Seven Sacred Thresholds -- A Jubilee Pilgrimage Through Rome

A little over a week ago, I crossed seven sacred thresholds in Rome - each one a doorway into silence, mercy, and mystery. Conceived by St. Philip Neri in the 16th century, this Seven Churches pilgrimage is one of the oldest Roman traditions. I walked about 15 km (9 miles) in 3 days across the city, passing through the Appian Way countryside, the catacombs, and some of Rome's best basilicas.

Every 25 years, the Roman Catholic Church declares a Jubilee Year, marked by renewal, mercy, and pilgrimage which the faithful are encouraged to undertake to acquire the Jubilee indulgence. The Jubilee Year has origins in the Old Testament. Rooted in Leviticus 25, the Jubilee Year in ancient Israel, occurring every fifty years, was a sacred time marked by the release of debts, liberation of slaves, and restoration of land - a divine reset for society.

In the New Testament, Jesus directly connects Isaiah 61:1-2 to His mission in Luke 4:18-19, when He reads from the scroll in the synagogue at Nazareth:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18–19; cf. Isaiah 61:1–2)

Immediately after reading, Jesus declares: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)

This moment marks His public announcement of His messianic identity and mission. Jesus presents Himself as He who fulfils the ancient Jubilee, having come to "preach the acceptable year of the Lord,” a time of grace, restoration, and liberation.

You may be wondering: What is a Jubilee indulgence?

It’s a gift of grace: The Church offers it to help people wipe away the spiritual consequences (called temporal punishment) of past sins that have already been forgiven.

Not a “get out of jail free” card: It doesn't replace confession or repentance - rather, it's like clearing the leftover emotional or spiritual mess after you’ve said “I’m sorry” and truly meant it.

To obtain a Jubilee indulgence, believers go on a sacred pilgrimage to Rome to walk to designated sacred Jubilee sites and walk through the Holy Door, take part in the Holy Mass and liturgical celebrations in any of the four Major Papal Basilicas of Rome, participate in Eucharistic adoration or meditation, pray for the Pope's intentions, and perform acts of mercy or charity. The crossing of the threshold of a Holy Door signifies that a pilgrim allows him or herself to be guided by Jesus and thus find their salvation.

Here's a preview of the Seven Churches pilgrimage I accomplished recently in Rome:

I invite you to watch this trailer as an introduction to my full journey.

Two things struck me in this walking pilgrimage:

1. Silence is a virtue. We need it for prayer. I used the word 'detoxifying' before when I visited Santo Domingo de Silos in 2014. Silence is detoxifying - stepping away from the daily rhythms of life, unplugging from the noise and chaos, and restoring our sense of faith in God. It's only in Silence that we can truly contemplate, discern, and hear God's whisper. 1 Kings 19:12 (NIV) says, "After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." God reveals Himself to Elijah (and us) not in dramatic displays of power but sometimes in subtle ways.

2. Divine revelation comes in Silence. In Silence, I hear that God loves each and everyone of us SO MUCH. Everything points to the LOVE of our Triune God. Jesus Christ's coming into our world, His suffering and death on the Cross, and His resurrection - they're acts of purposeful love. He didn't suffer for naught or vanity. It's to save us. It's the same profound love that I had connected to in Menlo Park's Vallombrosa eons ago, and I'm getting reacquainted to this mysterious love on this pilgrimage. He grants us consolation in this love to help us through difficult times. This love is available to all people no matter who they are: good, bad, easy, hard, young, old.... todos! tous! everyone!

Where love appears, there's harmony, smiles, gratitude, gentleness... but where it lacks, there's hostility, rudeness, and aggression (even passive aggressiveness).

I see with clarity now what Pope Francis had long promoted - love, joy, peace, and a heart for the poor. Both the late Pope Francis and our current Pope Leo XIV have prayed often for the victims of conflicts. Peace remains one of the Pope's deepest intentions. Let us all join in prayer for Peace -- in Gaza, Ukraine, along the Cambodia-Thailand border, and wherever war continues to blow up.

I feel what our Lord Jesus Christ pins for - a yearning for people to love Him and to have love for one another, for peace.

As pilgrims of hope, in this Jubilee Year of Hope, we choose NOT to focus on the dark and tragic events around us, but to pay attention to all the good in the world. In this pilgrimage, the good can be seen in smiling nuns who greet you, the nodding affirmation of a priest who hears your confession, the beauty of historic Roman architecture that stands the test of time, the meaningful encounters you meet with fellow pilgrims, and the renewals received through the Holy Spirit. We choose to bring our salt and light into this world, to bring out goodness and share the fruit of the Spirit in the face of so much evil, violence, and suffering. The reason for our Hope is in the Word of God, the Logos, in Jesus Christ.

I encourage you dear reader to go into a quiet place to contemplate, pray, and get close to the love of Jesus Christ. Invite Him into your life.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments - like if you wish for me to elaborate on my experience in Vallombrosa, perhaps?

May every threshold you cross stir the soul and awaken the Spirit within.

In a future post, I'll take you through my first day of walking - from the majestic St. Peter's Basilica to the historic St. Paul Outside the Walls, with stops and quiet reflections along the way.

God bless you, my dear readers.

Next post: We are Instruments of Grace: Key Insights from Rome's Jubilee of Digital Missionaries & Catholic Influencers

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The Making of "Raised with Him: A Journey of Grace from Valley to Heavenly Perspectives and Realities"

I recently debuted a book. Though it was self-published, I wouldn't have been able to work through the whole process myself without the counsel, strength, and assist of God. Lest I forget, I'd like to recount below the entire workflow from start to finish:

Writing: While I've been toying with the idea of writing a book for some time, the morning of February 9, 2019 was defining as I clearly received an insight from the Holy Spirit nudging me to write. What I was to write about wasn't clear to me yet, but whatever it was, I knew the content must glorify the Lord. That night, I started drafting my manuscript. As days turned into weeks and then months, the manuscript started to take shape, and I slowly but surely made progress. The schools' shutdown in Cambodia in 2020 due to COVID-19 was a blessing in disguise as it afforded me time and space to write. Still, because of the book's focus on God, I got push back from the ancient enemy. Spiritual attacks like dark clouds hovering over me, laptop issues (including a dead hard drive that almost cost me all my saved files and folders!), distractions, and at least two illnesses came my way. I kept writing and continuously prayed for God's inspiration, wisdom, and counsel. The more I resisted and prayed, the firmer my writing resolve became. I finally finished writing the last chapter on December 22, 2020. 

Editing: However, I was only half way done! The next step was editing. I've lost count of the number of times I had read and edited the entire manuscript for not just redundancy, clarity, and organization but also the compliance of Scripture verses portrayed and the number of verses allowed for fair copyright use. In February 2021, I shared my manuscript with a couple of friends. After my friend Christina suggested I add theme titles to paragraphs, I amended the manuscript yet again for the umpteenth time. To meet the Easter Sunday launch of April 4, 2021, I scrambled to finish the editing and tie up loose ends in the Appendix, About the Author, and Dedication.

Publishing: The next step is to research Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)'s self-publishing terms. Their e-platform suits me as there are no huge upfront costs for printing and setting up (as opposed to using a traditional publisher). KDP employs a print-on-demand model and has a worldwide reach and distribution. Also, at 60-70% royalty per book depending on format, it's a no-brainer. I also looked into metadata details like writing a simple yet compelling and professional book description and choosing keywords and book categories. While setting up my KDP account, I was prompted to enter an ISBN (short for International Standard Book Number). After reading up about it, I decided to get my own ISBN for the paperback (instead of using KDP's free ISBN) since I have plans to distribute the book outside of Amazon and its distributors. I purchased one from Bowker at a discounted price of $99 (u.p. $125). It took about 3 days for Bowker to confirm my assigned ISBN-13, which I applied to my paperback on KDP. EBooks generally do not need an ISBN. (Click here to learn more about ISBN.)

Paperback Formatting: There was a learning curve to formatting the manuscript on MS Word. From setting up the paper size, interior margins, and Table of Contents page to adding custom page numbers, headers, and various sections, I managed it all from scratch. After reading up on KDP's specs, I also learned that the trim size (i.e. the book's physical size) does not affect the print cost per book; rather, the number of pages does. As a result, I reformatted my manuscript from the previous 5.75" (w) x 8" (h) to a 6" (w) x 9" (h) trim - the latter is apparently a popular trim size for most US paperbacks. This change reduced the number of pages from 300 to 254.

EBook Formatting: The formatting of the eBook manuscript was similarly challenging. I downloaded the free Kindle Create software to assist me in formatting and creating the preferred KPF (Kindle Package Format) files so the eBook can easily flow and fit all devices (tablet, phone, and Kindle). Because page count was no longer a concern, I increased the Scripture font size and spacing. After a couple of uploads onto KDP, I finally got it to work.

Book Cover: Because I'm not one to outsource a job before I've at least given it the old college try, I decided to design my own book cover for both the eBook and paperback formats. I had no idea it was going to be that tedious! For the paperback, the trim sizes, margins, and spine width and text size must be sized precisely based on the book's trim and number of pages. The paperback image must also be at least 300 dpi (dots per inch) in resolution. Thank goodness for the Internet, I found answers in just a few clicks. Based on my book's trim of 6" x 9", the resolution of my cover photo must be at least 1800 pixels x 2700 pixels. To design, I used Canva, a free and user-friendly site. When I encountered problems with the cover after uploading it onto KDP several times, I realized the cover guide size I had downloaded from KDP was incorrect. It was a guide for a 6" x 9" 260-page book, which had a different spine width. Since KDP did not offer a custom cover guide for a 6" x 9" 254-page book (for whatever reason) and the free version of Canva did not allow me to resize my cover design, I found the only solution to be in good-ole MS Word. There, I was able to set the cover size precisely to the 254-page trim sizes, margins, and spine width and text size.

So there, after all that's been said and done, I'm pleased to announce that the eBook and paperback formats of Raised with Him are now live and available for purchase in Amazon. 

As challenging as it was, I've learned a lot from this opportunity, and I thank the Lord for His continued benevolence, guidance, and protection. I hope you'll enjoy reading the book, and may it encourage and be a blessing to you! If you have read it, thank you for your support, and I hope you could leave a rating or review of Raised with Him on Goodreads.

Every blessing to you. Pax et agape.

Next Post: Tokyo, Japan: July 1-5, 2023

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