H RVESTER. Reserve your place in history... THE. Pilgrims flock to Rome for Australia s first saint. Rome Holy Land. Rome Italy.

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1 02 issue THE H RVESTER U WINTER 2010 p c o m i n g P i l g r i m a g e s N e w s P i l g r i m s S t o r i e s a n d m u c h m o r e Reserve your place in history... Pilgrims flock to for Australia s first saint S E RV I C E There is often much said about the life-changing consequence of finding yourself in the right place at the right time. For those with faith and who believe in the power of the moment, then St Peter s Square on the morning of Sunday 17th October this year may be just that opportunity. Those travelling on our tours will be assured of automatic entry to all of the ceremonies whilecmanyn itineraries on offer C N C include exciting extensions into Italy, France, Scotland or the N Holy Land, Mr Ryall said. Harvest Pilgrimages is the official tour operator for the upcoming of Mary MacKillop Australia s first saint to be officially recognised. Pilgrims are flooding Harvest s specially dedicated website and Call Centre with over a thousand having signed up in the first month following the announcement by Pope Benedict XVI. The Sisters of St Joseph and Church leaders are inviting all Australians to get into the pilgrim spirit and to be there in and to reserve your place in history and while seats are still available. Italy Itinerary Fe Padua Ci aturing: Venice nque Assisi Lo Terre Florence reto & mor e France des Itinerary Featuring: Lour y Le Paris Chartres Para Monial Taize & more Scotland Following Mary s journ ey of 1874 through the MacKillo p heartland of Scotland... Holy Land Itinerary Featuring: Bethlehem Sea of Galilee Jerusalem Nazareth Mt Tabor & more The official travel packages mostly encourage a 6 night stay in to prepare and orientate participants with the Eternal City and particularly the sites so cherished by Mary MacKillop in her visits there in 1873 / 74. Pilgrims will also be treated to an evening Celebration of Mary MacKillop s life on the Saturday night prior to the Sunday along with a spectacular Thanksgiving Mass on the Monday, said Harvest s Managing Director Philip Ryall. ANONISATIO H A R V E S T 17th OCT OBE R 201 E H A R V E S T ANONISATIO CANON ISATION ISATIO ST PET N SQUTCRANON ER S AV E L O F F S AR E ROM ICE ERVICE Mary MacKillop SOSJ A U S T R A L I A S canonisation TRAVEL F I R S T S A I N T Mary Mackillop F I R S T S A I N T OFFICIAL TR AVEL P A Mary Mackillop A U S T R A L I A S canonisation TRAVEL Fully Inclusive Packages start as low as $3490 per person including airfares on Cathay Pacific or Emirates, accommodation, touring and most meals. ANONISATIO Sisters of St Joseph CKAGES Reserve your place in histor y CANON ISATIO canonisation TRAVEL Mary Mackillop HARV EST PILG RIMAGES MMBrochure.indd N OF AUSTR ALIA S FIRST SAINT official travel packages - OFFI CIAL CANO NISATION TOUR OPER ATOR 1 25/5/10 5:45:53 PM For more information visit or call 1300 GO ROME ( ) In this Issue: Priest s Holy Land Familiarisation Early days of Harvest Miraculous Journey True Pilgrim Stories Upcoming Pilgrimages 0

2 T h e H a r v e s t e r Discovering the Fifth Gospel in the Holy Land. For the Year for Priests, 65 Australian and New Zealand priests made a group pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the month of February this year. Often called the fifth Gospel, the Holy Land continues to pull at the hearts of many, and a pilgrimage made the priesthood, and the stories of Jesus and the Bible, come alive in a new way for these priests. My Pilgrimage to Becoming a Catholic After spending time in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, the group travelled up the coast, via Jaffa, Caesarea, to Haifa and the Cave of the prophet Elijah, on Mount Carmel. After visiting many of the sites associated with Jesus in Galilee (Nazareth, Cana, Nain, Capernaum, Korazin etc.), the priests returned via Jericho and the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem, where they celebrated Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, as well as following the original Way of the Cross and a prayer vigil at the Garden of Gethsemane. Here are a few excerpts their wonderful experience. As I write these thoughts, I am sitting in the shadows of Mount Tabor, scene of the Transfiguration. The places where we say Mass each day are so rich in the presence of Christ and this, with the faces and names, moves me emotionally. I am truly blessed and am already planning how I can help others go through the Mount Tabor experience, both spiritually and in the flesh, as I am now. Fr Richard Thompson Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese I said to a confrere also travelling on the pilgrimage I would love to be picked to lead the Mass on the Sea of Galilee. Let s pray for each other that one of our names is drawn the hat. A dream came true. A prayer was heard. Against the odds, my confrere s name was picked was picked for Mass on the Lake of Galilee, and he made a generous gift of the opportunity to myself. Fr Peter Stojanovic Wagga Wagga Barry Johnston The opportunity to visit the Holy Land as a newly ordained priest is one of those times I will never forget. Harvest has provided a wonderful opportunity for priests to respond to Pope Benedict s proclamation of the Year of the Priest. To visit the holy places where the Lord lived His public ministry, and also those places where He was born and lived His hidden life, is so great an inspiration for my own priestly ministry. Fr Andrew Benton Cronulla NSW My dear friends, the end of this story was that I was confirmed as a Catholic and had my first Holy Communion on the 5th July 2009 at the age of 72 years. The starting point was a number of years ago when my wife Leith, who is a Catholic, encouraged me to attend Mass at Easter and Christmas. I also attended Mass when we went on a holiday to the country in Western Australia. Around March 2009 our Parish Priest, Fr. Don Kettle, announced that a Pilgrimage was being arranged to the Holy Land in October Leith showed an interest and asked me if I would like to go with her on this Pilgrimage. I was hesitant at first, not quite knowing what a Pilgrimage was and how I would cope. Anyway we both decided to go. The pilgrimage was the Exodus Journey, with Harvest Pilgrimages going to Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Our Spiritual Director was Fr. Don Kettle, our local Parish Priest, and the Tour Director, Chris. We visited places such as Nain, Cana, Mt Tabor, Nazareth, Capernaum, Jordan River, Bethany, Bethlehem, Mt. of Olives and many other places of Christian significance. The combination of Fr. Don, Chris, my wife Leith and seeing all the Holy places gave me a sense of something very special. The significance of seeing where Jesus was born and where he died and visiting many of the places that Jesus may have been had a very profound affect on my thinking. We all attended Mass every day, and that also had an affect on me. Both Fr. Don and Chris conducted the tour in an exemplary manner, especially a Christian point of view, but also making it a tour of learning and adventure. The overall effect was that on my return to Perth I decided to approach Fr. Don to prepare to become a Catholic. He was very encouraging to me and I was confirmed into the Catholic Church on the 5th July

3 I s s u e 02 W i n t e r 2010 The early days of Harvest Pilgrimages - Fr Ron Nissen SM Then to. In the sacristy of St Peter s I tried to arrange a Mass in the transept for the next morning. The sacristan mistook my stilted Italian and, oh happy fault, we ended up in the crypt and St Clement s chapel at the burial place of St Peter! Bussing to Assisi we had Mass at St Francis birthplace and visited the crypt where my mother s namesake, Clare, lay quietly. And then to San Damiano s where Jesus spoke the cross, Francis, rebuild my church. The Ryalls were faithful members of Villa Maria parish when I was editor of Harvest magazine in the 1970 s. Young Philip a teenager then used to help me print the wrappers every two months. Years later during sabbatical time in Wales in 1985 I received a letter Philip, by then an up-and-coming travel industry person. He d been asked to set up an agency. He wrote: Wouldn t it be great, Fr Ron, if I could use its facilities to provide experiences of faith! The pilgrimage idea was born. In September of 1987, with the permission of my Provincial, Philip and I set out for Harvest s MD Philip Ryall & Fr Ron Harvest s first ever group 1988 Israel and Italy to check out potential destinations and to explore the whole pilgrimage thing. As we travelled we had many yarns about pilgrimage vs tour, searching for a balance between good business planning and true faith experiences. In three weeks we visited the Holy Land, crawling through Hezekiah s tunnel and paddling in the Pool of Siloam and immersing ourselves into a dozen other wonderful sacred sites, before flying on to Italy to experience and Assisi. I agreed to lead the first pilgrimage. It would be known as Harvest, the magazine having finished some years before. On April 20, 1988 the first Harvest group assembled at Sydney airport. They were twelve of us. I felt like Jesus with the apostles, minus Judas, of course. We flew Olympic, overnighting in Athens, climbing to the Parthenon and eating local tucker before the leg to Tel Aviv. Once in the Holy Land we walked in the footsteps of the Master -- over the pavements of Jerusalem, up to the Temple Mount and Upper Room, to Bethlehem, Gethsemane, Calvary and the Holy Sepulchre and Emmaus. Thence to Nazareth, Tabor, Mass by the Sea of Galilee exciting moments and wonderful memories. Our pilgrimage was now over except for a short extension to Medjugorje a brief but blessed few days in the unspoiled village. On our last night Philip arrived with his Mum. The rest is history as Harvest has made access so available to this contemporary place of pilgrimage. So, there are some of the early memories. As one Harvest ended another one began. May it continue to bring the hundredfold to its fortunate pilgrims. One of our Chaplains We have chosen leaders who can provide the pastoral and spiritual guidance so central to your pilgrimage experience. Introducing Fr. Ron Nissen Fr Ron was Chaplain to the first Harvest pilgrimage in He has 38 years of ministry in Australia and the Asia-pacific region. He is presently assisting with the settlement of Burmese refugees in Sydney, Australia. Father speaks a little French. 3

4 From the Chaplain s Journal Life is real, and my heart is burning My reflections in Celebrating the Eucharist at the Holy Sepulchre, Holy Land, Israel. by Fr Manuel Santiago, PP For many decades one of the old advertisements of Coca-Cola that catches attention is that IT IS THE REAL THING! Well, the real thing continues to happen in our world not just on that soft drink ad. For me the real thing is to be right on the spot where our Lord Jesus gave up his life, the place of Calvary in Holy Land Israel. Let me begin with a short sharing When I first saw the itinerary of our ten-day pilgrimage in the Holy Land, I noticed the names of the main celebrant of the Eucharist each day among the 31 strong delegation of priests all over Australia under the Harvest Pilgrimage Tours. What a big surprise for me as my name was on the last day of the tour and it was the site of the Lord s Crucifixion in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. My feeling of unworthiness suddenly surged as I again looked, its my name as the Main Celebrant in the Holy Sepulchre, I will be at the very centre of the world spiritually speaking to borrow the words of St Cyril of Jerusalem : Christ opened his arms on the Cross to embrace the whole world, because Golgotha was at the centre of the world. To make sense, this unworthiness is like a guilt trip, Why me? Why not other priests instead? I hesitated and almost asked the organiser why me on that holiest spot on earth, Its because we picked names by random in a ballot box. was the reply the coordinator. I said to myself this must be a sign. God is pointing me to another reality. The first sign is this in the YEAR OF THE PRIEST and I was the Main Celebrant of the Eucharist right here, in the spot where Jesus was buried and the audience comprises pilgrims all over the world. This is real, as if God was saying to me hey Manuel, you must love your vocation! T h e H a r v e s t e r At that instant I remember the two disciples walking to Emmaus while talking to the Risen Jesus, my heart was burning. Of course human as we are, as priest, I am a member of the human race, the view of being unworthy is in us. What am I to do here? I must admit I did have doubts in the past, my past mistakes I made as a priest and God must be saying to me, move on Manuel, move on! After this pilgrimage the parish is waiting for you. Give life to the parish! If life is real, then real things are blessings. This is my other notion of the sign. To be here in the Holy Land is a blessing! I remember that one makes resolutions and promises. To be able to look at oneself and make a resolution is a blessing. Each year people make New Year s resolutions. Easter day is another moment of expressing to God our best resolutions, our personal conversions. For my part indeed, the walk to the Holy Land brought me personal conversion and spiritual self-knowledge. Holy Week and Easter are the holiest moments in the year, perhaps like me you could propose your own signs or prayer to our Risen Lord. Let us offer our best resolutions as an individual, let us ask for family blessings, pray for our friends, care for the unchurched, that they belong to and be part of God s family. Let us honestly accept our own personal conversions. God is an encounter. The two disciples at Emmaus remind us always: Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road. (Luke 24:32) 4

5 I s s u e 02 W i n t e r 2010 Mr P Ryall Managing Director Harvest Pilgrimages A Special Person Meet our staff Ever tried to put a face to the consultant that has been looking after your bookings. Dear Philip My husband Gerald died on September 21st last year. May he rest in peace. Gerald and I were on Harvest s Pilgrimage to for the Beatification of Mother Teresa in October We introduced ourselves over dinner in Florence and after my return to Melbourne Gerry pursued me by phone (much to my annoyance!). However, miraculously and happily, I fell in love with him and we were married in Melbourne in November I had never married and so at the ripe old age of 65 our marriage was quite a most wonderful affair. I moved to Corowa where he had family and a small business interest. Gerald was in remission prostate cancer and only in the two months prior to his death, did it catch up with him. He was a most beautiful human being and it was my privilege to nurse him at home for the last five and a half weeks of his life. So many marvellous events led us to meet on a Harvest Pilgrimage and I thank my Lord and my God for the happiness we shared since meeting in With every best wish for the future success of your Pilgrimages. Yours sincerely, Gerald s wife Kathleen January 18, 2010 Postcards Pilgrims Don t forget to submit your best pilgrimage photograph/s your collection of memories, that represents the location and brings out the pilgrim experience. Successful images will be added on to the Harvest online gallery (coming soon) while a lucky few will appear in the prestigious Harvest Brochure. Hello the Travel Office! Harvest Travel Office (A division of Harvest Pilgrimages) assists pilgrims wishing to go for the of Australia s first Saint, Blessed Mary MacKillop in. The will take place in St. Peters Square on Sunday October 17. Harvest Pilgrimages has been appointed as the Official Tour Operator by the Sisters of St Joseph, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. The Travel Office is made up of Donna Nixon, Joe Hall, Trish Gonzales, Arielle McGuiness and Justin Porter. Donna, Arielle and Joe are working in the call centre to assist pilgrims with questions about the travel packages, the actual event and other travel ideas while pilgrims are in. Trish is working closely with the Private Groups area to assist the many groups that are heading to in October. Justin who heads the team is looking forward to helping as many pilgrims as possible to get to. The Travel team is ready to assist in whatever way we can, to make sure that this once in a lifetime event in is attended by many Australians. H A R V E S T TRAVEL Call us at the Travel Office on 1300 GO ROME ( ) 5

6 T h e H a r v e s t e r Upcoming Pilgrimages VISITATIONS OF MARY $6695 JOuRNEY of CHRIST GRACES OF FRANCE $6595 Accompanied by Fr Tiziano Bogoni A 15 day pilgrimage A 13 day pilgrimage Departing 9 Sep 2010 Departing 20 Sep 2010 Lisbon Fatima Avila Burgos Paris Rouen Lisieux Garabandal Loyola Lourdes Chartres Nevers Paray + OBERAMMERGAU Le Monial Taize Ars La Salette Turin Optional 9 OPTION night Italy extension or Also Departing: 29 July 9 Oct 11 night Portugal / Spain 2010 Optional 9 night Holy Land extension or 9 night France extension Also Departing: 20 Oct 2010 Pilgrim s Road of Mary $6495 With Fr. Warren Edwards PP A 13 day pilgrimage journey featuring Dead Sea Sea of Galilee Nazareth Samaria Bethlehem Jerusalem Departing: 3 September 2010 Also departing on: 25 Sep 19 Oct 20 Nov 2010 $5995 GRACES OF ITALY $6395 With Fr. Patrick Vaughan PP A 14 day pilgrimage Departing 3 Sep 2010 Padua Florence Assisi Lanciano San Giovanni Rotondo Optional 9 night France extension + OBERAMMERGAU OPTION Also Departing: 29 Sep 19 Oct 2010 With Fr. David Cartwright A 15 day pilgrimage Departing 2 Oct 2010 Toulouse Lourdes Loyola Santo Domingo De Silos Burgos Leon Astorga Sarria Santiago De Compostela Coimbra Fatima Lisbon Optional extension to Mary MacKillop s * Costs must remain subject to change without notice based on currency exchange rates, departure city, airline choice and minimum group size contingency. Meet our guiding stars Our favourite, dedicated and experienced escort / guide in Italy is Paola Curzi. Paola has been escorting Harvest pilgrims throughout Italy for some years. A friendly and knowledgeable guide, Paola also spends a great deal of her time in France where she provides professional translation services to a Catholic organisation there. Paola has extensive experience in education in Italy, being a former school teacher. She has degrees and certificates in art education, has taught Italian to Europeans at various levels in University, is an accredited professional tour guide in Italy, and in France for both English speaking and French speaking groups. For the past two years she has been studying theology. Apart all these wonderful attributes, she is a very warm and friendly person who loves her job very much! Phil s Corner Who was the best financier in the Bible? Noah of course! Yes, he was remarkable how he could float his stock while the rest of the world was in liquidation! But what did he do all day on the Ark? Well he didn t play cards! Why not? Because he sat on the deck! Anyway I could Babylon all day but Armageddon tired of my own jokes! Courtesy of Philip Ryall s ongoing repertoire. Become a H RVESTER Would you like to go on a life-changing pilgrimage, absolutely free! Then become a Harvester! Over the next few months we will be developing a system for pilgrims to help us spread the Harvest news! You can help be a Harvester - and go into a draw each year to go on a free pilgrimage! How does it work? Well, first we ask you to get approval your parish priest to set up a small rack or stand at the back of the Church. We provide you with the stand and little leaflets and brochures and you keep it stocked throughout the year. For every 5 persons your parish next year that go on a Harvest pilgrimage, we give you one entry in the draw. The system gets underway in January 2011 and the draw will take place in December More details in the next edition. Be in it! Harvest Pilgrimages Polding Centre, 11th Flr, 133 Liverpool St., Sydney NSW 2000, Australia Free Call: harvest@pilgrimage.net.au Copyright Harvest Australia Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction of these tours/itineraries in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. ACN / TRAVEL AGENT LIC 2TA / HARVEST AUSTRALIA PTY LTD 6