Camino Day 2: San Pedro de Rubiaes

Stats for Day one:
Start: San Pedro de Rubiaes, Portugal
Destination: Tui
Length: 20 kilometers (12 1/2 miles)
Description: Cross the River Coura to the pass at St. Bento Da Porta Aberta and descend to the valley of the Minho. Cobbled lanes give way to roads leading into Valenca. Walk down to the River Minho and cross by Eiffel's Puente Internacional (where we will cross from Portugal into Spain). Continue following the yellow arrows along urban 'lanes' to the cathedral.

A simple practical question that some of may be asking: "Okay, you are walking from town to town. It doesn't matter if it is raining or if that beautiful sun is shining. But where do you sleep at night?"

Well, pilgrims have been making this journey for centuries. It has become part of the culture in this region to care for pilgrims. Many of the local parished have adopted it as a "special ministry." As a result in almost every town there are pilgrim refuges. There is a picture of one above and to the left.

What is more important than the physical shelter is the generosity that flows from a charitable heart. The people that live along these routes have become known for there generosity and hospitality, and I hope challenge me to become more generous and charitable myself. After all the current Pope reminds us in Deus Caritas Est, that God is love, so the more we love, the more we resemble God.

Please keep me in prayer.
Please pray for me.

Camino Day 1: Ponte de Lima

Stats for Day one:

Start: Ponte de Lima (its famous avenue of plane trees - having greeted pilgrims for centuries - is pictured to the left)

Destination: San Pedro de Rubiaes

Length: 17 kilometers (10 1/2 miles)

Description: At times a damp track which follows streams and climbs through the forest to mountain of Portela Grande at 433 m (1300 ft.) before descending to Rubiaes.

This is the first day of pilgrimage. What is the purpose of going on pilgrimage? There is one for the pilgrim himself, and one for the Church. The Second Vatican Council teaches us that the Church is on a pilgrimage. We often forget this, and this is why the Council reminded us this teaching is actually very ancient.

If we keep in mind that all of us are on a pilgrimage - the ultimate pilgrimage to our true home in heaven. If we forget this profound truth, we will too often think that this world is heaven - and treat it as heaven. While this world is beautiful and wonderful, it is not heaven. If we try to find heaven here, we will ultimately be frustrated.

So the pilgrim becomes a fertile symbol of this reality - and reminds us of it.

Please pray for me.

Il Camino - On the Way

A very old wood-cut engraving of Saint James of Compostela in his pilgrim attire

This morning I will be boarding a Ryanair plane from Rome's Ciampino Airport to Santiago di Compostela in Spain. Shortly after that we will be taking a bus to a little town across the Portuguese border called Ponte de Lima, and there the pilgrimage will begin.

Seven men from the Pontifical North American College will be heading out on eight days of prayerful walking. One of the seven is a priest of Jesus Christ, so we will have the sacraments.

I have pre-set my blog to up-date you on my progress each day, so please keep on checking in. I will make sure to send up-dates and pictures when I return to Rome on April 17.

Please keep us in prayer as we join literally millions of other Christians on these age old route leading to Santiago, where the body of Saint James the Greater has been the object of veneration for generations.

On these routes men and women, young and old, have re-found their faith. Perhaps
we will meet some, pray that through us they can be inspired.
Many are seeking cures, pray that the Spirit may heal them.
We seek a deeper relationship with Christ, pray that we may follow him.

Saint James...

...Pray for us!

First earthquake?

There seems to have been a 6.5 magnitude earthquake last night at about 3:30 AM (this morning? - a horse a piece really). Its epicenter was about 53 miles north-east of Rome, so there was no damage in Rome, even though many people were awakened by the tremors, including myself.

It was much stronger of course at its epicenter, a town called L'Aquila. There are many injuries and even some deaths. Please keep these peolpe in your prayers.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday procession at Westminister Cathedral in 1919

Remember that as Christians we do have a king - Christ the Lord. Today he prepares to mount his throne. He enters in a triumphal procession. This does not seem like a triumphal procession, for he does not ride the might war stallion, but rather the lowly mule. His throne is not the golden bench on a high pedestal, but rather the cross. It seem like defeat. We look with the eyes of Easter...

Send me on THE WAY (the Camino that is)

This is the most basic symbol of the pilgrimage to Santiago di Compostela, the shell. If anyone knows why, please enlighten me.

Usually I am not so bold, but I read once God rewards the bold.

On Monday, 06 April 2009, I will be boarding an airplane as the first part of a pilgriamge to Santiago di Compostela. Eight of those days I will be walking.

Pilgrims have been following these routes for centuries.This pilgrimage is often called the CAMINO, which is Spanish for "THE WAY."

All I will carry for these eight days must fit in a borrowed hiking pack, but I hope to carry something more, and those would be your prayer intentions. Please send them my way.

I personally seek to deepen my relationship with Christ, and the fraternal communion with the six other "brothers" (fellow seminarians) that I will be travelling with me. I expect that I will meet others on "THE WAY" who are also on the pilgrimage to God. I pray that I may be an instrument that draws them closer to the joy that is found in the Lord.

I ask for your prayers first of all, and please do not make these lacking for the Evil One detests pilgrimages and fraternal unity. Please also pray that we have good weather and for our health and safety. Please pray for the men and women, the young and old, we will meet on the way.

In addition though, as I make the last preparations for this pilgrimage, there are unexpected expenses that are starting to add up, so if you can find it in your generosity to provide a little extra support, I would be very grateful. Any gift no matter how little, goes a long way.

Please just send me a email note, if possible before Sunday evening if you can (or after -- but it may take me a while to respond since I will be walking come rain or shine!).

Please pray for me, and be sure of my prayers for you.
Saint James of Compostela, patron of pilgrims...

...pray for us!

Ever hear the joke about the Polish Pope...

Ever here the joke about the Polish Pope, who thought he could conquer the Iron curtain with no divisions, no armoryies, just simply real CHRISTIAN HOPE?

Well folks its no joke, John Paul II really did conquer the Iron Curtain.

It looks like B-16 (da Bomber if you will) is looking to repeat the performance in Africa:
Media missing 'true story' of Pope advancing hope in Africa, local leaders say (CNA)
Just like Pope Wojtyla was not recognized when the walls literally came tumbling down in Poland and across eastern Europe in 1991-2, but has since been recognized for being decisive (as some historians say) in this process, I think the same case perhaps can be made for Africa. Just a thought...

Papa Wojtyla knew a simple truth, history is not changed by "being popular," but be attracting people to the "splendor of truth." Benedict is not popular in the mainstream media, and perhaps this is the best sign for the long term.

Stepping stone in my own vocation:

I first thought about being a priest when I was in the second-grade. I did not even know it was possible until six years ago. Along the way there have been many obstacles, and even confusing moments. Times when I had to ask myself, "Why would I want to be a priest? I cannot even get married, etc." Then there were other times when I was particularly hard on myself and I would ask, "Why would God want me to be a priest?" In the end though there is that deep sense of knowing the love of God (found often in the Sacrament of Reconciliation), and being lead by the Holy Spirit to be able to say with full confidence, "YES - GOD WANTS ME TO BE A PRIEST." Even with the obstacles, hardships, struggles, and sometimes confusion -- this remains firm. A good part this is the support of friends, family and especially the fraternity of brother seminarians and priests. One of those guiding hands has been Fr. Quinn Mann, so I just wanted to share this article with you:Cheryl Anderson: Priest finds creative ways to bring God to lives of young people

Food for thought from B-XVI:

At times one gets the impression that our society needs to have at least one group to which no tolerance may be shown; which one can easily attack and hate. And should someone dare to approach them – in this case the Pope – he too loses any right to tolerance; he too can be treated hatefully, without misgiving or restraint.

-- from the Letter to the Bishops, March 2009

So what is the group in American society "to which no tolerance may be shown?" A glance through the headlines of the last few months I think would indicate that the Pope has the right answer to that question.

In that vein, let me be untolerated.

Let us pray:

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all your faithful people, look with mercy upon your servant Benedict, who you have chosen as the shepherd to preside over your One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Grant him, we ask of you, that by his word and example, he may edify those entrusted to his pastoral care and authority, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Words of Mother Theresa

When a mother can kill her baby, what is left of civilization to be saved?

Here is my practice homily from two days ago:

Please leave comments, suggestions, etc. in the comments

Reading for the third Sunday of Lent: First: Exodus 17:3-7, Psalm 95, Romans 5:1-2.5-8, JOHN 4:5-42
A reading from Saint Augustine that I used in preparing the homily: from a Treatise on John by Saint Augustine, bishop and doctor (scroll down to the bottom)

The homily:

For a number years I worked in a men’s shelter ran by the Sisters of Mother Theresa. In every one of their chapels next to the crucifix it is always written, “I Thirst.” This comes from Mother’s first inspiration for founding the Missionaries of Charity. She had seen a dying man in a train station in India, and through that man Jesus revealed to Mother these words, “I thirst,” and his deep thirst for souls.

These are also the first words of Jesus in today’s Gospel. He sits with the woman at the well and says, “Give me a drink.” He is thirsty. “Give me a drink of water.”

This woman is an outcast. She is a Samaritan, so she is not considered to be one of the chosen people of God. Even still she is outcast from among Samaritans, since she must gather her water during the heat of the day. Yet, alone at the well she meets Jesus. He thirsts, and says, “Give me a drink.” At this moment Christ is inviting us to join this woman at the well. He is inviting us to sit with him, and listen to his words. He is asking for a drink from us, but soon he will offer us a NEW DRINK.

In these words, “give me a drink,” Christ is revealing to us the heart of the Father, a heart that seeks us to worship and love him in spirit and truth. Soon we will pray during the preface of the Mass: when he asked the woman of Samaria for water to drink Christ had already prepared her for the gift of faith. In his thirst he awakened in her heart the fire of your love. Christ is thirsting for our faith, and for our souls, so that we can return his love through worship.

Jesus is not the only thirsty one in this Gospel. Like the woman of Samaria, we are also thirsty. We have come with her to draw water. She, the outcast, is thirsty for love; and we, who at times are distant from God, thirst for his love. Like in the psalm, “Like a deer that yearns for flowing waters, so my heart yearns for You.”

As we sit with Christ at the well, he gazes at us – He knows that we are thirsty. He offers us a drink saying, “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never be thirsty again; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus has asked us for a drink of water, but now he offers the most amazing drink – one that will satisfy all our thirst. At this moment the thirst of God for our faith and love meet our thirst for him.

What does he offer? He offers a “spring welling up to eternal life,” but where is this spring?
Let us remember these words, “There is no greater love than this; to lay down your life for a friend.” We meet this spring of eternal life at Calvary, where Jesus is dying on the cross. As Saint Paul teaches us in today’s second reading, “God proves his love for us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” God speaks to us and tells us, “My children, I love you so much! I come to you as a little child! I am even dying for you here on the cross! I thirst. Give me a drink of your faith. I thirst for you.” At this moment a solider pierces his side and out of his side flows “blood and water.” This is the spring welling up to eternal life, and he is living out the words of consecration, “Take this all of you, drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of a new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for the many, so that sins may be forgiven.” This is the “spring welling up to eternal life.”

Paul continues to teach us about how we respond to this love, as he writes, “[Our] hope does not disappoint because the Love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

We have been given the Holy Spirit at our baptism, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are brought again and again to the spring of eternal life.

The spring continues to well up to this day. It wells up not only in the sacrament of baptism, put also in the sacrament of the Eucharist in which we are celebrating.

This love calls for a response.

For Mother Theresa the response was a radical call to love in return; to love Christ in the poorest of the poor. During this season of Lent, we join her in her call to return the love of Christ with our own life. We are given main ways to do this: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Let the love that we will receive in this Eucharist, allow a spring to well up in our own hearts and lives, so that like the woman, we can say, “We have found the Messiah, we have found the spring of eternal life, and all our thirst have been satisfied.” And so draw others to the fire of God’s love.

God bless you, and may the name of Jesus be praised.

Learning how to preach:

Yesterday evening a typical thing at the North American College: the preaching practicum for second year theologians. Preaching is important in the parish life. For many Catholics this is the only opportunity in which they hear the priest speaking to them and with them. So it is taken serious here, and this is shown by starting to work on preaching a full four years before we are released on the parished of the United States and Australia. The next post will be my practice homily.

A blog entry from another seminarian:

As a seminarian I like to read the blogs of other seminarians. Here is an interesting blog entry from a Catholic seminarian in England:

Until yesterday I was a Catholic Seminarian being formed for the Catholic Priesthood. Today I am no longer in that position.

As some of you will know I used to be an Anglican Clergyman, and became a Catholic about three and a half years ago. I started exploring the possibility of being ordained a Priest in the Catholic Church, and, as I was married, a request for a dispensation was sent off to Rome in order to allow me to be ordained as a married man (as a good few former Anglicans have been allowed to do previously).

In the meantime I completed an MA in Catholic Theology, and was accepted by my diocese for training. For the last year and a half I have been a part-time seminarian at the wonderful St Mary's Seminary, Oscott.

Yesterday I heard that Rome (the CDF I believe) have not granted my dispensation. I shan't go into the reasons here, but in case other people read this who are awaiting for dispensations I would counsel them not to be too worried, as my case is somewhat unusual!

What I want to focus on though is the thought process I went through on receiving this news...

Initially I was in a state of shock and disbelief... here I was, with only a few months to go at seminary, and Rome said "No!" The finality was (and is) painful. Then I briefly considered going back to the Church of England (at least I could carry on a priestly role there). Then I felt anger... (who were these celibate old men in Rome, who don't know me from Adam to make such a decision about me, to wreck my life like this?)

Then I sunk into a sense of grief, the loss of long cherished dreams and hopes. Now that may seem a lot of emotions for just over one day, and I guess that a lot of them were felt concurrently, rather than consecutively.

Then after the above feelings I stopped thinking like a protestant, and started thinking like a Catholic.

Yes the shock, and pain are still there, but how could I think of going back to the Church of England? I accept the claims of the Catholic Church, going back to the Church of England would be to lie to myself and all around me.

Then as well, one of the reasons I became a Catholic was because of the Church's sense of authority. How could I joyfully accept her authority when I agreed with her, but rail with anger against her when she made a decision I find personally difficult? No she is my mother, and God works through her. If I only submit graciously to her will when I like what she says, but kick and shout when I don't like what she says... well then I cease to be a Catholic, and instead become a Protestant!

To be a Catholic has to mean to be willing to put aside our own self will and to submit to the will of the Church, which we believe to be guided by God, or it means nothing at all.

I am not fully certain about what the future holds for me now, I have much thinking, praying and talking still to do... but what I do know is that I am a Catholic... and there is no greater honour or joy to be had in this life than to be in this Ark of Salvation, The One Holy Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Christ, on the rock of Peter.

Please keep him in prayer. As God has prepared a place for me in his house, let us remember the word from the 14th chapter of John, "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?" I am confident that God has prepared a special dwelling place for this seminarian.

Rowing in the same direction?

In the interesting of reporting news about the culture war between the culture of life and the culture of death let's consider the following:

It has made news recently that President Obama has lifted the restriction on federal money going to embryonic stem cell research, despite ethical concerns and the practical limits of using embryonic stem cells for future treatments. Not really surprising since he promised he would on the campaign trail.

What made a lot less fan-fare in the news was on the same day President Obama also Rescinded Executive Order 13435 of June 20, 2007. This order explicitly directed government funds to other areas of stem cell research. This would include umbilical cord stem cells and adult stem cells. This area of stem cell research offers much promise, including a number of medical treatments that are already in place. In addition there are no major ethical concerns with this field of research.

In short: No matter which canidate you supported during the election, we all can agree on the usefullness of supporting forms of stem-cell research that do not kill human beings in the embryonic stage. This is a point in which unity is found.

So to anyone who would like to comment: What is President Obama's motive for this?

Little Sisters of the Lamb

I do not know how I could mention Saint Anastasia without mentioning my good friends in Rome? Since the beginning of last year I have often gone to Saint Anastasia on Saturdays. There at noon you can find the community mass of the Little Sisters of the Lamb. This young French community is a beam of light for France's Catholic life. Please check out their websites, and keep them in prayer.



Official Site of the Community of the Lamb


An article about the brothers and sisters of the Lamb