Joy, as Father Richard Rohr so beautifully reminds us, is both a decision and a surrender. It’s the choice to open our eyes and hearts to what is good, what is beautiful, what stirs our soul—and to let ourselves be delighted by it. And it’s the gentle surrender to life’s unpredictability, understanding that while we can’t control much, we can choose how we respond. We can choose to see joy, to welcome it, to live from it.
As we walk our pilgrimages, we are constantly invited to choose. Each step becomes an act of love, what one priest once described as “our feet kissing the earth.” Every footfall is a quiet, powerful yes—a yes to God, a yes to letting go, a yes to walking alongside others in both joy and sorrow. It’s a yes that says: “I want more of You. I need You. I trust You.”
Some walk carrying questions, hoping to find answers. Others walk wrapped in prayer, seeking healing or simply the peace that comes from being present. And some walk just to walk. But together, we form one body—the Body of Christ—moving as a single heartbeat, as one sacred family.
There will be days marked by tears and others by laughter that echoes down the path. Days of uncertainty will give way to moments of clarity and grace. Just like life, our pilgrimage holds it all—the highs and the lows, the mess and the miracles. And yet, by the end of each day, joy remains.
Joy in the stories we’ve shared.
Joy in the faces now familiar.
Joy in the sacred rhythm of each step.
May we recognize it. May we embrace it. And may we let that joy overflow, reaching every soul we encounter—as our feet, once again, kiss the earth.
