There are two important ingredients for a pilgrimage, according to Will Peterson: intention and destination.
“A pilgrimage is travel with purpose, and it’s a specific purpose for us Catholics in bringing an intention to God through the intercession of the saints and Mary,” said Peterson, founder and president of St. Paul-based nonprofit Modern Catholic Pilgrim and a parishioner at St. Helena in Minneapolis. “So, you have your intention, and you have a destination. And it’s pretty simple, that’s about it.”
With many location options for Catholic pilgrimages, Peterson told “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley that Modern Catholic Pilgrim works to help Catholics understand they don’t necessarily have to venture to far-flung corners of the world — they can go on pilgrimages locally, too.
For example, Peterson said the nonprofit has helped organize pilgrimages from the Franciscan Brothers of Peace’s Blessed Solanus Friary in St. Paul to St. Michael in Stillwater to celebrate Blessed Solanus Casey on his feast day.
Peterson said his involvement in the nonprofit allows for “encountering people and bringing them into these wonderful holy sites here in the archdiocese.”
Looking ahead, Peterson said Modern Catholic Pilgrim is gearing up for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.
The pilgrimage includes four routes crossing the United States to join in Indianapolis, where the National Eucharistic Congress will convene in July 2024. Locally, the Marian Route starts from the headwaters of the Mississippi at Lake Itasca and proceeds to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.
Peterson said Modern Catholic Pilgrim is helping coordinate all four routes.
The pilgrimage is an invitation to the public “to come basically every day, to come to Mass, to walk for a mile, walk for eight miles, come to a praise and worship or adoration prayer experience in the evening at parishes along the way,” Peterson said.
“We just can’t wait to bring it to the highways and the byways, bring Our Lord there, bring people to him and walk together,” he said.
Peterson said he hopes Modern Catholic Pilgrim’s work to help prepare pilgrims leaves a lasting impact.
“For us, it’s all about: How do we lead pilgrims to have that encounter with the risen Christ, especially in the Eucharist? And then, how do we send them … to run back into their communities with their hearts set on fire, to spread the good news and, really, to be changed and to change their communities? We’re just so blessed to have this opportunity.”
Learn more about Modern Catholic Pilgrim online at moderncatholicpilgrim.com. For more information on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, visit eucharisticcongress.org/pilgrimage-2024.
Listen to this full episode of “Practicing Catholic” when it debuts at 9 p.m. Dec. 15 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, or when it repeats at 1 p.m. Dec. 16 and 2 p.m. Dec. 17.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes Father Paul Hedman, who shares how Catholics can prepare their hearts through the sacrament of reconciliation during Advent; and Deacon Eric Cooley, director of the Institute for Diaconate Formation, about
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