Join Discerning Deacons and Catholics around the world on Zoom to celebrate the Feast of St. Phoebe – deacon, leader, and witness to the Gospel – with prayer, storytelling, and hope for a more synodal Church. As we honor St. Phoebe’s witness, we will pray for the grace to bridge the divides that keep us from fully co-laboring in the Gospel and entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit, who continues to guide the Church toward deeper communion, participation, and mission.
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For the most part, I consider myself to be a highly decisive person. Some would call it “impulsive”, and on occasion they’d be right, but in general I prefer “resolute”. Stubbornly self-sufficient and willing to face any resulting consequences, my first instincts are typically my lasting ones. I’m plagued by very little doubt or regret and, by God’s grace, I haven’t yet met any catastrophic repercussions…
It’s for this reason that I’ve always loved Peter. Simon Peter, who drops his whole life to follow a man he’d just met, because he was that resolute…
“You walked how far??”
This question has become a kind of refrain in the wake of my return from the Camino de Santiago earlier this summer. There, with twenty-four young women going into their senior year of high school and a cohort of dedicated chaperones, we trekked over 200 miles across Spain.
Any length of the Camino, be it the minimum 100km, the over 300km my group traversed, or the nearly 800km from the French border (or more if you, like some we met, came from far beyond), is an accomplishment. No distance, it seems, is requisite to capture the wisdom and grace of such a pilgrimage. As we came to learn, each Camino is as unique as the one who makes the pilgrimage…
At the entrance of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is the “Portico of Glory,” the triumphant entry way that pilgrims traverse to make their way into their final destination (though some will continue on to the sea at Finisterre (“The End of the Earth”). Upon passing through the portico, we will find the pillar where thousands of pilgrims have come before, placing their hand in the worn-out space: a mark of a journey many have made and continue to make.
From there we will go to the Pilgrim Mass and have our Camino passport stamped. We have officially completed the Camino!
We made it! Thirteen days of walking- tired toes, aching bodies, a plethora of personalities, and lots of hard work… and we did it!
We departed our camp this morning with the intent of making this final day’s journey together. This might seem easy but with 30 pilgrims (including 24 high school girls), any time we go together we make waves. Still, we persevered and stuck together. Over hills and through the woods, we held together. A sign of unity on the trail, that many pelegrinos commented over our weeks that they delighted in seeing…
This is the final stretch! You’ll note the final distance (20.3km) doesn’t come with a label (Easy, Intermediate, or Expert). It simply is, because no matter how difficult it is, we must complete it to reach our destination.
Having followed the scallop shells this far and by putting one foot in front of the other, we arrive at our destination: The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
As we near the conclusion of our journey, there is much to make an account of: the prayers we’ve prayed, the miles we’ve walked, the things we’ve learned…
Today marked our next to last day of walking on the Camino de Santiago. With our final destination in sight (and heart) you can feel the shifting energy in the group. Students have begun to reflect on the lessons of the Way, others are ready to go home to family and friends. Tomorrow will mark 2 full weeks of travel, which for many is a new experience.
In many ways, our walk today was uneventful and that is a welcome state of being. We’ve come to know our bodies and paces (and to push both, whether up hills or to slow down when you “just want the walk to be done”) and so details can get lost in the familiarity of the way…
All along the Camino route, the path is marked by the symbol of the scallop shell. This image reminds us that many routes can lead us to our destination and also that each pilgrim takes their own way to Santiago, but ultimately all points convene on this one place.
The scallop is also a symbol of Saint James, for whom Santiago de Compostela is named. Legend has it that after he was martyred in Jerusalem, St. James’s bodily remains were sent to Spain by his followers. On the way, the boat transporting him sank, only to have his body emerge from the sea covered in scallop shells…
Entering into our 11th day of walking, we can feel the rhythm of our walking shift. The girls are more apt to slow down and we are learning the rhythms of each other’s strides and styles. For some this means having time to chat along the way, while for others it is a savoring of quiet as we move from town to town. There is no “right” way to walk, we simply try to respect each other’s rhythms and invite each other to walk together along the way…