I apologize for this short post. It is more a trip report and less a reflection.
Greetings to you from the City of Santiago de Compostela, the endpoint of the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James. Home of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the reputed burial place of Saint James the Great. This is James the Elder, brother of John, son of Zebedee; Apostle of our Lord and Savior; one of the Twelve; the first Apostle to be Martyred for Christ (A.D. 44). On the way here we stopped at El Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen). The valley has a Catholic Basilica, built on the orders of Franco in 1940 (inaugurated in 1959). The Basilica is built atop a cliff, built almost entirely underground and a 150-meter-high cross on top of it. We could see that cross from miles away on our approach from Madrid. We also made an unplanned detour to the Basilica of Santa Teresa de Avila, built where Saint Teresa lived, within the fortified walls of the City of Avila.
A Long Journey
It has only been 3 days since we arrived in Madrid. It has already been a long journey thus far and there’s more to go.
Unlike the many thousands of pilgrims that make their way to Santiago de Compostela, by way of the way (The Camino de Santiago), we are making good time in the comfort of a car, with many of the amenities that travel in the digital age has to offer. Despite that, I could be often heard, muttering under my breath of the many “inconveniences” I was experiencing, beginning with the many excuses I was making to avoid having to step away from the comfort of my home, in the first place. I can’t help but empathize with the Israelites in the desert of Paran (Numbers 13). For their complaining, they had to wander 40 years in the desert, until that generation of the men who had spread discouraging reports about the land were struck down by the LORD and died (Numbers 14:33). So how much greater would my own “punishment” be for my grumbling?
Thankful
I must catch myself in these moments, whether on this literal pilgrimage or the figurative journey of life and remind myself of what I need to be thankful for. That the Lord Himself is on this journey with me. Forgetting that was the greater error of the Israelites. I need to bring myself to joyfully and thankfully participate in His glorious suffering, through my “small inconveniences.” It is only then, like that giant cross atop the cliff in El Valle de los Caídos, that His glory will be seen through me for miles around. I must remind myself that the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, Lord and Creator of all, is personally invested in my little spark of existence. He helped me make the journey thus far, from His mind (Jeremiah 1:5), from before time, to this moment in time and space. He has enveloped me within the fortified walls of his grace, and He will surely then help me make the way, safely, through the vast eternity of time and space, to eternal rest with Him.
Blessed be the Lord. Amen.
[Readings: Nm 13:1-2, 25–14:1, 26a-29a, 34-35; Mt 15: 21-28]
