Throngs of people were lining up on Michigan Ave to see the lights of Christmas coming to life, piercing the darkness overhead and within. Children strained like Zacchaeus to see the lights come to life. Wise moms and dads lifted them high up or placed them securely on sturdy shoulders so the children could see. It's easy to get lost in the crowd...
We are all searching for the Light that already exists within our hearts but is dimmed but preoccupation or fear. Sometimes we even put a "bushel basket" over the Light when we just don't want to face and expose its brightness. Doing so might demand a change in how we are loving and living. Sometimes it's just " safer" to hide the Light.
Zacchaeus let the Light in his heart and in his home and around his own dinner table. He was able to feast on the Lord's presence and words. He removed the bushel basket and the Light was revealed. And he changed his life and its direction. There is always a price...
We are searching and straining to see the " light" like the young man in Starbucks this morning who shared his hope for a job interview tomorrow. By the sound of his voice, he certainly wants his life to change and seems poised to allow the Light to show him a new path. I left with coffee in hand, smiling at the optimism and care with which this young man shared his hope.
We are all straining and searching for the Light within. But if allowed to shine, we are confronted with change: to let go of the familiar patterns and allow new patterns that better reflect the Light to move us in new directions along new paths. And remember, we are never too old for this to happen: Abraham was 75 years old when that same Light thrust him and Sarah down a completely new path.
Buen camino. Padre.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
The Camino Continues. November 19, 2012
Getting back on the EL after walking for six weeks in Spain was jarring. Still feeling the drag of jet lag, I walk around somewhat in a daze. I'm there but not really all there. And then I see a familiar face but it takes a few seconds for the recognition to settle in and ground me. We hug and I try to respond to how I was doing after such a powerful experience with words like "awesome" or "unbelievable". Nothing I could possible day right now can be an adequate expression of such a journey as the Camino.
Like the man in today's gospel, I want to "see" with clearer eyes of faith the meaning and purpose of a 500 mile walk. I want my responses to give credence to the somewhat tired cliche that I "walked the talk"...literally! That what I did will help others to journey on their own camino with greater resolve and purpose. The day I left on my camino, a parishioner wrote me that as she walks to work she will see herself as walking with me on her own camino. I will never forget that.
With the man in the gospel I hope to "see" more clearly the people and cultures and languages of my 500 sojourn. To see the journey rooted in eyes of faith is walking the talk. Why? Because faith compels us to "see" the inner workings of God in the people and events of life, a God who is the connecting thread that weaves together this beautiful human tapestry.
What does the man in the gospel do when his " sight" is returned? He gets up and shares what had happened. He "walls the talk" with the clarity of vision only Christ can give. Perhaps he didn't walk but dance his way into the kingdom. Buen camino. Padre
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Return Home. O'Hare Airport.
Sitting in the terminal with my huge backpack and carry on, with a Starbucks in my hand and my mind wandering all over the place. I did it. The journey complete...at least the physical part and I wonder why....
I don't know exactly why I went on this spiritual odyssey turned pilgrimage. But I know the answer will be on God's terms and in God's time. Here I sit looking at the hustle and bustle with the obvious touches of Christmas. I'm even drinking Christmas Blend coffee.
Life truly goes on but it will be different for me because something major has just happened. Advent is almost upon us a season that anticipates the end of all time as we know it and the beginning of the Kingdom in its completion. It is a season that reminds us that we are all pilgrims on a definite trajectory in time, leading to an encounter with Christ who will return and make good on his promise. The Promise of a new and resurrected life; the Promise that Goodness and Beauty will finally have the last stamp on our beings; the Promise that the one truth of God and what he began in the act of Creation culminating in the entrance of the Son into humanity will envelope and transform each and every human being who has lived, is living or will live.
I am sitting here in this busy airport witnessing to hundreds of fellow pilgrims trying to make sense of their own lives and their own unique journey. We are a pilgrim church and s pilgrim people on a destination that had purpose and meaning. This is Advent, the reaffirmation that our lives have purpose and meaning.
Right now I'm in no rush. I just want to keep sipping my Christmas Blend and watching this great movement of humanity. Most of these human most likely are not thinking about the direction of their lives or the purpose of their lives which is the problem of our age and time. We need to stop and wonder and ask and search and let hope seep back into the crevices of the heart. Maybe that's what I'm supposed to do, to help people see the importance of stopping and thinking about where life is going and to what purpose. For now, I'm just going to enjoy my coffee...American style. Burn camino. Padre
I don't know exactly why I went on this spiritual odyssey turned pilgrimage. But I know the answer will be on God's terms and in God's time. Here I sit looking at the hustle and bustle with the obvious touches of Christmas. I'm even drinking Christmas Blend coffee.
Life truly goes on but it will be different for me because something major has just happened. Advent is almost upon us a season that anticipates the end of all time as we know it and the beginning of the Kingdom in its completion. It is a season that reminds us that we are all pilgrims on a definite trajectory in time, leading to an encounter with Christ who will return and make good on his promise. The Promise of a new and resurrected life; the Promise that Goodness and Beauty will finally have the last stamp on our beings; the Promise that the one truth of God and what he began in the act of Creation culminating in the entrance of the Son into humanity will envelope and transform each and every human being who has lived, is living or will live.
I am sitting here in this busy airport witnessing to hundreds of fellow pilgrims trying to make sense of their own lives and their own unique journey. We are a pilgrim church and s pilgrim people on a destination that had purpose and meaning. This is Advent, the reaffirmation that our lives have purpose and meaning.
Right now I'm in no rush. I just want to keep sipping my Christmas Blend and watching this great movement of humanity. Most of these human most likely are not thinking about the direction of their lives or the purpose of their lives which is the problem of our age and time. We need to stop and wonder and ask and search and let hope seep back into the crevices of the heart. Maybe that's what I'm supposed to do, to help people see the importance of stopping and thinking about where life is going and to what purpose. For now, I'm just going to enjoy my coffee...American style. Burn camino. Padre
Monday, November 12, 2012
Cathedral Confession. November 12, 2012
When the camino began so many centuries ago, one of its purposes was penitential: to make this long journey out of sorrow for personal sinfulness. The journey was to be difficult and challenging, a way to visibly show God that you were sorry for your sins.
The path is no less difficult and challenging today, even if the reality of penance had been lost. Much of the camino has lost its anchor and foundation in the catholic faith; it has become a secular experience rooted in a spirit, holy or human. The churches were largely closed tightly shut with not much of a presence from the Church. So much for the Year of Faith.
In the gospel today, Jesus speaks of forgiving seven times another person, provided the person is sorry for the sin. How difficult it is to forgive when webs d been wronged, especially if the wound runs deep. Forgiveness becomes more possible when we ate able to look at ourselves squarely in the mirror of truth and admit our own sinfulness. Walking through the cathedral I stumbled upon a priest in a confessional and the mirror of self truth was there before me. I thought I could get out of by saying, "hablas ingles?" thinking he would say no. He spoke fluent English. I knelt down and began the ritual of seeing myself as truthfully as possible, admitting how I have walked away from the path of Life.
The priest was a beautiful and kind man who clearly was an instrument of God's mercy. His words of encouragement gave me renewed hope. What a powerful way to end the camino, on a note of God's mercy. What a glorious song it is!
In my camino, my own past came home to haunt me during those quiet hours of walking. Things buried deeply are bound to surface which to me is one of the main points of the journey. We can't change if we don't truly know who we are and how we have hurt others, exhibited selfishness, held grudges, gossiped, let jealousy and envy take hold of our hearts and the list goes on.
I walked away from the priest with new resolve and sanctifying grace which frees us to become the human being God wishes is to become. Forgiveness begins with our ability to face God and say "I'm sorry" ...our God who forgives and forgives and forgives. Buen camino. Padre
The path is no less difficult and challenging today, even if the reality of penance had been lost. Much of the camino has lost its anchor and foundation in the catholic faith; it has become a secular experience rooted in a spirit, holy or human. The churches were largely closed tightly shut with not much of a presence from the Church. So much for the Year of Faith.
In the gospel today, Jesus speaks of forgiving seven times another person, provided the person is sorry for the sin. How difficult it is to forgive when webs d been wronged, especially if the wound runs deep. Forgiveness becomes more possible when we ate able to look at ourselves squarely in the mirror of truth and admit our own sinfulness. Walking through the cathedral I stumbled upon a priest in a confessional and the mirror of self truth was there before me. I thought I could get out of by saying, "hablas ingles?" thinking he would say no. He spoke fluent English. I knelt down and began the ritual of seeing myself as truthfully as possible, admitting how I have walked away from the path of Life.
The priest was a beautiful and kind man who clearly was an instrument of God's mercy. His words of encouragement gave me renewed hope. What a powerful way to end the camino, on a note of God's mercy. What a glorious song it is!
In my camino, my own past came home to haunt me during those quiet hours of walking. Things buried deeply are bound to surface which to me is one of the main points of the journey. We can't change if we don't truly know who we are and how we have hurt others, exhibited selfishness, held grudges, gossiped, let jealousy and envy take hold of our hearts and the list goes on.
I walked away from the priest with new resolve and sanctifying grace which frees us to become the human being God wishes is to become. Forgiveness begins with our ability to face God and say "I'm sorry" ...our God who forgives and forgives and forgives. Buen camino. Padre
Saturday, November 10, 2012
The Markings along the Way. November 10, 2012
You can't walk the camino only using a guided map: you have to have the concrete and hopefully visible signs or markers to guide your pilgrim way. The yellow arrows, the yellow shells, the bronze shells emblazoned in the highway, the red and white blocks of color....these markers guided us along the way. You miss one and you can walk miles off the way and become list. Getting lost is part of the camino which means you walk a lot more than 500 miles.
I do not like the city of Logrono because I got really lost with a backpack that "broke" of so I thought. While walking in the city I couldn't find one of the markers. My backpack was starting to hurt so I tightened one of the cords But something seemed to snap and one of the plastic buckles flew off one of the cords. I thought the backpack was "broken" so I went on a long odyssey, yes odyssey, through Logrono trying to find a store to buy a new backpack. In my broken Spanish and talent in charades, I was directed to a store. The only backpack they had was a child's made for school with Mickey Mouse on it. Another store only had the book type of backpack. I kept walking and walking with an unbalanced backpack weighing 35 pounds on my back. None of the "markers" was evident. I kept asking, "where is the camino?" Some just shrugged their shoulders. I started to become furious and entered a restaurant where I announced to the waiter that I was lost. He pointed where the camino was but I was having none of it. So I asked a guy quietly eating his food, " please show me the way?" He smiled and walked me out of the restaurant and physically brought me on the road leading directly to the camino. What a kind man. He grasped me, hugged me and said "buen camino." What am angel!
We need to be shown the "WAY" markers along the camino or path of life. We have those markers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; Mary and joseph; Teresa of Avila ; the Eucharist ; the sacraments ; the prophets; scripture; tradition; prayer; the saints; pilgrimage ; the parish community of catholic faith. These are our markings along the journey. They keep us on the Path of Life... of the Way. We need them. Let us thank God for them and never lose sight of them. May they be our treasures, treasures of the heart, leading us into the Kingdom.
PS: the backpack wasn't broken. I just had to learn how to put that plastic buckle back on. What saved me was the red scarf given me by Liza and Pete. That scarf kept my shoulders harnesses together.
Buen camino. Padre
I do not like the city of Logrono because I got really lost with a backpack that "broke" of so I thought. While walking in the city I couldn't find one of the markers. My backpack was starting to hurt so I tightened one of the cords But something seemed to snap and one of the plastic buckles flew off one of the cords. I thought the backpack was "broken" so I went on a long odyssey, yes odyssey, through Logrono trying to find a store to buy a new backpack. In my broken Spanish and talent in charades, I was directed to a store. The only backpack they had was a child's made for school with Mickey Mouse on it. Another store only had the book type of backpack. I kept walking and walking with an unbalanced backpack weighing 35 pounds on my back. None of the "markers" was evident. I kept asking, "where is the camino?" Some just shrugged their shoulders. I started to become furious and entered a restaurant where I announced to the waiter that I was lost. He pointed where the camino was but I was having none of it. So I asked a guy quietly eating his food, " please show me the way?" He smiled and walked me out of the restaurant and physically brought me on the road leading directly to the camino. What a kind man. He grasped me, hugged me and said "buen camino." What am angel!
We need to be shown the "WAY" markers along the camino or path of life. We have those markers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; Mary and joseph; Teresa of Avila ; the Eucharist ; the sacraments ; the prophets; scripture; tradition; prayer; the saints; pilgrimage ; the parish community of catholic faith. These are our markings along the journey. They keep us on the Path of Life... of the Way. We need them. Let us thank God for them and never lose sight of them. May they be our treasures, treasures of the heart, leading us into the Kingdom.
PS: the backpack wasn't broken. I just had to learn how to put that plastic buckle back on. What saved me was the red scarf given me by Liza and Pete. That scarf kept my shoulders harnesses together.
Buen camino. Padre
The camino is complete. November 10, 2012
Muxia and Finnisterre are at the "end of the world" or so they believed centuries ago before the Age of Discovery and Columbus. I went through the massive rocks almost to the bottom where the raging waves o the Atlantic soaked my legs and feet and drenched my head in its bitter cold water. Awakening. Baptism. New Life.
How appropriate that my feet and walking boots were drenched to the core. I gently walked up the rocks ,away from the Atlantic ,to walk a new way with new courage and hope. Perhaps to walk in new directions. Muxia and the renewal of baptism was THE defining moment of my personal camino. If I allow God will lead me on my further journey and not my own will and ego. They always seem to get in the "way."
I sit in a quiet chapel in Santiago praying before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He is exposed in his love for every human being, the round, white Host is Christ, his Presence never ending and never failing. He is present in the monstrance but not contained. Nothing can contain Christ for he lives in each person who becomes a living and breathing monstrance.
I am waiting to celebrate the Mass with the botofumeiro the massive censor that is swung throughout the church.
As the incense rises your prayers will rise in my own prayers. Buen camino padre
How appropriate that my feet and walking boots were drenched to the core. I gently walked up the rocks ,away from the Atlantic ,to walk a new way with new courage and hope. Perhaps to walk in new directions. Muxia and the renewal of baptism was THE defining moment of my personal camino. If I allow God will lead me on my further journey and not my own will and ego. They always seem to get in the "way."
I sit in a quiet chapel in Santiago praying before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He is exposed in his love for every human being, the round, white Host is Christ, his Presence never ending and never failing. He is present in the monstrance but not contained. Nothing can contain Christ for he lives in each person who becomes a living and breathing monstrance.
I am waiting to celebrate the Mass with the botofumeiro the massive censor that is swung throughout the church.
As the incense rises your prayers will rise in my own prayers. Buen camino padre
Thursday, November 8, 2012
The Pilgrim's Mass: The Journey Complete. November 8, 2012
I actually concelebrated the Pilgrim's Mass in my dirty, smelly hiking boots and disheveled shirt and pants. Out in the congregation were a number of "peregrinos" or pilgrims with I walked much of the journey. There they were, seeing me for the first time doing the most important thing in my life: celebrating the Eucharist. The photos show how joyful I was being in this magnificent sanctuary with so many people coming together to pray and celebrate the camino.
As is the case with everything in life, all good things must come to an end, but only so that a new start can begin : a new direction in life, a new relationship, a new job or just a whole new outlook or attitude. New beginnings can't happen unless we are able to say "goodbye" and let go of the experience making way for the new. The gospel paradox that is Truth: we must die to find life; we must give so that we can receive; we lose the old self (the ego) so that our True Self
(God) can emerge.
Tomorrow I'm off to Finnisterre and Muxia.... the "end of the world" to let go of the old and walk a new camino that leads to Chicago and st Teresa of Avila. Yes, the journey is the destination and Santiago is just one more place on my personal map. Each place...each city...each school...each job...each parish...each neighborhood...form the contours of our inner map and have helped to give shape to who we are and who we are slowly becoming.
Chicago, not Santiago or any other city or village, is my home and "place" of transformation. The journey just keeps going in until we all breath our last breath in this life only to inhale eternity and a journey where there are no goodbyes...or blisters! Buen camino. Padre
As is the case with everything in life, all good things must come to an end, but only so that a new start can begin : a new direction in life, a new relationship, a new job or just a whole new outlook or attitude. New beginnings can't happen unless we are able to say "goodbye" and let go of the experience making way for the new. The gospel paradox that is Truth: we must die to find life; we must give so that we can receive; we lose the old self (the ego) so that our True Self
(God) can emerge.
Tomorrow I'm off to Finnisterre and Muxia.... the "end of the world" to let go of the old and walk a new camino that leads to Chicago and st Teresa of Avila. Yes, the journey is the destination and Santiago is just one more place on my personal map. Each place...each city...each school...each job...each parish...each neighborhood...form the contours of our inner map and have helped to give shape to who we are and who we are slowly becoming.
Chicago, not Santiago or any other city or village, is my home and "place" of transformation. The journey just keeps going in until we all breath our last breath in this life only to inhale eternity and a journey where there are no goodbyes...or blisters! Buen camino. Padre
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
On the Threshold of the Cathedral: Santiago November 7, 2012
We were dreading there in amazement as the twin towers of the massive cathedral fell gracefully into our vision. Mouths were open and eyes swelled with tears. We made it through every kind of imaginable weather and terrain; your Hail Marys carrying us step by step.
I wanted to say a Mass at this point of entrance and so I did. A small gathering of the church stopped in the middle of an entrance to a school and prayed. I took out the hosts, wine, a small chalice and celebrated Mass with the I Phone providing all the texts and readings.
What a gospel : Jesus teaching us the cost of discipleship : the renouncing of possessions and even treasured relationships for the gospel. We let go and stop clinging to things and people, including our children , parents , spouses and friends... so that God is at the center of our hearts. When the Divine Dwelling of God's Spirit is in the center if our hearts, we receive everything we need.
What. Journey, a pilgrimage, we all are on as we struggle to let God into our hearts, surrendering to his plan...his will...his Love. It is all about letting go and surrendering to Christ who always leads us into the heart of the Trinity.
I just returned from my visit to the inside of the massive cathedral. Surprisingly, I felt embraced and close to this God who wants it all...who wants US all do passionately that he won't give up on us. Never. He will pursue us into the depths of our loneliness and desperation until we just give in to Absolute Love.
This pilgrimage is the church at her very best ; welcoming all on the path, mile after mile, until this massive throng of humanity is enveloped by this massive cathedral. God wrapping his arms around us, reassuring us of the goodness of our humanity.
This pilgrimage was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Yes, it was beautiful and awesome, a gift given to so few given the extreme time commitment; but it was painful and relenting. The purpose of pilgrimage is to allow our broken hearts to be fully exposed so that God can heal hurts and wounded memories that only God can heal. This pilgrimage opened up my brokenness which was not very pleasant.
Now that the physical "way" had been accomplished, the true effects of this journey begin. I must let go and return home or this camino de Santiago will have been totally futile and pointless.
In a future reflection I will quote in full a prayer written by someone named "Fray". It is along prayerful reflection that had something to say the everyone. It is time to sleep and allow the pilgrimage to begin to take root. Buen camino. Padre.
I wanted to say a Mass at this point of entrance and so I did. A small gathering of the church stopped in the middle of an entrance to a school and prayed. I took out the hosts, wine, a small chalice and celebrated Mass with the I Phone providing all the texts and readings.
What a gospel : Jesus teaching us the cost of discipleship : the renouncing of possessions and even treasured relationships for the gospel. We let go and stop clinging to things and people, including our children , parents , spouses and friends... so that God is at the center of our hearts. When the Divine Dwelling of God's Spirit is in the center if our hearts, we receive everything we need.
What. Journey, a pilgrimage, we all are on as we struggle to let God into our hearts, surrendering to his plan...his will...his Love. It is all about letting go and surrendering to Christ who always leads us into the heart of the Trinity.
I just returned from my visit to the inside of the massive cathedral. Surprisingly, I felt embraced and close to this God who wants it all...who wants US all do passionately that he won't give up on us. Never. He will pursue us into the depths of our loneliness and desperation until we just give in to Absolute Love.
This pilgrimage is the church at her very best ; welcoming all on the path, mile after mile, until this massive throng of humanity is enveloped by this massive cathedral. God wrapping his arms around us, reassuring us of the goodness of our humanity.
This pilgrimage was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Yes, it was beautiful and awesome, a gift given to so few given the extreme time commitment; but it was painful and relenting. The purpose of pilgrimage is to allow our broken hearts to be fully exposed so that God can heal hurts and wounded memories that only God can heal. This pilgrimage opened up my brokenness which was not very pleasant.
Now that the physical "way" had been accomplished, the true effects of this journey begin. I must let go and return home or this camino de Santiago will have been totally futile and pointless.
In a future reflection I will quote in full a prayer written by someone named "Fray". It is along prayerful reflection that had something to say the everyone. It is time to sleep and allow the pilgrimage to begin to take root. Buen camino. Padre.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Mary
From the beginning, Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Mother of God, the Mother of us all has been a consistent presence on the camino. On the first day, leaving Ste. Jean de pied a Porte, we were led on the beginning steps of the journey to a shrine in honor of Mary.
The first pilgrim on my journey was Kim, a young woman from Japan. She talked about her lack of faith and religion. But this shrine intrigued her. She wanted to know about Mary and why she was asked to be the mother of the Messiah at such am early age and why she had to be a virgin and conceive without a human father. Tough questions as we walked uphill for almost eight hours!
There is a beautiful and earthy image of Mary popular in Spain: Mary breast feeding Jesus with her two fingers placing her nipple inside the tiny mouth of the baby Jesus. It is beautiful and gentle, giving us a maternal image of God.
While many of the images of Mary focus on her and the infant Jesus, many depict her holding the lifeless body of her Son after he is taken down off the Cross; others show Mary as Queen, assumed into heaven. In most of these depictions, she holds us two fingers in honor of the two natured of Christ.
Mary has guided me as I prayed the mysteries of the rosary, day after day, the beads linking me with her Som. So many of you have placed Mary on my journey and in my footsteps with each Hail Mary you are praying for me.
Mary was poor in spirit, saying yes to the mysterious plan of God that had to cause her much pain; she mourns with each of us in all of our grievings as she wept at the foot of the cross; she lived meekness in surrendering to the will of God and not her own; her heart was focused on her love of her son and his mission; she felt the persecution in the rejection of her son; she was there at the birth of the church on Pentecost just as she was there at the birth of Jesus in the manger.
Mary sang a powerful hymn of prophetic revolution when God would
scatter the proud, cast down the mighty from thrones of power and then would lift up the lowly and feed the hungry.
We, all generations , call her "blessed" because she dared to speak those prophetic words and live all those eight beatitudes that we pray on this All
Saints Day.
Mary was not a goddess that we conveniently place on a pedestal making her untouchable and removed from our lives. She was first disciple before she was mother and her life was immersed in the prophetic Word.
Mary has been called the spouse of the Holy Spirit. We need her now more than ever in our church to inspire us to allow that Spirit to guide and fill our mission. She and the Spirit will help to breath new life in our church and its tired institutions and structures.
Mary is urging me on to complete the journey of the camino and make her
Magnificat my own Song of Praise.
The first pilgrim on my journey was Kim, a young woman from Japan. She talked about her lack of faith and religion. But this shrine intrigued her. She wanted to know about Mary and why she was asked to be the mother of the Messiah at such am early age and why she had to be a virgin and conceive without a human father. Tough questions as we walked uphill for almost eight hours!
There is a beautiful and earthy image of Mary popular in Spain: Mary breast feeding Jesus with her two fingers placing her nipple inside the tiny mouth of the baby Jesus. It is beautiful and gentle, giving us a maternal image of God.
While many of the images of Mary focus on her and the infant Jesus, many depict her holding the lifeless body of her Son after he is taken down off the Cross; others show Mary as Queen, assumed into heaven. In most of these depictions, she holds us two fingers in honor of the two natured of Christ.
Mary has guided me as I prayed the mysteries of the rosary, day after day, the beads linking me with her Som. So many of you have placed Mary on my journey and in my footsteps with each Hail Mary you are praying for me.
Mary was poor in spirit, saying yes to the mysterious plan of God that had to cause her much pain; she mourns with each of us in all of our grievings as she wept at the foot of the cross; she lived meekness in surrendering to the will of God and not her own; her heart was focused on her love of her son and his mission; she felt the persecution in the rejection of her son; she was there at the birth of the church on Pentecost just as she was there at the birth of Jesus in the manger.
Mary sang a powerful hymn of prophetic revolution when God would
scatter the proud, cast down the mighty from thrones of power and then would lift up the lowly and feed the hungry.
We, all generations , call her "blessed" because she dared to speak those prophetic words and live all those eight beatitudes that we pray on this All
Saints Day.
Mary was not a goddess that we conveniently place on a pedestal making her untouchable and removed from our lives. She was first disciple before she was mother and her life was immersed in the prophetic Word.
Mary has been called the spouse of the Holy Spirit. We need her now more than ever in our church to inspire us to allow that Spirit to guide and fill our mission. She and the Spirit will help to breath new life in our church and its tired institutions and structures.
Mary is urging me on to complete the journey of the camino and make her
Magnificat my own Song of Praise.
The Journey is the Destination. November 1, 2012
It is hard to believe: I am about 83 miles from Santiago after walking 415 miles! The moment of entering the city of destination will be a phenomenal experience only because of what has been occurring within my heart DURING the journey. All the people I have met and walked with... the stories told and lives shared...will make the entrance into Santiago meaningful moment, one that will stay with md the rest of my life.
Whatever happens within my heart and soul will occur because of the long journey on foot: step by step something is occurring in ways I can't even begin to give voice to. While I looking forward to arriving in Santiago. I am already sad that I must let go of the physical journey, one that I have been planning for two years, and allow the camino to do what it is supposed to do- what God wants it to do- once I am home.
In a future reflection I am going to send you a long and beautiful prayer about the camino and what will make this journey one that was worth every step. I just know in the depths of my being that I not walking this journey alone not am I walking it for myself.
Buen camino. Padre
Whatever happens within my heart and soul will occur because of the long journey on foot: step by step something is occurring in ways I can't even begin to give voice to. While I looking forward to arriving in Santiago. I am already sad that I must let go of the physical journey, one that I have been planning for two years, and allow the camino to do what it is supposed to do- what God wants it to do- once I am home.
In a future reflection I am going to send you a long and beautiful prayer about the camino and what will make this journey one that was worth every step. I just know in the depths of my being that I not walking this journey alone not am I walking it for myself.
Buen camino. Padre
Whispered Prayers
I spent Halloween, a favorite day of mine, alone walking through the mountains of Galicia. How appropriate to be entering the area of Spain noted for its Celtic and Irish culture. Because of Spain's close physical proximity to Ireland, the celts settled here thousands of years ago. Note the thatched rooftops in the photos.
All our treasured Halloween traditions are rooted in Celtic culture. It was believed that the boundary between this world of ours and the spiritual world was lifted allowing the spirits to enter out world. Some of them were angry so masks were worn to hide one's identity or to scare away unfriendly spirits.
Here I was walking alone through a darkened forest being "haunted" by the memories of those who have passed this way for hundreds of years. I was haunted, not in a frightful way, but one in which I truly felt their presence. They were "whispering" prayers of encouragement during this lonely and difficult pathway. I wasn't sure I was even going in the right direction but I knew I was climbing higher and higher, slowly becoming one with the clouds.
The whispered prayers of the "souls" uplifted me and my own soul causing the beautiful "Communion of Saints" to become a lived reality. You see, there is no separation between the world we see and the world we sometimes call the "supernatural". We only need the eyes of faith to see beyond our limited vision and the ears to here the whispers.
This reflection of "whispered prayers" began when I was praying on a wayside chapel and an elderly woman walked in, who was no more than four and a half feet tall. She did not see me off in the back when she started to quietly whisper her prayers. I imagined her to be the abuela of the village of sixty people. She was whispering her prayers perhaps so God would get it right or the saints would here her. But I heard these whispered prayers that calmed my own cluttered and noisy time of prayer. Her whispered prayers rooted me in the Presence of the One who is always whispering words of love and hope.
God whispers through saints and souls...
Buen camino. Padre
All our treasured Halloween traditions are rooted in Celtic culture. It was believed that the boundary between this world of ours and the spiritual world was lifted allowing the spirits to enter out world. Some of them were angry so masks were worn to hide one's identity or to scare away unfriendly spirits.
Here I was walking alone through a darkened forest being "haunted" by the memories of those who have passed this way for hundreds of years. I was haunted, not in a frightful way, but one in which I truly felt their presence. They were "whispering" prayers of encouragement during this lonely and difficult pathway. I wasn't sure I was even going in the right direction but I knew I was climbing higher and higher, slowly becoming one with the clouds.
The whispered prayers of the "souls" uplifted me and my own soul causing the beautiful "Communion of Saints" to become a lived reality. You see, there is no separation between the world we see and the world we sometimes call the "supernatural". We only need the eyes of faith to see beyond our limited vision and the ears to here the whispers.
This reflection of "whispered prayers" began when I was praying on a wayside chapel and an elderly woman walked in, who was no more than four and a half feet tall. She did not see me off in the back when she started to quietly whisper her prayers. I imagined her to be the abuela of the village of sixty people. She was whispering her prayers perhaps so God would get it right or the saints would here her. But I heard these whispered prayers that calmed my own cluttered and noisy time of prayer. Her whispered prayers rooted me in the Presence of the One who is always whispering words of love and hope.
God whispers through saints and souls...
Buen camino. Padre
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
A church with REAL candles. October 30, 2012
Walked into Valcarce which is a huge truck stop. Nothing "atmospheric" about this place...so I thought. I took a stroll down a little path and walked just a bit, since the last thing you want to do at rest time is walk. As I turned around I saw a run down looking building with a small cross on top. I almost missed it. It was a tiny little church with real, true candles lit by wooden match sticks!!! I lit a candle for all of you.
What a find...the kingdom of heaven us like a mustard seed or a dash of yeast. Both images are hidden, they need to be looked for and can easily be missed. But when found or unearthed everything changes; our attitude; our focus; our mind; our heart. May the candle I lit dispel all the far messes that haunt you....may the light who is Christ lead you to look in small,
unassuming places for his kingdom. When found something ignites in our hearts transfiguring our beings so that we become like the candle : the light of God for another human being... a wayward pilgrim to find their own path to the Light. And it keeps growing and growing like a tiny mustard seed or some yeast in the dough. This KINGDOM is what Jesus keeps referring to in the gospel, a reality he came to ignite within our hearts. Yes, it is WITHIN your very heart.
Try making some real bread with real yeast. Kneed the dough as God knees you spirit and leave it alone for the warmth to take hold. Leave for a time and return to see how it has grown. An earthy image that speaks the kingdom. It grows in hidden and unseen ways. I lit a real, true candle for YOU that you rediscover the kingdom in your own life.. In your own heart. Buen camino. Padre
What a find...the kingdom of heaven us like a mustard seed or a dash of yeast. Both images are hidden, they need to be looked for and can easily be missed. But when found or unearthed everything changes; our attitude; our focus; our mind; our heart. May the candle I lit dispel all the far messes that haunt you....may the light who is Christ lead you to look in small,
unassuming places for his kingdom. When found something ignites in our hearts transfiguring our beings so that we become like the candle : the light of God for another human being... a wayward pilgrim to find their own path to the Light. And it keeps growing and growing like a tiny mustard seed or some yeast in the dough. This KINGDOM is what Jesus keeps referring to in the gospel, a reality he came to ignite within our hearts. Yes, it is WITHIN your very heart.
Try making some real bread with real yeast. Kneed the dough as God knees you spirit and leave it alone for the warmth to take hold. Leave for a time and return to see how it has grown. An earthy image that speaks the kingdom. It grows in hidden and unseen ways. I lit a real, true candle for YOU that you rediscover the kingdom in your own life.. In your own heart. Buen camino. Padre
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)