Flocknote reflection - Wednesday, March 24 - the cross of iron on the pilgrimage of St James

 Our health insurance plan in the Diocese is offering us a virtual hike on the Camino of St James.  As most of you know, I hiked this trail five different times over the years, beginning in 2003.   These photos above are from the last time I hiked there in January 2017.  You can tell by the way I was bundled up that it was rather cold in the middle of the winter up in the mountains of northern Spain. 

The highest point of the main pilgrimage route is the cross of iron.  This pilgrimage route starts in the Pyrenees Mountains in France and ends 480 miles to the west in the city of St James the Apostle, Santiago de Compostela.   The cross of iron has withstood many centuries and countless pilgrims.  It is a place of prayer. It is a place of faith. It is a place of great reverence.  Each pilgrim carries a stone with him along the pilgrimage trail representing his sins and all that is weighing him down.  He places the stone on this huge pile of millions of stones.  To me, this is a very holy place.  Each time I hike the Camino, I carry sheets of prayers and stones that people give me to place at the cross.   It is one of the highlights of my pilgrimage hike.  

On the virtual Camino, I just passed the iron cross. As of today, I have walked 356 miles on the virtual Camino, having about 125 miles to go.  Hiking this virtual pilgrimage brings back a lot of memories for me.  We all have our crosses to carry.  Some people have crosses that they are carrying that we could never imagine that they are carrying.  Sometimes we think we know someone's story, but perhaps we do not know his story at all.  

This Friday, after the 10:00 am we will be praying the stations of the cross in our church. It will also be streamed on Facebook Live.  Later, Friday evening at 6:00 pm, we will be praying the stations of the cross outside.  We hope you will join us for the stations of the cross.  

This upcoming weekend, we will commemorate Palm Sunday.  Then we will enter Holy week and will be celebrating the Triduum, leading us to Easter and Christ's resurrection.  We invite all of you to accompany us on this holy journey, Christ's journey to the cross.