In history, pilgrimages have often been imposed as a penance to atone for sin. Despite all our modern conveniences, leaving home and traveling to a foreign country still requires a certain amount of asceticism. While there is much to look forward to in the days ahead, there are many little sufferings to endure in the whole process of leaving familiar surroundings to go on pilgrimage.

Just to make sure we would have something penitential to offer up right from the start, our meeting time at the airport in Kansas City was 4:30am. We had an early flight to Atlanta where we then spent the day waiting for other parts of our group to join us in time for our 6:00pm departure for Rome.
Yes, we spent 9 hours in the not so beautiful Hartsfield Jackson Airport. This did, however, give us the opportunity to celebrate Mass in the airport chapel and have an hour of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I also took the opportunity to watch a movie about St. Padre Pio whose home we will visit this weekend.
With penitential sleep deprivation kicking in, it’s time to cap the day with one of the unique penitential pilgrim experiences created by modern man, the transatlantic overnight airplane ride. I’ll catch you up on the other side of the pond.