Making Regular Pilgrimages to the Poor

I recently read a blog post by Rob Wenger called, “Why Is Our Family Headed to India Again?" Here's is an excerpt from that post, that I found particularly profound...

"A few weeks ago at Q, Phyllis Tickle spoke of Recovering Seven Ancient Practices, one of which is pilgrimage. Pilgrimage is a spiritual motivated learning to journey to a specific location to sit at the feet of an elder in the faith, to commemorate a special event, or to visit a place that has been hallowed over the years by God’s people. People undertake pilgrimages to seek guidance for direction in life, to express gratitude to God for His faithfulness, and to seek the provision of God.

The Church has a long history of pilgrimages. In essence, the Church is a pilgrim. As Phyllis spoke to a room of influential and affluent Americans about making pilgrimage to places of ornate beauty like Rome, a question popped into my head, “What if we make pilgrimage not to beautiful basilicas but to the beautiful poor where Jesus truly resides?”

This is not a pilgrimage we make once in a lifetime, but if we follow the example of Jesus, it becomes a way of life. Many people give money to the poor. Fewer people give their time. Fewer still give themselves. What if when Jesus said, "You will always have the poor among you," He meant it?"