Upon entering Logrono , there was a beautiful bed of light pink/peach colored roses. A plaque in front of these roses stated that this particular variety of rose cam from a hybrid of one road from each of the main towns and cities across the Comp. The rose was “baptized” in September of 2012, just one week before I arrived in Logrono on October 7 of 2012. Somehow, I missed this beautiful new rose, bringing together in one magnificent flower the various cultures and language nuances across the Camino, from the Basque Country to Celtic Galicia.
We, as the human family , are much like this beautiful rose: a coming together of many cultures, nations, languages,colors and religions , only to form a flower of many petals of shapes and sizes. The stem that unites us is the God of all creation , who gave us his only Son, born of the Virgin Mary, to become the center of this beautiful flower of humanity.
In Christ, when we honor and celebrate our differences, refusing to demand a uniformity of shape and color , we give off the ” scent of holiness. ” Like this special rose, humanity has been “baptized” by the Passionate Love of the One sent by the Father to call us to the “glory that had made us a chosen race.” Our vocation is to see the beauty in the other and in every other. It is God’s creative force that nourishes the flower of humanity with his Grace.
Buen Camino. Fr. Frank