Well, I’m
going on another pilgrimage. This one has been just a couple of months in the
planning, and actually got a bit dicey there for a while, but last week I got
email confirmation with flight information and so forth, so it seems to have
come together. It’s coming up pretty quickly, in fact. Here’s how it developed.
First, for
several years now, ever since the 2014 pilgrimage to Italy, I’ve been thinking
about a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. But I was pretty hesitant given the ever-present
turmoil in the Middle East. Nevertheless, when we were on the pilgrimage to
Mexico City in February 2016, over one of the meals that Anne and I shared with
a couple of women from Houston, conversation turned to their own pilgrimage to
the Holy Land. They strongly encouraged us to go. Later in the same trip, in
conversation with the organizer, Taylor Marshall, I found out he wanted to lead
a pilgrimage to the Holy Land – “Maybe next year.” I expressed my doubt I could
afford such a trip – I’d already looked into the cost and seen that they tend
to run at least $4000 per person – to which he replied, “Pray a novena!”
