The Pilgrim's Journey

Praying in the Garden with Jesus

Andrea JoinesLast Updated: April 5th, 2023Featured Pilgrimages, Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections

The Franciscan Crown Rosary

Andrea JoinesLast Updated: September 1st, 2022Italy, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections

Twenty years ago this spring I traveled to Rome for Holy Week and Easter.  I was studying abroad that year and before I left I told all my friends at the Newman Center that I was going to see the Pope for Easter and I’d love if anyone would like to join me. One friend … Read More

Be Transformed

Andrea JoinesLast Updated: August 4th, 2022Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration, where the disciples encountered Jesus’ divinity in a profound way.  This encounter was so meaningful to them that they wanted to stay there and bask in His glory.  The same can happen to us throughout our own spiritual lives.  Whether in prayer, on retreat, or even … Read More

Holy Land Inspiration

Richard SontagLast Updated: July 8th, 2022Featured Pilgrimages, Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories, Priests, Spiritual Reflections

A little over a month ago, several seminarians, priests, and lay faithful had the pleasure and privilege of taking a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the trip was not like your standard trip (as if a trip to the king of the universe’s stomping grounds could ever be standard). Covid was still hanging in … Read More

My Final Three

Bri CampbellLast Updated: June 17th, 2022Holy Land, Italy, Medjugorje, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections

July 10, 2017, was my first day working at Tekton Ministries. Nearly 5 years later, I find myself recounting the memories of my top three pilgrimages.  Perhaps you may find inspiration for your next pilgrimage… Italy I went to Italy with Tekton Ministries as I graduated college in 2017. Little did I know, I would … Read More

Unexpected Blessings

Andrea JoinesLast Updated: June 1st, 2022Camino de Santiago, Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories

I first learned about the Camino de Santiago my senior year of college. It became a dream of mine from that day on. I never knew how I could make it a reality, given the logistics of needing at least a month off work and the money to cover all the costs.  So, the dream … Read More

Drawing Near to our Mothers

Andrea JoinesLast Updated: May 11th, 2022Camino de Santiago, Marian Shrines of Europe, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections

Nine years ago, while I was in the Chapel of the Apparitions in Fatima, our priest shared a story about one of our fellow pilgrims.  At seventeen, she was one of the younger ones in our group and was on this pilgrimage with her older siblings and parents.  We had recently walked five days on … Read More

How to Add Moments to your Life

Bri CampbellLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Medjugorje, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections

This past Saturday, I returned to the U.S. from a week-long stay in Medjugorje – a small village nestled in the hills of Bosnia-Herzegovina, not far from the coast of the Adriatic Sea. When asked, most people cannot point to this place on a map. They’ve never heard of Bosnia-Herzegovina, let alone the pilgrimage site … Read More

Our Lady, Queen of Peace, Pray for Us

Andrea JoinesLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections

Every day in our morning prayers at the office, we invoke the intercession of Mary under the title Queen of Peace.  This is especially fitting this week, as Pope Francis called for a day of prayer and fasting on Ash Wednesday for the situation in Ukraine. The title of Mary as Our Lady of Peace … Read More

The Return to the Holy Land

Andrea JoinesLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Featured Pilgrimages, Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories

Well, it finally happened. After almost exactly 2 years, which really felt like much longer, we had a pilgrimage group depart for the Holy Land. Though those of us here in the office would have preferred to have gone with them, we have been delighting in their pictures and stories they have shared with us … Read More

Preparing the Heart for Pilgrimage

Bri CampbellLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Medjugorje, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections, Upcoming Pilgrimages

It has been exactly 2 years, 9 months, and 4 days since my last pilgrimage. In May of 2019, I was blessed with the opportunity to visit the Holy Land with my home parish. Looking back, it was such an easy journey – without the burden of COVID restrictions and new policies, it seems unbelievable … Read More

When Your Pilgrimage Becomes Difficult

Andrea JoinesLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections

The past two years have brought lots of ups and downs in the pilgrimage world. We had two groups travel in February of 2020 and then mere days before we were to send others, everything shut down. March groups were postponed to October, then to the following March, then again to the fall, and once … Read More

Preparing for the Unexpected

Andrea JoinesLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Camino de Santiago, Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories

Our first pilgrimage to the holy Land in nearly two years is departing in just over a week.  They have received their pilgrim packets with their luggage tags and booklet.  Their e-tickets are in their inboxes, and their final preparation meeting was earlier this week. We – and their group leaders – have done our … Read More

What is a Pilgrimage?

Bri CampbellLast Updated: February 16th, 2023Pilgrims' Stories, Travel Alerts

Merriam Webster defines a pilgrimage as “a journey of a pilgrim,” especially: “one (journey) to a shrine or a sacred place.”  The first known use of the word ‘pilgrimage’ was in the 14th century, but the action of taking a pilgrimage had already existed for millennia at that point. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, Abraham was … Read More

Locked in with Christ

Krista BehringerLast Updated: April 1st, 2021Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories

How many different occasions has someone shouted, “stay awake” or “don’t fall asleep?” If you find yourself blessed with the opportunity to spend the night inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and accidentally fall asleep, you may hear plenty of voices in several different languages ordering you to either sit up straight … Read More