Pop-Up Catechesis: Holy Hiking and the Feast of St. James

Except for when we may be engaged in contemplative prayer or Adoration, we Catholics rarely sit still. Even when we worship at Mass, we sit, stand, kneel, genuflect, bow, cross ourselves, and walk in procession. We are a people “on the move“—pilgrim people. One of the most profound examples of this embodiment of our faith is the concept of a pilgrimage, and the “gold standard” of pilgrimages is, of course, the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James), a 500-mile trek stretching across Europe and leading to the tomb of St. James (Santiago in Spanish) in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. In today’s Pop-Up Catechesis, we prepare to celebrate the Feast of St. James (July 25) and look at the concept of holy hiking.

For more information about St. James and the Camino de Santiago, check out the following links:

• • St. James
  • On the Camino, Everywhere Is Home, and Yet…
  • Pilgrimage
  • Four Principles of Pilgrimage
  • Local Pilgrimage as a Form of Adult Faith Formation
  • Why We Have Processions: We Are to Be a Church on the Move!
  • Redemption Road: From Grief to Peace through Walking the Camino de Santiago

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