Some weeks ago I had the privilege to be on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje with the well-known Catholic evangelist Edward Spiteri. The beautiful experience that I had in this Marian place made me realise the crucial importance pilgrimages play in the life of God’s people.

A pilgrimage is a special time in a person’s life that is deeply marked by God’s special visitations. In fact, in each and every authentic pilgrimage there are moments that bear the stamp of God’s saving actions. The latter are intimately connected with places in which God chooses to reveal Himself.

In these spots, God pitches His tent among us once again. Who can blame Him since the entire world is his? Does not Psalm 24 say that “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein; for He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers” (Psalm 24, 1-2)?

The “sacred space” helps us understand that we are God’s temples. In his first letter to the Corinthians, St Paul tells us: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6, 19-20).

The best way to glorify God is to convert, going back to God. In Medjugorje’s case, Our Lady offers us five stones or weapons, which we can use to overcome the power and influence of evil and sin in our lives. These are prayer, fasting, daily reading of the Bible, confession and the Eucharist.

Pilgrimages have the power to reorient our lives. It is up to us to undertake them!