A wonderful little mini-pilgrimage coming up.

Part of the novelty of this trip is that I have lived in these United States my whole life but haven't even seen half of them. I'm working on that. About 4 months ago, Florida became my 17th state visited and in about 2 weeks, I will add 18 (Illinois) and 19 (Wisconsin).

Of course, adding 2 more states to the tote board is neat and all but certainly not enough motivation to make a trip to the frigid northwest in January. That is a much higher calling- a call of faith.

After flying in to Chicago's O'Hare airport, I will set my sites on 3 specific destinations over the next 3 days and I absolutely cannot wait!

My first destination is a state I have been in but not this part of it.

In Saint John, Indiana, is The Shrine of Christ's Passion. and it looks truly overwhelming. I can't imagine a better way to get my mind and spirit set for the experience of the Holy Land later this year. I know the Way of the Cross, in this place won't live up to the experience of being in Jerusalem and it may not even top the Via Delarosas I experienced in Fatima and Lourdes, but those are remarkably high bars to measure up to, and I know this is going to be a solemn and treasured experience.

I have already booked a hotel for the night in that town, and I'll probably do a podcast that night (the 17th) before retiring for the night.

The next day I will be on the road early for some unfinished business from the fall. Driving out of Indiana and north through Illinois, into Wisconsin, I will arrive at the town of Champion. It's about a half hour from Green Bay.

The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion will be the 5th miraculous Marian site I have visited after visiting Fatima, Lourdes, Rocamadour and Rue De Bac last fall. The Shrine marks the location of the only church approved Marian apparition site in the United States. To visit it during the first year of the papacy of the first American Pope is pretty special. I intended to go there at the end of the Europe trip but couldn't pull it off.

Finally, my third shrine visited in as many days is dedicated to the little nun who has captivated my heart in a way I didn't foresee and couldn't have imagined.

The National Shrine and museum of Saint Therese in Illinois will be the third time I have seen actual relics of this super saint in only 5 months. God has moved, with astounding clarity, to make Therese a centerpiece in my emergence from the dark and I can't wait to reach this shrine and museum on the 19th.

We cannot wait to share this experience with all of you!

I want to extend a warm thank you to Lisa's Carmelite friend Kim for her kind words and for sending me this.