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​The Camino crosses many boundaries and thus interacts with many languages. In its heart and center it is still what it is—a spiritual odyssey. So to get the linguistics correct the terms are used as following—"buen camino" in Spain, or "bon chemin" in France, or "bom caminho" in Portugal. I am in Portugal so hence my shift.What makes a Bom Caminho...

Have you ever seen an angel? Today I met one. I was in a difficult part of the journey. Neither GPS or the signs on the road were making much sense and I really did not know where to go. I looked up and saw a woman making a signal to me. I went towards her and she waited on me. I could not speak a word of Portuguese and she's could not speak a...

​On Friday when Jose and I were speaking, he said to me there was so much to be grateful to God for. God had treated him which sub generosity when he had been such a sinner.This is a disposition of someone who has encountered Christ. They move beyond them self to God and recognize what they have received as compared to what they have given. There i...

Today God passed my way and I was too dimwitted and afraid to recognize Him. Have you ever realized how fear shuts down our capacities? This morning leaving Coimbra, it was as dark as ever. The city, the third largest in Portugal, sprawls a while before rural space emerged. CITIES are amazing. I will speak of the glory of the city an t...

This morning I awoke as normal 5:25am. I began as usual in absolute darkness. My phone as light and map to guide. My inner Pilgrim was smiling and singing and filled with Joy. Last night I spoke to the husband owner of the Alburgue I stayed in. He explained the stages of the camino Portuguese. From now till Porto there are very few Alburgues. After...

Last night I met my first pilgrim. Sebastian from Columbia. We were both staying in the same Albergue. He left Fatima, the same time as me, two days ago.  He walked past the casa Rural in Caxarias by 2 km. It broke his heart to turn back. So he soldiered forward and slept in a forest that night. He arrived here in Ansiao at 7:30 Pm. ...

Walking the camino sounds romantic. There is an inner discipline that is required. This inner discipline is a constant reminder of the outer discipline that discipleship requires.I left Fatima two days ago. I have arrived in the town of Ansião. This is 47 Km of walking in two days. Traveling up hill 619 m and down hill 468 m. For example Fort Georg...

There are many types of camino experiences. The French way is full of people. Over 200 people start every day. You get to know people and meet them over and over. You become friends and sometimes a community.The Portuguese way is much quieter. With much fewer pilgrims there is much less interaction. Most of the pilgrims begin in Porto....

Some people believe that you do not walk the camino. They think, the camino walks you. Just as you do not choose to walk, the camino chooses you. When I boarded the plane and made my self comfortable, I asked myself, what madness am I doing. I am walking the camino a third time!There must be a reason, I surely do not know. Except this urge to walk ...

This Sunday's gospel has two quite different stories of Jesus healing. One story interrupts the other and at first I wondered why St. Mark who wrote the gospel didn't sort them out and give them separately, as they are obviously quite different. In fact, the short form of the gospel cuts out the interruption - and that is a pity because the two mir...

To answer this question we must first look at the Old Covenant (Old Testament) as a foreshadowing of what was fulfilled in the New Covenant (New Testament) in Jesus.Our first glimpse of a priest is found when Abraham met Melchizedek, the King of Salem (Jerusalem) who was a priest of God of the highest heaven, who brought him bread and wine. (Gen. 1...

The disciples were in a turmoil! Their leader, Simon Peter, had just professed his belief that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. To their horror Jesus began to tell them that He would be put to death. At the time, it meant nothing to them that He also added that after three days He would rise from the dead.Simon Peter, out of sheer l...

Enter your text here .To prepare for Sunday Mass it is a good idea to read and give thought to the readings in your missal or Bible. Here are some questions to ponder. First Reading [Exodus 20:1-17] What is the difference between the Ten Commandments and the two that Jesus emphasised — love God and love your neighbor? Second Reading [1 Corinthians ...

To prepare for Sunday Mass it is a good idea to read and give thought to the readings in your missal or Bible. Here are some questions to ponder. First Reading [Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46] A leper in Jesus' time was rejected by society and regarded as being punished for sinfulness. Are some people treated in a similar way today? Second Reading [1 Cori...

 To prepare for Sunday Mass it is a good idea to read and give thought to the readings in your missal or Bible. Here are some questions to ponder. First Reading [Job 7:1-4, 6-7] Sometimes, do you feel like Job in this reading? Can you have faith in God, even if you don't understand why people suffer? Second Reading [1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-2...

To prepare for Sunday Mass it is a good idea to read and give thought to the readings in your missal or Bible. Here are some questions to ponder. First Reading [Deuteronomy 18:15-20] Does God raise ordinary people from our midst to become prophets? Is there a cause for which you might become a prophet? Second Reading [1 Corinthians 7:32-35] "I shou...

​Greetings Brothers and Sisters. My theme for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 'Jesus in a nutshell' because find in just a few sentences St. Mark describes how He laid down the foundations for His establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. We are told Jesus, commonly known as the 'Carpenter's Son' went from Nazareth to Galilee. "There He pro...

​CHOSEN BY CHRISTI don't think Jesus would have taken to Twitter, where the aim seems to be to get as many "likes" as you can. Jesus made it clear to his disciples, "You did not choose me – I chose you." That explains why people found that, unlike others, Jesus spoke with authority. The rabbis and other religious leaders did not choose their discip...

​To say that you are called can have two quite different meanings. If someone says "What are you going to call the baby?" obviously, they mean what name you are going to give the child, but if they say, "Quick, call the children", the calling then is asking them to come. When I say that Christ is calling me, it has both meanings; he calls me person...

​New Year's Greetings, Brothers and Sisters!. I wish to share with you a few thoughts taken from the Gospel of today, THE 2nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME.What a friend we have in Jesus!What a friend Jesus had in John the Baptist! Why am I so enthusiastic about John?Because he was the man chosen by God to prepare the way of the Lord – when the Lord happ...