Today’s prompt reminds us that our bodies are a blessing. Opening our eyes and our hearts to the world around us, we try to see the beautiful creation we are and the wonderful world we are embodied in!
The walk today took us to Astorga, a elevated Roman age city. With a number of hills along the way, we could feel the work of yesterday’s walk as we pushed further today. God is with us, though, each step of the way. Just look at all the ways God grace shines through pictures from our pathway!
On this second day of really walking, we notice the gift of our bodies. Each step that we take, we feel the shifting of our weight and the engagement of our muscles. We are embodied people and as Christians, we are blessed by a God who knows what it means to have a human body too.
By becoming human in Jesus, Christ takes on flesh and feels all that we feel. He knows what it feels like to ache. He knows the way tension and stress sit in our shoulders or the way we clench our jaws almost unconsciously. His face was surely traced with lines from laughter; his eyes knew the sting of tears. Fully human and fully divine, Jesus knows what it feels like to walk the earth…
After a good night’s sleep following a day of travel, you could feel the buzz of active energy among the pelegrinos (Spanish for pilgrims) this morning as we took in breakfast and got ready for the day’s long haul.
Before going to bed we learned that today’s trek would be a “little” longer than originally anticipated. We were informed that what was supposed to be a just over 15 miles would instead be 18 miles. It was only once we were out on the trail that we discovered that, in fact, we’d be doing 22-23 miles (tricky conversion rates!!)
Knowing that the journey begins at home, we need look no further than the example of the first disciples to see the courage taking that first step on the Way takes.
Jesus met those first followers where they were, in the everyday-ness of their lives. They were mending nets. They were casting out into the sea. They didn’t know what they would catch and, one would imagine, that they didn’t suspect that the Christ would walk into their lives that day. (Do any of us?)
Reading the stories of that first calling though (Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11; Matthew 4:18-22), we can imagine that something stirring in their hearts compelled them to follow Jesus…
As I write, we’re just coming to the end of our first 24 hours of travel. Two flights, three countries, and a bus ride later and we’ve made it safely to Leon, our starting point for the Camino.
Excitement fills the air as we gear up for an extended day of hiking tomorrow. We’ll cover about 18 miles when all is said and done. What a way to begin!
By the time we arrived in Leon (about a four hour drive from Madrid) we had time to treat ourselves to tapas (I discovered Morcilla de León (ox blood pudding) spread on fresh Spanish bread) and to visit the Cathedral in Leon – a beautiful example of Gothic architecture!
Today, our group arrives in Spain and gets acquainted with what lies ahead.
While it might seem that a pilgrimage begins on the departure day you’ve marked on the calendar, in reality, we begin our journey as soon as we decide to set out. For the pilgrim this means that the pilgrimage doesn’t begin the day you set out on the Camino, but it begins at home.
The same is true of a retreat. We begin as soon as we accept the Holy Spirit’s invitation (or inclination) to go deeper. The desire to pray (or the desire to want the desire to pray) is the first step. Who knows what taking that step might hold? We might have inklings, but truly only God knows…
On Tuesday, June 16, Sister Colleen will embark on a pilgrimage with students from Mount Saint Joseph Academy, a college preparatory school founded and sponsored by Sr. Colleen’s order, the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia. Together with 24 young women, 4 staff chaperones, and another Sister of Saint Joseph, Sister Colleen will undertake the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James), walking across Spain for two weeks. As part of their journey, Sister Colleen is inviting members of the Collaborative to join her in prayer over these days. To do so, Sister has written a “Camino in Everyday Life” that offers a reflection for each day of the journey and invites each of us to delve deeper into our spiritual journeys this summer! Thank you for praying with and for Sister Colleen and those she accompanies as they make this trip!
Visit our A Camino in Everyday Life Mini Retreat page to follow along – you can sign up to receive Sr. Colleen’s daily reflection each morning right in your inbox!
On Tuesday, June 16, Sister Colleen will embark on a pilgrimage with students from Mount Saint Joseph Academy, a college preparatory school founded and sponsored by Sr. Colleen’s order, the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia. They will be undertaking the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James), walking across Spain for two weeks. Sr. Colleen is inviting members of the Collaborative to join her in prayer over these days. To do so, Sister has written a “Camino in Everyday Life” that offers a reflection for each day of the journey and invites each of us to delve deeper into our spiritual journeys this summer!
Visit our A Camino in Everyday Life Mini Retreat page to follow along – you can sign up to receive Sr. Colleen’s daily reflection each morning right in your inbox!
The SJSP Young Adult Ministry connects young adults between the ages of 21 and 40 to build community, share faith, and socialize.
On Saturday, June 6 following the 4:00pm Vigil Mass, our young adult group gathered at St. Paul for some summer fun with a cookout and lawn games!
Stay tuned for more summer fun! Sign up for the reminder list here – sjspwellesley.org/young-adults
The Massachusetts Catholic Conference has been following two bills that would legalize Physician Assisted Suicide in Massachusetts. House Bill 2505 and Senate Bill 1486, “An Act relative to End-of-Life Options.” At present HB 2505 is in the Joint Committee on Healthcare Finance and SB 1486 is in Senate Ways and Means. However, the bills may come to the floor for a vote at any time.
Working together, we can join health care professionals, disability groups, senior citizens, the infirmed and countless individuals in saying NO to assisted suicide and to stop the legislation from moving forward this session…