St. Jude parishioners take `Walk to Jerusalem’
By Fabvienen Taylor
PEARL — Officially, it is 7,550 miles from St. Jude Church directly to the city of Jerusalem in Israel.
But by Easter, over 400 St. Jude parishioners will have logged in excess of 2,000 miles to cross the (imaginary) finish line in the Holy City.
“That’s because the places that used this program before had smaller groups participating, maybe 75 or 100 people. So it really took them 12 weeks to get to Jerusalem by Easter,” said Rhonda Bowden, director of liturgy and pastoral ministry at St. Jude.
She heard about the 12-week “Walk to Jerusalem” program through a Spring Hill College online workshop about parish nursing.
She told her pastor, Father Gerard Hurley, about it and he thought it was a good idea for the parish.
Bowden got some more information about the program, which intends to exercise the body as well as the spirit during Lent.
She developed meditations, prayers and reflections and included Scripture verses centering on different topics sucha s forgiveness for each week.
In January when it was time for people to sign up, Bowden guessed only 100 to 150 people would do so.
But over 400 people, ages five to 85, enlisted to walk. With 350 to 400 families there are over 1,000 people in the parish.
“At the end of the first week we had clocked over 2,000 miles which meant we would get to Jerusalem pretty quickly, well before Easter,” she said.
So Bowden customized the walk with side trips to Lourdes, Italy, Poland, Turkey and other countries.
“Each week I gave walkers a handout telling them which country we would be walking through. Of course, having an Irish pastor, we worked it out to be in Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day. You know we had to do that,” she said.
People walk in the church’s parking lot, on public school tracks, in their neighborhoods, wherever they choose, said Bowden.
The walkers can log miles as individuals or as a group, she said.
As of last Saturday, April 4, the group of walkers had reported a total of over 2,000 miles.
“I think we have pretty much covered Europe,” said Bowden who walks at home with her husband Mark but alone as well.
On Saturday morning, April 4, a group of people were sprucing up the the church for Palm Sunday and Holy Week. They were all participating in the “Walk to Jerusalem.”
Each has their own reason. Sometimes they overlap.
Ruth Thompson needed a healthier lifestyle. “This program was a boost to that for me,” she said.
Thompson walks every other day, averaging from nine to 20 miles a week.
“It’s wonderful for praying and getting closer to the Lord as you are walking.”
Bitsy Hemley walks with a group from St. Jude but also ticks off some miles every day during lunchtime by walking several times up and down stairs.
“It has helped me to get closer to my church community and it has helped me physically.”
An avid golfer, she adds five or six miles every day she plays.
Another sportswoman, Laura Bowden, 12, adds the distance she covers playing soccer to her weekly total.
“I get done about 15 miles a week,” she said. “And then when I play soccer I get another mile or two.”
When Christina Overton signed up, she hoped as she walked with other parishioners they would get to know each other better.
“And that has really happened,” Overton said. “I have gotten to know people I’ve been going to church with for years. But I never had the opportunity to really get to know them.
“But walking together and spending time together you just relax and talk and share a lot of things. We really make a conscious effort to do the walking and we always walk up here at the church.”
When her group, which numbers from five to 15 walkers, finish they walk at the church, they attend evening Mass.
“I was coming to Mass anyway but it I’m glad I made the effort to get to know some people,” Overton said.
Her 11-year-old son Aubrey participates in his own special way.
“I’ve walked some,” he said. “But usually instead of walking I go pogo-sticking a lot.”
But it’s not just the walkers who are involved, said Bowden.
“Really we just wanted to get people moving. So if they are doing some activity, exercise or set of movements they can get credit for one mile for every 20 minutes they do it.
“We’ve got a few people in wheelchairs who are unable to walk, so they can count their physical therapy or chair aerobics or other things like that.
“We don’t want to leave anyone out,” Bowden said.
“I’m pretty sure we are going to make it to Jerusalem this week. When just cut across North Africa through Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt,” she said.
