This September, I will be accompanying a small group on the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage route that leads to the tomb of St. James. Pilgrims have walked this path for more than a thousand years, seeking renewal, healing, clarity, gratitude, and deeper communion with God. 

During the registration process, I received several messages from individuals stating that they wished they might attend but could not for many good reasons, including physical challenges, financial constraints, timing considerations, and others. Perhaps the most surprising part for me was how many contained a request that our group hold a special intention in our hearts as we walk to Santiago.

As we prepare for this journey, I want you to know that we will carry your prayer intentions with us every step of the way.

One of the most beautiful traditions of pilgrimage is that pilgrims walk on behalf of others as well as themselves. This includes family, friends, neighbors, and even people they have never met… and so, in that spirit, I invite you to share your intentions with me. You may offer a name, a situation, a burden you are carrying, or a prayer of thanksgiving. Whatever you entrust to us, we will hold that in prayer as we make our way toward Santiago.

This practice has deep roots in Scripture. St. James reminds us to “pray for one another” (James 5:16), and St. Paul urges that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people” (1 Timothy 2:1). When we pray for someone else, we participate in the life of the Body of Christ. We say, in effect: You are not alone. I will stand with you before God. This is one of the quiet but powerful ways we “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2) and make the love of Christ visible in our community.

Pilgrimage also teaches us something profound about praying for strangers. Along the Camino, it is common for pilgrims to pray for the person walking beside them, the person they met only once, or the person whose story they heard in passing. There is something deeply Christ‑like about offering prayer for someone who cannot repay you and may never know you prayed for them. 

Praying for others also shapes our own hearts. It softens us, broadens our compassion, and helps us see the world as God sees it. Sometimes prayer changes circumstances in ways we cannot explain. Other times, prayer changes us… giving us patience, courage, or peace. Either way, prayer is never wasted.

As we prepare for the Camino, I invite you to participate in this pilgrimage in a few simple ways. First, please consider sharing your prayer intentions with me. We will carry them with reverence and lift them up each day along the way. Second, I encourage you to pray for our pilgrims as we walk. And finally, I invite you to choose one person – perhaps even someone you do not know well – and hold them in prayer. A small act of intercession can be a great act of love.

If you would like us to carry your intention to Santiago, please feel free to send me a message at the contact page for this website (click here) and enter it in the Comment box.

In this way, our Camino becomes not just a journey for a few of us, but a spiritual pilgrimage for others as well. May God bless you, and may we continue to walk together here in faith, hope, and charity.