow this link
*If you would like to sponsor a specific pilgrim, please add their name in the “comment” section.
Si desea completar el formulario de inscripción en español, por favor siga este enlace.
