A walk to remember …

Jul 28, 2023

By Tianne Ramona Pereira
C.S Lewis once wrote that “the real substance of the faith dwells in the world of action. Christian faith becomes real when it is lived out.” Here’s a story of a young man who literally walked the talk.

But first, did you know pilgrimages were around since ancient times? This tradition has existed throughout history, from the ancient Greeks and Romans, Hindus and Buddhists, Christians, and even Muslims. A pilgrimage is known to be a journey; more often than not it is a long journey made to a sacred place as an act of spiritual devotion.

In an exclusive interview with HERALD, Jownathan Roy Michael, a 28-year-old business owner who hails from Seremban, tells us of his journey after completing a nine-day walking pilgrimage from the Church of the Visitation, Seremban to the old Church of St Anne’s at Bukit Mertajam. This 400km walk, that began on July 5 was actually his father’s dream. His father, Buithyanathan Michael, took this same journey of faith in 2004, when he walked on this solo journey for charity. He too took nine days to complete the walk and always dreamt of doing it again. However, tragedy struck and in 2021, Buithyanathan passed away.

Goal to fulfil late father’s dream
It became Jownathan’s goal to fulfil his father’s dream – but it was not always a smooth and dandy journey. In fact, a majority of those who knew of his plans, tried to dissuade him, stating it was too dangerous, there were too many cars, he was not physically prepared and the list goes on — but that did not stop him. Instead, he put his trust in God and did it anyway. However, just a week before the pilgrimage, fear crept in and Jownathan began to second guess his decision to walk. He questioned if he was capable or if he had what it took. In the end, he submitted his plans to God and told himself he had to try, for even if he was not able to complete it, he would go as far as he could. And if this journey was to take his life, he was now all pumped up and all for it.

There was nothing fancy that took place during the week leading up to the pilgrimage – in fact other than packing his bag two days in advance, Jownathan was at work the day before his awaited adventure, in order to ensure he left no job undone before setting out. The morning of his pilgrimage began like any other day. He attended Mass before leaving the church grounds at 9.00am. The goal was to cover 45kms a day, which he successfully did.

When he reached the Sg Perak rest stop, Jownathan was offered a lift by an elderly old man who said the area was not safe. In fact, it is notoriously known for mugging and even murder cases. The kind old man didn’t want anything to happen to him, so he took him on his lorry to the next rest area, Bukit Kantang. God sent? We think so.

While on the pilgrimage itself, Jownathan stated that there were multiple times he wanted to give up – it was raining, it was hot, it was far. As a matter of fact, every morning felt like there was such a long way to go. This was pretty understandable, seeing that Jownathan had not prepared himself physically with any special regimes, diets or training. He did, however, spiritually prepare himself through prayer and mentally psyched himself with the notion that “if my dad could do it, so can I”.

Whole journey absorbed in prayer
When sharing about the many encounters he had to overcome, Jownathan noted that one of the biggest challenges faced was when he was trying to avoid a fast lorry, missed his step and fell into a drain, leaving him with a sprained foot. An injured foot and a long way to go was just the beginning of his troubles, because now he came to one of the narrowest and steepest legs of his journey, walking just one foot away from the bustling traffic. To him this was one of the most terrifying and trying times. All the way he kept focusing on his prayer for healing and protection.

And this is exactly what he holds closest to his heart as the most memorable thing discovered on his pilgrimage — prayer! He shared that never in his life has he prayed so much, but his whole journey was absorbed in prayer. When he was thinking about making this pilgrimage, he felt a calling to leave everything and pray, and not just pray for himself or his needs but to pray for people. He couldn’t help emphasising that the greatest take back from this pilgrimage was his encounter with prayer. Prayers can move mountains. In this nine-day journey, he learnt to pray not just for himself, but for everyone — cancer patients, prisoners, orphans, sinners, everyone! While sharing, he stated that he is not a saint, or the holiest person around nor is he a great person, but what he learnt is that we can and should pray for everybody. “We must pray for everyone and we must never forget to pray to God in thanksgiving for all our blessings, and only then we pray for ourselves.”

Looked on as a beggar
Jownathan went on to share that at almost every stop he made, people would look at him like he was a beggar or a homeless man. Many assumed he had run away from home, and only a handful came up to speak and ask him his story. Some even gave him food thinking he needed it. He shared that people judged him without knowing his story and that is another valuable lesson learnt — “in life, never judge a person, look at a human like a human. We need humanity. Jesus could be sitting somewhere as a beggar, but we could be judging Jesus through our lack of understanding and compassion. I have walked through many phases in life, but I have never lived like this – a beggar, a homeless. I slept and took my shower whenever and wherever there was an opportunity. There were days I had to skip my shower.”

Overwhelmed with joy
A sense of pure relief gushed through him when he first saw the old Church of St Anne’s from afar and when he finally reached the church, he was overwhelmed with joy and pride. He had done it! He had finally made it! He had conquered what he had set out to do. He kissed the foot of the stairs in the exact same way his father had 19 years ago, before making his way up to the old church. Entering the church left him speechless, feeling blessed, happy and at peace that he was able to meet St Anne before all the other pilgrims who would be making their way for the feast later in the month.

He shared that you don’t have to be rich to change the world, stressing that he is not a rich man, he cannot give much to people but praying for everyone in the nine days was so rewarding. He prayed uncountable decades of the Rosary for incalculable hours and learnt that prayer is the most powerful thing in the whole world.

When asked if he would take this journey again, he said he would jump at the opportunity to do so if he has the calling, because he has learnt invaluable lessons and discovered so much about himself through it all.

Believe in God, believe in yourself
Jownathan wants his message to be “believe in God, believe in yourself”. He adds, “Before you can believe in anything, you need to believe in yourself. People can say so many negative things about you – but if you lose belief in yourself, you lose everything. When you believe in God, He will point you to the path of success and walk with you on your journey, whether up or down. We only live once, there are no repeats, so give as much as you can give, help as much as you can help, and pray as much as you can pray. This is our time – do your best for humanity. You may not be able to do a lot but remember — helping just one person is a blessing.” No matter the odds of success or the scale of the challenge, your actions can make a difference. It’s better to light a candle than curse the dark.

Does seeing somebody accomplish something extraordinary, defy the odds, or overcome difficulty leave us wondering – what am I doing? Maybe this is our wake-up call to step out and step up!