What is a pilgrimage?

This weekend I am very grateful that Fr Larry is filling in for myself and Fr James due to a scheduling conflict. Fr James is at a conference and I am with our pilgrimage group in Italy.

So… what is a pilgrimage? Pilgrimages are different from vacations, while they both can be entertaining and see some wonderful sites, they differ in the intention. Vacations are things we do to get away from our normal routine of life in order to refresh ourselves, while pilgrimages allow us to get away from the normal routine of life so that we can grow in our faith and prayer life. This is why we focus on going to holy sites, praying, and celebrating Mass every day at these special places.

What follows are a few of the wonderful places that we will see and celebrate Mass. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we will be in Padua, which is famous because of the great Saint Anthony. We will be blessed to celebrate Mass at the altar of his tomb on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we will have the great blessing of celebrating Mass at the tomb of our parish namesake of Saint Luke! He is entombed in the Basilica of Santa Giustina and has been publicly venerated there since the 1300’s. During this trip we will be able to celebrate at the location of a second of the Evangelists, St. Mark who is in the island city of Venice, and we will celebrate Mass at one of the chapels in the massive church on Thursday. On Friday, we will celebrate Mass at the church that marks the spot where St. Francis of Assisi received the stigmata on Mount La Verna. Some of the other places we will celebrate Mass are at the tomb of St. Francis, the chapel in Orvieto where a Eucharistic miracle happened. In Rome we will celebrate at St. Paul outside the walls, and St. Mary Major.

These are great opportunities to celebrate the Eucharist in these wonderful places, but while the places are special, it is more special that we get to receive our Lord and Savior each time we are part of the Mass all over the world. As a seminarian and priest, I have had the opportunity to be a part of the celebration of the Eucharist at some incredible places, including the spot of the birth and death of Jesus, but no matter where it is celebrated, it is always a wonderful thing that we can do.

I am sure that every one who is a part of this pilgrimage will have a wonderful time and I hope that everyone will grow in their faith. Rome is a very important place in the history of the Church as it is the place in which both St. Paul and our first Pope, St. Peter were martyred. While I am excited to be there, it is always good to get back home and be with the people here!

God bless,
Fr. Ken