The gospel in this Sunday reflects the heart and soul of the gospel. Jesus is asked by one of the Pharisees, “Out of all the many laws written in the Torah, which is the greatest?” Jesus answers succinctly, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might. This is the greatest and the first. The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” EVERYTHING depends on these two laws.

I am walking with so many people from many different cultures and religions. I walked with a man named Alejandro a person who lives in the village I was approaching: Navarrete. He asked me if he could walk with me while trying to speak English ( which he knew quite a lot of) only if I would speak Spanish( which I know very little). I agreed and we started to communicate in the other’s language.

We spoke back and forth for an hour which was very exhausting. When he discovered I was a priest, he simply said in beautiful English that he believed in the God of Nature. He was Catholic but left religion and religious faith. He doesn’t believe in God except in nature. I guess he sees nature as divine.

I responded by acknowledging the beauty of Nature and creation and respected his belief. But my belief is rooted in Christ and the God He revealed. Alejandro said, “ Of course you do , you who are a priest.” I responded, “But I am a disciple first.” He said again “Of course.”

We talked about how we were brothers to each other and he thanked me. A beautiful conversation, initiated by him, not me, that brought us together in love as neighbor. Love unites in difference; love sees the other as created in the image of God; love reminds us to treat those who are “aliens” with respect; love reminds us we were all aliens at one time; ( I might add, immigrants, including the undocumented,we callously refer to as “alien); love accepts people for their own journey, as different as it is from our own; love refuses to judge another person’s heart.

I have met a number of people who have no faith and say they are atheist. I never mention I am a priest unless asked. I will never hide my priesthood nor shout it about. But I can sense when it makes someone uncomfortable and it has. As a pilgrim from France said to me yesterday, “Just keep planting seeds. God will make them take root and grow if He so wishes.” So many on this Camino are searching for something. I simply pray they keep their hearts open and I pray with equal fervor that I keep my heart open also. Christ is revealing Himself to me through these people.

I want to plant seeds here on the Camino, in Chicago, walking around my neighborhood, visiting parishes and visiting the sick. At the heart of seed planting, is to see Christ in every person you meet, especially those pushed to the side, not only by government, but by communities that call themselves Christian. May we love the Lord our God with all our heart and strength and may we love EVERY neighbor, no conditions.

I so want to learn more Spanish!!!

The words you can’t quite see are “I LOVE”