It is time to make a pilgrimage. A nine-day God-seeking novena. A journey to Our God.

Luke 2:41–They went up to Jerusalem for the celebration as was their custom. Luke 24:15–Jesus approached and began to walk along with them.

This is the essence of pilgrimage: Go to meet your God, and He will come to you when you enter the journey and seek Him. The whole pilgrimage thing, that entire God-seeking way of life, has been part of our faith from the beginning.

Abraham departed from Ur.

The Hebrew People went up to Shiloh to encounter the Lord in the days of Hannah & Samuel.

And then they made journeys to Jerusalem in the days of David & Solomon & to this day.

Even when they found themselves in a foreign land, the Jewish People sought the Lord. The pilgrimage was part of their DNA. Moses approached a burning bush and removed his sandals for he was standing on holy ground and the Lord said to Moses, “Come now, I will send you.”

He was to lead them out to a holy place to pray, but Pharaoh said no. God upped the request. “Then let my people go – forever.”

They had the ultimate pilgrimage to make. And God Himself would throw His protection around them.

The entire Hebrew People passed through the desert into the Promised Land, seeking the Lord of the Promise by way of a journey.

Then, there was Ruth who traveled to Bethlehem, following Naomi, seeking the Lord of her husband’s mother.

And a foreigner, Naaman, at the direction of his wife’s servant who was just a young Hebrew girl, traveled to Israel to meet God’s prophet.

When exiled, the Hebrew People returned – and they went up. Up to Jerusalem. A journey to higher ground. A journey to the Lord Most High.

Mary received the Word, and immediately went on a pilgrimage of her own, to Ein Kerem in the hills of Judea, Elizabeth and Zechariah’s home.

Mary and Joseph were forced to go to Bethlehem to complete the census, but they made it a pilgrimage – in which they encountered the Incarnate Word of God!

Soon after, the Holy Family went to the Temple for the Presentation – imagine. The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity went on a pilgrimage to encounter the Godhead!

And they returned to Jerusalem every year at Passover, because Pilgrimage & Passover go together. The God-quest and the Eucharistic Feast go together.

Old.

New.

All of it rooted in pilgrimage because at its core, pilgrimage is about encountering the Lord God.

The disciples throughout the Gospels traveled to one mountain after another, to deserted places, to the respite of a boat on the Sea of Galilee, to an Upper Room.

Zacchaeus climbed a tree.

The sick woman sought the hem of Jesus’ garment.

Peter and John were seen running to the empty tomb.

The faithful throughout Church history have set their minds and hearts on the God-quest, beginning with pilgrimages to the Holy Land and then making pilgrimages to every place kissed by the Gospel message in which chapels, churches, basilicas, shrines and grottos have been raised –where Jesus Christ has traveled by way of His disciples’ feet, to contemplate those sweet and fleeting visits by His Mother, to touch the soil where martyrs died and the Gospel seed was planted and grew.

We are a pilgrim people, and the entirety of this life is a faith journey.

It is time to make a pilgrimage. A nine-day God-seeking novena. A journey to Our God.

Come, says the Lord. I am sending you.

Go up for the celebration, and I will join you on the journey.

I invite you to come along with me. Come, let’s make it a novena. It’s almost time to enter nine days of prayerful journey – to Our God.

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Denise Bossert is a professional travel writer for Select International Tours. Select has provided travel for hundreds of groups and many prominent church leaders. http://www.selectinternationaltours.com/

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