Day 8. September 2, 2014. Santo Domingo de la Calzado. Another early start and another sunrise over the Rioja region. Today was only a 13 mile walk so Fr. Jim felt today would be a good day to start walking again, without backpack, and in my running shoes, some three sizes too big to accommodate his bandaged feet. It shows the change happening to us when I write ONLY a 13 mile walk. I wonder how long that will last when I return home. Fr. Jim pulled through surprisingly well and we arrived before the greatest heat of the day. Fr. Jim walked in solitude for part of the day thinking God would provide an Emmaus moment. The moment came in an encounter with a Muslim. Towns are beginning to blend together. The real Camino is in the country. Saw a crucero by the side of the road to which wrongdoers were tied until they reformed. There are no shortage of images of St. James who always seems a day in front of us. Will attend Mass at the Cistercian convent chapel. Tomorrow we will leave the Rioja region. I walked a good part of today with a pilgrim from Australia. Our talk turned to religion and he, a Lutheran, said they dont pray to the saints like Catholics do. I told him it is absurd to think Catholics pray to saints. In the Hail Mary we dont pray to Mary but ask her to pray for us. Our litanies are a request for there prayer. Would we ask God to pray for us? It struck me how audacious it is that we ask the saints in their place in heaven to pray for us, but also how much richer we are in the saints who offer the example of their holy lives to us and their prayers. I feel the saints walking with us in these days... St. James who we will embrace in a few weeks... St. Blaise who we appeal to to heal our wounds... the Blessed Virgin who we appeal to in every decade of the rosary we pray on this Camino.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 16:01:46 +0000
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