Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and it could not have been a more fitting day for our pilgrimage.
As every day on this journey, we began with the celebration of the Holy Mass, with Bishop Scott presiding. Before we started our engines, we first gathered around the altar. It is there that we receive the strength for the miles ahead.
As I rode through the breathtaking landscapes today, a simple thought kept returning to me: every pilgrimage is, in some way, a journey of transformation. We often think of reaching a destination, but perhaps God is more interested in what happens to us along the way.
Being surrounded by the beauty of God's creation invites silence and reflection. The mountains, forests, waterfalls, and endless roads have a way of slowing the heart and making room for God to speak. Little by little, I realized that this pilgrimage is not only about visiting the churches—it is also about allowing the Lord to transform us.
That transformation happens through prayer, through the intentions you have entrusted to us, and through the many people we meet along the road. Every prayer reminds us that we are carrying much more than luggage on our motorcycles. We are carrying your hopes, your worries, your gratitude, and your faith.
At the same time, your intentions are changing us as well. They teach us to be grateful for every new day, every person we encounter, and yes—even every cross we have to carry. Last year I learned that some of those crosses can be quite heavy. This year I am simply grateful to still be riding.
Of course, not every transformation is dramatic. Sometimes it is as simple as learning that after eight hours on a motorcycle, you discover muscles you never knew existed! And somehow, every evening we all insist that we are "not tired at all"—while moving like men who are about ninety years old. By God's grace, however, the next morning we climb back on our motorcycles, smile at one another, and do it all again.
Perhaps that is one more lesson of the Transfiguration: God rarely changes us all at once. He transforms us one prayer, one conversation, one kilometre, and sometimes one sore back at a time.
Thank you for allowing us to carry your intentions. Please continue to pray for us, as we continue to pray for you. May this pilgrimage become a journey of transformation not only for those of us on the road, but also for everyone who is travelling with us in spirit.
After all, motorcycles eventually stop... but the transformation God begins in our hearts is meant to last forever.
Fr. Marius Sztuk, SDS
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