Pauline pilgrimages

One way Christians are honoring Paul this year is by pilgrimages to the sites he visited on his missionary journeys. Paul’s itinerary includes towns and cities in modern-day Turkey, Syria, Greece, Lebanon and Rome. In Paul’s day the cities could be hostile, the roads dangerous, and the mission most tiring. One can say that the same is still true today. As this Year of Paul draws to a close (June 29, 2008 through June 28, 2009), all Christians are invited to travel the same roads Paul traversed nearly two thousand years ago. Not many can be literal pilgrims to the places where Paul preached, but all can retrace his missionary journeys as we read his letters, share his adventures, and deepen our own sense of being called by Jesus Christ.