November 5, 2024 at 9:55 a.m.
A JOURNEY FOR VETERANS
Throughout our lives, we will be asked at some point to carry a burden that feels impossible to handle. For veterans, the aftermath of service is a burden often placed on one’s shoulders after returning home and becomes a daily and difficult task to carry.
It’s a burden that nobody should have to carry alone, and with the proper support — and some help from St. Francis of Assisi — nobody will have to.
The Franciscan Pilgrimage Program is offering a Veterans of the Military pilgrimage to Assisi, Italy, from Feb. 28 to March 8, 2025. The nine-day trip offers attendees support and time away from the demands of life to find healing and purpose amongst the company of other fellow veterans.
The trip is facilitated by Father Mark Reamer, OFM, a former Navy chaplain and current guardian of Siena College’s friary and vice president for mission for Siena; Army combat veteran and former Siena College president Chris Gibson; and his spouse Mary Jo Gibson, a licensed clinical social worker who serves on the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Veterans Mental Health Training Initiative Advisory Committee.
The pilgrimage hones in on the life of St. Francis of Assisi, who participated in the Fifth Crusade in 1219 and whose story serves as a way for individuals to connect with a saint who struggled with relatable issues, such as a poor relationship with his father and survivor’s guilt after living through a war.
Father Reamer said the trip “is really focused on looking at the experience of being a veteran through the lens of St. Francis of Assisi, especially those who have been in a war zone, and bringing that sense of healing and reconciliation into our own lives; Francis helps us to really facilitate that.”
Chris and Mary Jo Gibson joined this year’s pilgrimage in May. Even with high hopes, Chris Gibson said it “surpassed my expectations.”
“It was truly an incredible experience. I had high expectations going in, and it surpassed my expectations as to how individual veterans could find not only inspiration but a program of internal improvement, but also how they could connect with each other and how we could connect with other veterans.”
“The connection of the service and sacrifice that Francis and (St.) Clare experienced is so relatable for veterans,” Mary Jo said. “They can identify with this human being, and then you recognize the connection closer to God through that. I noticed a lot of veterans reading when we left and that they wanted to learn more, and that was my experience. The more I know, the more I want to know.”
During the pilgrimage, attendees will walk through the holy doors of St. Peter’s and St. John Lateran, and visit the iconic sites of the Basilicas of St. Francis, St. Clare, St. Mary of the Angels, San Damiano, and the serene Eremo delle Carceri.
There is something special, Father Reamer added, about going to the physical home of St. Francis and St. Clare.
“It’s really about a spirituality of place,” he said. “One can go to Assisi on vacation … but (this) is not so much a vacation; there’s an intentionality of going. Each person brings their own intention, but the connection that we recreate is one of spirituality and the commonality of being a veteran, and that most veterans have had experiences that not a lot of other people have had. So there’s a certain bonding there.”
Chris Gibson said the beauty of the Italian village is “also an asset.”
“There’s something about us that connects with truth and good and beauty, and those virtues are perfectly situated in Assisi. It is a relatively small city, it is well documented, so when you are looking for these experiences everything from where (Francis) grew up, his home, the difficult moments in their lives. The intentionality is brought into laser focus in part because of this condensed city that is so well preserved … And so through the extraordinary lives of St. Francis and St. Clare, one confronts their own life.”
For more information or to register, call (414) 427-0570, ext. 246, or go online to franciscanpilgrimages.com. Cost for veterans who are or have served in the U.S. Armed Forces is $3,300. Non-military (i.e., spouses) are $4,600 and are welcome to participate. Airfare is included.
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