2 June 2026 - homily for Tuesday of the 9th week in Ordinary Time - 2 Peter 3:12-15a, 17-18

We have been hearing from the 1st and 2nd letters of Peter in our first readings at daily Mass. Today, from 2nd Peter, we hear about the expectation in the Early Church that Jesus would soon come back again, that a new heaven and a new earth would be established in the end times. Other voices in the world had been telling the early Christians that this wasn’t going to happen, that they were deluded and misled. Perhaps we Christians in the modern world do not think much about the second coming, but in the Creed that we profess each Sunday at Mass, we state that we believe that Jesus “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.” 

One of my favorite towns on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela is San Juan de Ortega, named after a saint whose feast day is today. This town is located on the stage right before the arrival into the city of Burgos, one of the main cities on the Camino. The person San Juan de Ortega, also known as St John the Hermit, was born in the city of Burgos in the year 1050, almost 1,000 years ago. He became a priest at a young age. While traveling back to Spain from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the ship almost sank into a terrible storm. Juan de Ortega prayed to St Nicholas to save them from the storm and his prayers were answered. This experience motivated him to found a Augustinian monastery in the village now named San Juan Ortega, and a monastery church named in honor of St Nicholas. He intentionally founded this monastery and church in an area that was very dangerous for pilgrims on the Camino, as it was nestled in the mountains and was a prime location for robbers to attack the pilgrims. Thus, this church and monastery could be a refuge for pilgrims. Juan de Ortega was a good friend of Santo Domingo de Calzada, another great Camino saint.  Both of them spent time repairing bridges, improving roads, and constructing new chapels and hospitals for the pilgrims. He died in the year 1143. What is interesting is that this monastery and church were abandoned in the 19th century when the monks left and closed them down. It is only with the renewed interest in the Camino in the last 25 years that the church and monastery are being restored. There are many interesting stories that come from the saints who lived on the Camino pilgrimage route.