Back in 2002, I spent the summer studying in the countries of Chile and Argentina on a study trip through the US Department of Education. There were 15 teachers from throughout the country on this trip - an amazing experience that I still reflect upon today. I met a husband and wife on that trip: Pam Davis and Rick Thompson. They were two Spanish teachers who were about my age who lived in the state of Maine. They had spent extensive time in Spain while they were college students, especially in the northeastern region of Galicia, where the city of Santiago de Compostela is located. Several times during our trip, they encouraged me to look into doing the Camino. They knew that I was thinking of becoming a Catholic priest, and thought the Camino would be something I would enjoy. When I got back to the US, I could not get the Camino out of my head. I felt the call to go on the Camino, deciding to go that next summer. At that time, I was teaching Spanish in Greenville in the Delta. Little did I know, that not many years later, I would fulfill my dream of becoming a priest and that for 4 1/2 years I would be the pastor of a parish in Tupelo named after St James the Greater, one of Christ’s original apostles.
Anyone who knows me as a priest knows of the love that I have for the community of saints. The energy and the friendship I feel from our our saints is one of the things I love about our Catholic faith. St James is one of those saints who so speaks to me and so speaks to so many people in our modern world, as evidenced by the popularity of his pilgrimage in Spain. When I went on the Camino in 2003 there were about 85,000 pilgrims who arrived at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela and who earned a pilgrim’s certificate. This year, that number may reach 500,000 pilgrims. There are countless books, articles, blogs, and movies and videos and podcasts all over the internet that are inspired by St James and his pilgrimage. I have now been on the pilgrimage of St James in Spain on five different occasion. I hope to go again soon.
One of the men who runs a traditional pilgrims’ hostel on the Camino is credited with this quote: “A tourist demands things, but a pilgrim gives thanks.” I give thanks for the Apostle, St James the Greater, who went beyond the request to be at the position of honor next to Jesus, to be a missionary of the Gospel message and to die a martyr’s death. St James, may your prayers and intersessions reach out to us today.
No comments:
Post a Comment