10/17/2019, 16:00
Halftime. Just before we arrived in Sahagún, we crossed the “geographic center” or halfway point in the Camino Frances. We have walked about 250 miles, roughly the distance from Kansas City to St. Louis. The remaining distance to Santiago is the USA equivalent of continuing on to Indianapolis, Indiana. At the Ermita de la Peregrina, we each received a “halfway certificate.” I guess that’s a consolation prize for pilgrims who don’t make it all the way to Santiago, but we have no reason to believe that we won’t complete our pilgrimage; God willing!
10/18/2019, 06:30
Yesterday, we stayed at the Hospedería Monastíca Santa Cruz, a quaint albergue in a portion of an active monastery, which is operated by Marist priests. In the early evening, Fr. Daniel led a reflection on the Camino experiences of a group that included pilgrims, young and not so young (guess into which category I fall?), from Brazil, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Italy, England and the USA. We live in an ever-increasing secular world, but Fr. Daniel masterfully re-introduced the spiritual benefits of the Camino to those assembled. He invited all of us pilgrims to use the “tedium” of the lengthy daily walks to open our minds and hearts and listen to what God may be saying to us.
Following the reflection, four priests, including Fr. Tony and another pilgrim priest from Argentina, celebrated Mass, with the pilgrims and the Benedictine nuns, in their beautiful monastery chapel.
Following the Mass, Fr. Daniel gave us this pilgrim blessing:
Dear Lord Jesus Christ who brought your servant Abraham out of the city of the Chaldeans, protecting him through his wandering travels, and who was the Hebrew nation’s guide through the desert, we ask you to bless these children of yours who, for the love they bear your name, are on a pilgrimage to Compostela.
Be for them their companion on the Way, their guide at the cross-road, their shade in the heat, their light in the darkness, their comfort in the wilderness and their resolve in intentions.
So that through your guidance they arrive sound at the end of their road, and, enriched with grace and virtue, return them healthy and full of holy and everlasting happiness.
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
AMEN.
Jim Olshefski