Oh, (almost) Half Way There!

I feel like I’ve been walking forever, like the road has to end soon and Santiago will be there before my eyes. And yet tomorrow I’ll reach Sahagún, the official halfway point of the Camino Frances that I’m walking. Halfway. To be honest, I’m ready to be done. The Camino is hard. Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. For that reason I know it will be fruitful for me in the weeks ahead even as it already has been over these last 17 days. But who enjoys the Cross when you’re on it? Not I, says this pilgrim.

A recap of the last few days may be in order. Since my previous post, the title of which apparently caught some folks attention, I’ve gotten to the Meseta, the open plains part of the Camino. It began a few days back when I hit the trail in Tardajos. I began to see some of the church bell towers decorated by the nests of the great storks that live in the area and enjoyed a good walk through the hills. The meseta in some spots is a rather wide open place with little shade, very few trees, and towns far apart from each other. That’s where I found myself in 49 degree weather with a steady strong wind when I got to use my rain gear for the first time. Pulling on my poncho and pressing forward for a good hour or so, I arrived in the next town barely able to feel my hands and hoping to find a good cup of hot coffee and a place to lay my head. I found both in a great little albergue right on the edge of town. So more time resting with the Lord at the parish church helped warm the body and also the heart. It was a rough day and I was grateful for the open door of the church.

A Poncho on the Padre

The next morning I set out, feeling pretty good and ready to take on the (rain-free) day. There was a pleasant walk in the morning where all of us pilgrims walked one behind the other like ants on the roadside as we made our way to the next town. It was neat to see pilgrims walking quietly with 20-30 yards of space in between all there for various reasons and seeking different things, yet walking in each others footsteps. Passing through the next town, we saw before us what Louisiana eyes would call a mountain. Motivated by Jocko Willink and his Extreme Leadership audio book, I made my ascent with relative ease and felt a huge sense of accomplishment when I arrived at the top. The view was incredible, especially seeing the terrain I had just covered. The other side greeted us with an 18% grade descent! Talk about get the blisters aching! The descent ended quickly and the rest of the walk was rather enjoyable until the last couple of miles when the gravel road became dirt path with large stones embedded in it, making it really hard on the feet. The family-run albergue was pleasant and they had a cat! I inquired about a Mass for the day, being a small town, and they said there was no Mass. I went to the church and was delighted to find that there was a pilgrimage group coming in to offer Mass! The Lord provides for His children in the most unexpected of ways! That night I met Michelle and Jennifer, a mother and daughter from California, whom I have become fast friends with.

A view from the top of the ‘mountain’

The next morning I enjoyed a cup (more like a bowl) of coffee and some toast at the table accompanied by the house cat. The cat was perched on the table but shooed away by the owners, so it kindly took a seat in a chair as if expecting to be served a plate along with the rest of us. It was a great delight to many of us. I set out along with Michelle and Jennifer and we made our way along the senda, a pilgrim walkway that parallels the highway for miles. It was an enjoyable walk as we saw a herd of sheep making their way to green pastures, a couple of geese greeting folks at an albergue entrance, and some beautiful blue skies with a nice breeze pushing us along. We dined on some delicious grilled sausage that reminded me of home and has me looking forward to some good food come December when I return home.

Today was a pretty good day as well. The blisters still bother me a bit and some pain in my foot other than blisters has me slowing down for a couple of days to make sure I don’t push too hard and hurt myself. Overall, things are well, but I am sure looking forward to my additional pilgrimages to the Shrine of Saint Philomena and Our Lady of Knock next month and to my return home the great United States. Until then, this pilgrim will keep on walking and praying for all of you good people taking your time to read this.

St. James, pray for us!

Back in Black. And Blue.

No, AC/DC is not the playlist of the day. And I’m not covered in bruises. Black & Blue are the colors of my walking clothes and I got to wear them again today!

I see lots of sunrises here. They’re nice.

Those keeping up with my journey on here know that I decided to walk a marathon on Monday. It was not the smartest thing I’ve done this week. I got a couple of blisters and hurt my foot while trying to avoid walking on the blisters. I was worried that I’d really don’t some damage, but it seems like the worry was unwarranted. I walk a normal day of 14 or so miles Tuesday and decided to cut that back to walking only 6 Wednesday. On Thursday I decided to take a taxi about 40km (and one mountain) forward to a place of relatively level ground and rest completely for the day. It seems to have done me good because I hit the trail again this morning and got 14 miles in and had a bit of discomfort but no serious pain. Thank you all for the prayers!

The day off yesterday was a good one. I got to write in my journal and get caught up on that so I could have a good account of where I was and things I saw. I enjoyed what is probably the best meal I’ve had on the Camino so far. A little bar restaurant near my albergue had some sort of veal steak on the menu that looked appetizing. So I ordered a pint of beer, a steak (medium rare, of course), some fries, and some sautéed bell peppers. And something that they called ‘French toast’ for dessert that was absolutely incredible. I just sat there reading book and enjoying the incredible meal all the while sitting next to the cathedral. I was also blessed to get into the cathedral to pray for a while and even got to walk through the Holy Door there. It turns out the town where we were staying (Santo Domingo de la Calzada) is named after a Saint who was born in 1019, so they’re celebrating the millennial anniversary with a Holy Year. Plenary Indulgence? Yes, please! Also, Santo Domingo has an interesting story about him and some chickens; might be worth a google search. 🐔

Today has been really cool, almost cold. It was really windy and at midday is finally getting into the 60’s. Anyone who knows me knows that I’ll never complain about that kind of weather! Little signs of God’s love. It’s about time to get my clothes cleaned up and to get some food & drink in this body of mine to prep for tomorrow.

There are lots of sunflower fields here and sometimes people make smiley faces or ‘write’ their initials by removing the seeds. I saw this flower and thought ‘hey, that’s me!’ 😀

King of the World

Happy Sunday! Y’all - today was incredible! Yesterday I walked 6.6 miles and found myself in the early afternoon facing a steady uphill climb and long steep descent all in the heat of the day. Taking into account the conversation I had earlier in day with an Irish couple about being sure to enjoy the Camino, I decided to stop for the night. I got to rest and wash my clothes with a machine! I had time to go sit outside the church in town to do a Holy Hour and was delighted to be able to get in the church for a few minutes when someone came to fix the flowers on the altar. Most of the churches here are closed during the day, which makes me sad but also shows me how fortunate we are in LA to be able have our churches open most of the day. So, good people, take advantage of that gift and visit Our Lord in the tabernacle at your church or chapel!

That was the preface to the best day I’ve had on the Camino thus far. I woke up before dark and hit the trail about 6:45am. I climbed up the incline in time to see some of the sunrise and came across the other side and was at the bottom of the steep incline by 8:30. I felt like the king of the world! It was amplified by the fact that it was about 60 degrees and windy. There was nobody around for a long way, so I decided to sing a bit. I sang a few of my favorite hymns to the Lord because of the beauty of the day. Then I made up a song in Spanish about getting a croissant, coffee, and coke in the next town. Then somehow I started singing ‘Do You Know the Muffin Man?’ in the style of Static-X (a metal band). Thankfully I was brought back to sanity by the delicious breakfast at the town ahead, where I met a woman from Minnesota and had a great little conversation over our little meal; it’s so nice to have a normal conversation in my own language!

I stopped at a church earlier today and saw the Traditional Latin Mass altar cards and asked if I could celebrate a Mass on that altar but the sacristan was adamant that I could wait 2 hours and concelebrate Mass later or I could try another church. That was a bit disheartening, but I continued on to the next town. I made my way to a church in the town that the Lord seemed to draw me toward and inquired about offering Mass and the sacristan happily obliged. I was able to offer a quiet private Mass on a beautiful side altar of Our Lady, much to my delight. It was a small fulfillment of something I read yesterday from Fr. Emile Neubert’s book ‘Mary and the Priestly Ministry’ about Our Lady’s special love for priests. Indeed, my heavenly Mother loves me dearly.

As I continued on after Mass and a lunch break, I made my way through vineyards and some beautiful fields. A wall of purple & gold wild flowers along the path made me think ‘Geaux Tigers!’ and brought a smile to my face. A few texts from family and friends brought my heart even closer to home and filled me with gratitude for the many blessings back home that I FAR too often take for granted.

As I sit in this random albergue (hostel) in Spain listening to some American classic rock radio station after walking 14 miles, I just met a pleasant lady from Canada living in the States who invited me to join her group for a game of cards. It’s a very strange journey I’m on, but I know it is full of the Lord’s grace and I am grateful to be on it for whatever reasons He has brought me here.

St. James, pray for us!

On Bugs and the Love of God

Earlier this week I was down at the main house of the Madonna House Apostolate (as opposed to the priest retreat house) waiting for a brother priest so we could ride up to the retreat house. I noticed some beautiful flowers and went over to have a closer look. As I drew close I noticed a number of bugs chomping away on a few of the plants. I noticed that the leaves had been consumed from the entire top of the plants as the bugs were slowly eating their way down from the top. I watched for several minutes and could see them eating but the bites were so small they were almost indiscernible, and yet the leaves were entirely gone on the top of the plant. It made me think of just how many little things in my daily life nibble away at my soul - creature comforts, emphasis on productivity, rushed prayers, bad habits and sins. How many little ‘bites’ they have taken out of my soul that are slowly, indiscernibly quenching the fiery love of God in my heart!

Catherine Doherty, who founded the Madonna House Apostolate, was a rather prolific writer in her day. I recently read one of her works entitled Strannik, which means ‘pilgrim’ in a Russian. In it she speaks of how often pilgrims are called to pilgrimage and they follow the call but they don’t know why they are there. While the Lord certainly has much in store for me of which I am yet unaware, I do know that there is one thing He wants of me during this pilgrimage upon which I find myself: to be set ablaze. It is for that reason that I chose to come here first instead of immediately starting the Camino in Spain. Here I have had some time to ‘come aside and rest a while’ as the Apostles of the Lord were called to do. This rest has taken various forms - extra prayer time, a good bit of reading, meals with the community and fellow guests, chopping wood, stacking wood, prepping vegetables for meals, and moments spent simply enjoying the beauty of the Madawaska Valley. And yet it is all rest for the soul. It is a time to try to rekindle the fire.

In the Gospel for today (20th Sunday of Ordinary Time) the Lord speaks about how He came to set the world on fire and how He wished it were already ablaze. His Sacred Heart burns with love for us and He longs to have that love set our hearts on fire for love of Him as well. This is my hope - to burn with love for God. This Tuesday I will have the grace of going to Poustinia, the Russian word for desert. There are little cabins set aside here for more intense times of prayer. They are likened to a desert because it is the person alone with God. The individual arrives at the door of the little cabin with a jug of water, loaf of bread, and a Bible (and for me a Breviary) with the sole intention of prayer, fasting, and reading the Word of God. As I go to spend that time with the Lord know that each of you reading this will be carried there in my heart. Just inside the door of this retreat house is a little sign from Catherine’s poem ‘What is a priest?’. It says ‘The heart of a priest is open like Christ’s for the whole world to walk through.’ And so, for all of you who have walked into my life - my heart - I will be praying for you and your intentions and ask your prayers for me too.

Later this week I will be driving to Brooklyn, NY for the Solemn Profession of Vows of one of my spiritual daughters, Sr. Marie Trône du Roi. This is essentially her wedding day, when she becomes a true bride of Christ. It is sure to be a most beautiful occasion. From there I will head to Cincinnati to visit with my family for a day or so before heading off to Europe. My Camino commences in 10 days. St. James, pray for me!