If you are a follower of Coach Mahr at all, then you know that I love the analogy of life being a journey and our need to focus on that journey and not the destination. This perspective started back in High School when my Dad shared with me the Robert Hastings essay called “The Station.” During this Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church I am reflecting on where I am in my journey and what lies ahead. I’ve decided to transform my journey into a pilgrimage.
What is the difference? A pilgrimage is a journey that carries with it a greater significance, a level of importance where the result can lead to a personal transformation. A pilgrimage can change our hearts and expand our minds. A journey becomes a pilgrimage through its uniqueness and the presence we bring to it.
I look at a pilgrimage the way I do a long hike. A hike is a slow trek in nature that provides time for reflection and communion with my being. They are walks of convictions, purpose, and direction.
Salvation history is the story of a pilgrimage. Abram journeys from civilization to the desert. Moses from the Pharaoh’s palace to a mountaintop. The people of Israel are led through the desert to the Promised Land. All these journeys are God inspired, where He accompanied them. We likewise – for our Salvation - should be on a pilgrimage, living our current, earthly lives in a way that brings us closer to Him.
Our pilgrimage upon this earth began when we were born. Each of the moments we live are the ones that "count" and that prepare us for our destination. The pilgrimage process is about the grace, custom-designed for each of us by the Holy Spirit, imparted by God’s power and in God’s perfect time. This is the greatest reason to listen for and respond to God’s call to transform our journey into a pilgrimage.
A pilgrimage is a journey to a holy place with a holy purpose. As Christians, all of our life journeys need to be pilgrimages – we should all have a holy purpose, to move His Kingdom forward, to a holy place, heaven.
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