The people of Ancient Israel had a very clear expectation of what the Messiah would be like. They he would be a powerful king or military ruler who would lead their nation back to dominance and glory. But instead, Jesus came as a humble servant. He reached out to the poor and the oppressed. He even washed the feet of his disciples to show his dedication to service, a service he called his disciples to follow. All of us are called to service in different ways. I thought about a saint we celebrated earlier this week - his name is St Dominic de la Calzada. I learned about him on the pilgrimage I took to the Camino of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. He was a hermit who was born in the province of La Rioja in northeastern Spain, an important wine producing region of that country. He was born in the year 1019 - that is 1,000 years ago. As a young man, he wanted to become a Benedictine monk, but they turned down. He did not give up on his vocation. Eventually, he was ordained a priest. He spent a great deal of his time as a priest improving the conditions for the medieval pilgrims on the Camino of St James: planting trees, cultivating the earth, and building a paved road that served as an alternate route connecting two large cities on the pilgrimage route. The town he founded in Spain on the pilgrimage route is named after him: Santo Domingo de la Calzada. It is an important stop along the route today. His church became a cathedral where his remains are buried in its crypt. Because of the civil work projects he started, he is the patron saint of civil engineers in Spain. The last time I was on the Camino of St James, I attended mass in that cathedral on a Sunday with a group of pilgrims. In the middle of mass, a rooster which is housed in a cage in the cathedral based upon an old legend about Santo Domingo, crowed several times, which is supposed to bring the pilgrims who hear his crow good luck. St Dominic de la Calzada worked hard to serve the pilgrims traveling the Way of St James, trying to make their journey easier. 1,000 years after his birth, we still remember him today. He did not try to bring glory to himself. He instead wanted to humbly serve the Lord, even in the midst of the adversity and challenges he had in life. I want to wish all of you a great end to the school year, and wish you the best effort possible on your exams. May we all hear the call to serve the Lord, no matter where our journey takes us.
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