Pilgrimages, Mountaintop Moments, and the Feast of the Transfiguration

"This past week I returned from England where I was helping lead our youth pilgrimage. We had a wonderful time. We visited London and Canterbury and York and other small towns nearby. It was a wonderful pilgrimage. What is a pilgrimage? Scholars who study pilgrimages say the word is hard to define. There are definitions that cover different aspects, but every definition leaves something out. The scholars say pilgrimage is a rather slippery term. But for today’s purposes, let’s define pilgrimage as a physical journey one takes to a place with the goal, the intention of some sort of spiritual deepening, growth in faith, encounter with the divine, seeking God."