'Pilgrimage' takes readers on spiritual odyssey

Intermountain Catholic

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Intermountain Catholic editor Barbara Lee holds a copy of her new book "Pilgrimage: a journey through the Holy Land with the words of Archbishop Niederauer." IC photo by Christopher Gray

SALT LAKE CITY — A pilgrimage is not a journey where the destination defines the trip. Instead, it is a journey where the traveler allows the destination to affect an inner change, empowering the experience of place to transcend to the fabric of the soul. The pilgrimage is always a moving experience, and in the hands of Intermountain Catholic editor Barbara Stinson Lee, her book "Pilgrimage: a journey through the Holy Land with the words of Archbishop George Niederauer" guides the reader through a spiritual examination of where Jesus lived, died, and lived again.

Joining a lamentably small list of Catholic books published in Utah by Utahns, "Pilgrimage" combines homilies and brief talks by the former Salt Lake City bishop with responses from pilgrims, essays on pilgrimage, and photos shot during a November 2005 pilgrimage with members of the Western Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of  Jerusalem to Israel and Palestine.

Lee, invited to join the pilgrimage, received many requests from other pilgrims to assemble some kind of record of the journey. Using recordings made by fellow pilgrim Norbert Neumann, Lee was able to recreate and capture the words of Archbishop Niederauer at sacred sites in the Holy Land. Soon, though, Lee realized her first attempt at a book would gain a life of its own.

"Only after I began to sit back and let it take its course," said Lee, "did the book finally begin to come alive."

The route taken by "Pilgrimage" crosses ethnic, religious, and social divides infamous for their violent interactions. However, Lee makes it very clear that a frightened withdrawal of support from the Holy Land is not only isolating for all Christians, but also intensely damaging to the Christian community in the Middle East.

"Before embarking on the pilgrimage, people all around me quipped anecdotes of danger and asked if I was really serious about going," said Lee. In fact, a bomb was detonated in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Amman, Jordan, during the pilgrimage. Sensing not all was well, guide Amer Shehadeh "made an announcement and simply told us we were not going to Jordan, we were going to change our plans. We trusted him implicitly."

Shehadeh is a Christian who lives with his family in Haifa, Israel. Working as a tour guide, his income has been severely constrained with the war this summer between Israel and Hezbollah militants entrenched in Lebanon. "It is vital to support our Christian family in the Holy Land. Without our support, they will be overcome by the violence that sweeps their land and deprives them of their livelihood," said Lee.

"The sale of this book will not benefit me or the Intermountain Catholic," said Lee. "Rather, the money from its sale will be reinvested in the Holy Land, sent to the Latin Patriarchate of  Jerusalem, supporting their many good and charitable works and fostering a spirit of solidarity."

"Pilgrimage" guides the reader on a ten-day examination of the spiritual world encompassed by the Holy Land. Lee hopes to reach out to readers and show a path that, though mottled with aggression and distrust, is still the road traveled by Jesus Christ and his followers throughout the ages.

"Pilgrimage" is on sale at the Immaculate Heart Bookstore in Draper and directly from the Intermountain Catholic: http://grande.icatholic.org/store.html.