Last night--or should I say, this morning--I returned from the pilgrimage to Rome. It was an amazing week on many levels, not the least of which being the blessed opportunity to share this experience with my daughter Mary Kate and others from her high school. I'm "decompressing" today, as there was so much to take in. In the coming days I hope to share more of last week through words and images.

One recurring thought I had during the week was that I was "standing on holy ground," like Moses' encounter of the burning bush in Exodus 3. Examples would include visits to the four major basilicas, the catacombs, and many other pilgrimage sites.

I was particularly moved by the day-trip to Assisi. The Basilica of St. Francis was just incredible, as was the the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels. Inside the latter church, right in the middle, is the Porziuncola Chapel--a little church within a church, if you can picture that. That was especially meaningful to me, as there's a replica of the Porziuncola (sometimes called the Portiuncula or "Port") at my old alma mater, Franciscan University of Steubenville, which uses the Port as a Eucharistic adoration chapel. As I walked into the Porziuncola there was an inscription in Latin which again said that this was holy ground. And it truly is.

What put all this in perspective for me was a book called Meditation and Contemplation: An Ignatian Guide to Praying with Scripture, the latest book by Fr. Timothy Gallagher, O.M.V.  I read this little book during the week, mostly during the long flights. It's a wonderful book that ties together two timely themes: meditation on Scripture and Ignatian spirituality.

In Meditation and Contemplation,  Fr. Tim gives us the framework for contemplative prayer as provided by St. Ignatius himself. However, he further brings this teaching to life by drawing upon the real-life experiences of people he has directed over the past quarter century, to show how this spirituality "looks" in today's context. When he gives these illustrations, he frequently says that we are "standing on holy ground." Why? Because Christian prayer is all about an encounter with God Himself. When we welcome Christ as a guest in our hearts during a period of meditation, we indeed are "standing" on holy ground.

The "holy places" we visited, after all, are holy because of Christ, and not because of the their aesthetic or historical value in themselves. While going on pilgrimages is a most highly recommended and inspirational spiritual practice, it seems to me that for us pilgrims, the key is to take a piece of that holy ground home with us. And we do that through our own encounters with Christ, which includes the Mass and sacraments, but which extends to the commitment to spend time with Him each day.

I alway loved the image of the burning bush, which was the means by which God came to reveal Himself to Moses. Some Church Fathers have noted that the burning bush points to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was the chosen means by which God came to reveal Himself to the whole world as its Savior. And He continues to do that in every time and place through His Church.

So we don't have to wait for a new burning bush to encounter God. We already stand on holy ground. We are temples of the Holy Spirit, and we have access to the Kingdom of God within us. But how aware of that are we? Sometimes reconnecting with our spiritual roots on a pilgrimage is just what we need to jolt us out of our complacency. At least it was for me.