I’m sitting in the cathedral waiting to celebrate the Pilgrim’s Mass on this beautiful Solemnity of Christ the King. I’m writing in response to an interview with Stanley Tucci, actor, cook and author. He seems like a wonderful person and decent actor. He was being interviewed about his part in a new movie just released, Conclave, based on the bestselling novel. It’s basically the story of the death of a pope and the conclave the will choose his successor.

I know all about the book and its plot and am not really interested in the movie, even if nominated for a dozen Oscars. But I’m very interested in comments he made about Catholicism, which he has abandoned, and faith, in which says he is longer a believer. But when asked about God, he said quite simply and directly said, “We created God.” A very bold statement that speaks volumes about the times in which we live and its many problems, political and otherwise.

Of course, Mr. Tucci is speaking an idea that has been a part of humanity since the Fall, whatever that happens to be. We are our own “gods,” not to be bothered by any restrictions or constrictions regarding our freedom to determine our own “truth.”

At the heart of our faith and the Gospel of Christ is that a “higher power” has created us, but One who is deeply personal and communal of what our loving God created. Weare all a part of creation, and humanity is the pinnacle, the most beautiful part of God’s creation since He has a RELATIONSHIP with us, created us in His wisdom at the very beginnings of Creation. We existed BEFORE we were ever conceived!!!! That is the Truth!!

God created you in LOVE to become love, becoming the very presence of Christ to a wounded world. We build His Kingdom, first and foremost, in the humility that we are totally dependent upon Him for every breath we take, for all of our gifts and talents, which include making movies and Italian food.

On the Cross, the last words of Christ were, “It is finished,” as he surrendered His Spirit to the Father. His mission on earth was complete, but the Resurrection ushered in a new mission that will endure until Christ returns, the mission rooted in the Church. The Advent mystery celebrates our waiting patiently for Christ’s Second Coming, He can’t return soon enough!!!

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Camino begins when I return to Chicago, late on the 27th of November and open the front door of the rectory. Then, it all begins. as the blessings of this journey become a part of the tapestry of my life, giving it new contours, pathways and colors as I wait in advent hope for Christ to come into my life in surprising ways.

And God came through with my first blessing, even though it just took place in Santiago. I received my Compostela, the Certificate of the Camino, acknowledging that I began on October 23 and finished today, November 22nd, which is my father’s 99th birthday.

What a relief of an accomplishment that definitely tried my spirit and my body. The woman who stamped my passport for the last time, came around the counter and gave a huge, long hug. So beautiful!! I’ve been walking around in a bit of a haze, just feeling grateful, as the cold breeze made my steps surprisingly light and airy, especially without the backpack.

And then my mind focused on getting back to Chicago. I checked my email and found the e-ticket. I decided to walk to the train station to make sure the ticket was valid and to verify where, exactly, I was to be this Tuesday. I’m not missing this train to Madrid.

As I walked up the stairs from the station to return to the Old City, God’s surprise happened: the young South Korean man I met a few days ago, Nabukim, bumped into me and shouted my name! Truly unbelievable but this was no accident or chance meeting. It was meant to be. He was standing next to a young woman named Jo. They were planning on getting a bus to go to Finisterre, “the end of the earth,” which is the Atlantic Ocean.

We were both so taken aback and Jo only shared in the joy. And then she said she was going to Portugal in a few days the visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. She loves Mary. And given my previous post, I love her, too. The entire encounter was a surprise that I will carry with me until I breath my last breath and hopefully will say, “It is finished,” only to be given new breath, new purpose, fulfilled hope as the Risen Lord leads me forth to continue a new, never ending camino, with NO backpack. Only companions of love.

I today’s gospel, Jesus tells us the parable of a nobleman about to receive a kingship who left on a journey to obtain the kingship coming to him. Before he left, he gave 10 servants a gold coin and instructed them to use the coin to engage in trade. Essentially, they were to do something with the one gold coin that would benefit the nobleman chosen to be king.

Upon his return, only one of three men he called before him invested the coin to make more money in the act of investing. Always a risk. But one of the servant kept his gold coping hidden in a handkerchief, refusing to do anything with the coin out of fear that he might lose the coin in the risk of investment. He CLUNG to the coin. Fear controlled him.

The nobleman returned and was furious with this man for hiding the coin and clinging to it, through fear and assuming the nobleman would do the work of investing. “Clinging”is a harsh sounding word and its reality can cause much pain. Clinging to hope when you’re at wits end is one thing, but clinging to money, job security, an award, a position of power and authority, any addiction is quite another. These types of “clinging” suffocate and drain life of energy.

What do you cling to?

Yes, I’m nearing the end of this pilgrimage of faith, hoping to raise the funds to strengthen our outreach ministries to the poor, the refugee. and the immigrant. I am 25 miles away from Santiago, feeling like Dorothy and her companions as they neared the end of their journey to the Emerald City.

Actually, the movie The Way, starring Martín Sheen, was directed by his son Emilio, who also wrote the script. He based the story on The Wizard of Oz! Yes indeed, a story about a grieving father and his three companions on their way to Santiago in order discover a new path in which to call “home.”

Tomorrow, November 19, is the last, long walk I will take and the question Jesus has kept asking me throughout this journey comes from today’s gospel: “What do you want me to do for you?” He asks that question of each and every person, which means YOU, who are reading this. What do you want Jesus to do for YOU?

How I am answering that question for myself will unfold when I return. Every pilgrimage begins when you return home. The pilgrim must go back home for the journey to have any ability to transform the heart.

So many Catholics my age and up are quite ambivalent about Mary, seeing any kind of devotion to her as pre-Vatican II, overly sentimental and out of place. But Mary has been an important part of my life, dating back to early memories of lighting a candle at her shrine in our church, novena prayers to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on Tuesday evenings and a nun at Holy Family Hospital taking me in the chapel there and talking about Mary. I frequently went to that hospital chapel for years, praying before the beautiful, gentle statue of Mary, up until I entered the seminary in 1979.

In my seminary years, 1979-1984, devotion to Mary didn’t exist but my love for Mary continued, very much under the radar. I wanted to fit in and not be labeled a traditionalist, truly wanting to be a priest. I didn’t want this to be a “red flag,” so my love of Mary was discrete and private.

Mary has followed me and inspired me in many ways. She has been a powerful witness in responding to God’s calling with one’s whole heart. She has been a “presence” in my life and priesthood, my spiritual “mother” wanting me to be loved by her Son. Mary has only deepened my love for Christ.

It might surprise a number of people, many parishioners, that I made a promise to pray the Rosary daily and I made a personal act of consecration to Mary a number of years ago. I personally dedicated the parish to her when I became a pastor. I have to mention St. Teresa of Avila, who has been another powerful person in my life. These two women are so very important to me.

Why am I writing about Mary now, as I approach the end of the Camino, as we come to the end of our liturgical season, as we are about to begin Advent in two weeks? In short, Mary has been guiding me on this tiresome journey across Spain, making her presence known in simple, gentle ways. Through a ceramic tiled image on a wall off the Camino, watching pilgrims passing by, rarely seeing her image, to beautiful statues of wood, bronze, plaster and ceramic in countless places of prayer, Mary has been a presence of hope and comfort.

Mary and her Son will be with me as I enter Santiago and spend some days there in prayer. Mary and Christ clearly want me back in Chicago. What awaits…who knows but her Son, and He is saying nothing to me but to trust.

Final note: the Eucharist is at the heart of the church, our parish and my priesthood. No one has ever mentioned to me at any of the parishes I have served in over forty years, that in EVERY Eucharistic Prayer, I have prayed, after the priest mentions “Mary, the Mother of God,” “and our Mother.” I was inspired to do this when my rector at the seminary said those very words in each Eucharistic Prayer. That rector was Fr Jim Keleher who became Bishop Keleher of the Belleville Diocese and the Kansas City Diocese. He just died a week ago: November 9, 2024.

Thank you Bishop Jim Keleher for your love of Mary and accepting me at the seminary in 1979. When I called you in 1978, out of the blue, and told you I wanted to be a priest, and you never even heard of me, you welcomed me and my parents to come to the seminary. We did so on that bitter cold Sunday afternoon in 1978. I haven’t thought of that Sunday in many years. A gift of the Camino.

Well, I just couldn’t do it, I couldn’t get into my room where I am staying now. I had the “card” to enter, keys are long gone, and every way, every position, I just couldn’t get the door to open. I would call this an “obstacle” of entrance. I wasn’t listening to the receptionist’s explanation, which were in perfect English, no less.

Jesus has a stern warning for all of us, His followers, who have “obstacles” within door of our hearts, keeping Jesus OUTSIDE. I have a propensity to be rushed, in action and judgement, to be envious, to see the glass as “half empty”, and fear of conflict, a big one. Running away from conflict is a huge obstacle. And facing conflict with an overly judgmental reaction is an even larger one.

I have acknowledged some of my obstacles to letting Christ through the door of my heart. Advent is upon us, a season that reminds us that Jesus will come into our lives at a most unexpected time, particularly at the moment of death, a moment we will be invited to walk through that “doorway” and into eternal Redemption.

What are your own obstacles Christ is asking you to acknowledge and let go of? One magnificent breath of hope as we will breathe our final breath leads to the next “breath” in which we will face the door of Christ’s MERCY.

Walking through this door, this gateway will be more gentle without the obstacles. Even so, Christ awaits with open arms to place us on His shoulders: the Good Shepherd indeed!!!

A common theme of this, my fourth Camino, is walking alone, since much of the infrastructure of the Camino is closing down due to the few pilgrims walking. I knew this would be the case, but didn’t realize the impact it would have on me.

I’ve adjusted walking alone by not expecting much socialization, or anticipating interacting with many pilgrims. The few I have encountered have been friendly and welcoming, but could not speak much English and my Spanish is limited. I just spent over an hour talking with a woman and her husband in a tiny cafe outside Astorga, the owners. We used our phones with the translation App and did quite well. trying to communicate. She helped me get a taxi for the next village, since I need to stop walking after 13 miles due to signify muscle pain in upper leg. I’m fine.

I’m now at a great hotel in a town called Ponferrada, which is largely deserted. The solitary journey continues, allowing me the time to reflect and pray. I do not feel lonely at all because I have the gift of a beautiful “inner” journey, enriched by memories that are vivid and surface at just the right time. The people who have gone before me, family, friends, parishioners, the saints I have come to love, all accompany me throughout my “external” journey that has brought me here to Spain to venerate the bones of St. James in Santiago.

The journey continues from village to village, eventually to Santiago in about eight days and then back to Chicago, St. Teresa’s and beyond, wherever God wishes to lead me. Pilgrimages are simply external expressions of the internal journeys we all are on. All my daily walks around Chicago are small pilgrimages that make my inner journey more vivid and dynamic. They give life to my ministry, teaching, preaching and daily life.

I have learned during this solitary journey that I like the company I keep!!! The vast majority of my time alone I am engaging in all the memories that continue to surface of the people who have made such a difference in my life. These people become my prayer: I pray for them and they accompany me…how can I possibly be lonely?? My life is not dull or lonely because of all the experiences I have had with beautiful people at every stage of my life.

Finally, memories aren’t always pleasant or good. Actually, some of the memories we carry can be quite painful. This solitary journey has given me the time to be sorrowful for the ways I have hurt people and to let mercy and forgiveness heal the memories of people who have caused me sorrow. Broken relationships can be healed even if the person has passed away. Reconciliation can be a possibility. I have had many tears of joy and many tears of sadness. That’s life…

Tomorrow, I’m off to my favorite place on the Camino and one of my favorite places I have ever visited: O’Cebreiro, the first village in Galicia with Santiago just ahead. I’m doing this with the help of a taxi, since it’s the most strenuous part of the Camino, extremely so. My memory is quite vivid on this point.

Arrived in this beautiful city with a cathedral of gothic structure and breathtaking windows. The building itself is a work of art dating back to the 13th century. Previously, large church structures had to be built of massive, thick walls which had few, if any, windows, because the walls would collapse given the open spaces. Several architects of the 13th century envisioned a style of architecture that would allow for thinner walls supported by buttresses, columns and arches.

The Leon cathedral was one of the first buildings that allowed light to pour in thru tens of thousands of glittering stained glass pieces, formed to tell the stories of the Old Testament, the New Testament, images of nature, the animal world, the creation of humanity, the focus being on Christ. The Cathedral faces East allowing the suns raise to blaze thru the stained glass illuminating them to tell a story through architecture and colors of glass.

Its foundation began to weaken as the centuries progressed, to the point that in the 19 century, the walls with the precious windows would completely collapse. The foundation needed to be strengthened, and it was strengthened due to the vision and brilliance of certain architects. A scaffolding was built and the work began which took years in fortifying the building’s foundation.

Once finished, the scaffolding had to be removed leaving the building in a precarious state without the support of the scaffolding. After the scaffolding was removed the people could hear the “moaning, crunching” sound as the building sunk into its fortified state.

I love this true story about a treasure of a building, art, architecture telling a story. A building built on the foundation of Faith, but its physical foundation needed restoration. Foundations are important, especially ones rooted in a VISION. Without a vision, your life will whither and fall apart. Beauty transforms the mind and heart to flame into life a vision. Faith is the key. Religion is the expression of faith.

When the foundation of our lives is Christ, we will become like a fragment of beautiful glass of unique colors or a multiplicity of colors. This is the church of Christ, Who IS the Foundation. And like the Leon Cathedral, we need renovation, restoration, purification to fortify our foundation in Christ. May we, who are this beautiful building built of “living stones,” not weaken this wonderful structure with pessimism, constant criticism, complacency and bitterness.

How can YOU make the church more beautiful?

Yes, wearing dry clothes has become a luxury, since the climate is quite humid and the mornings filled with must and fog. Draping wet clothes after being washed in sink or shower do not dry overnight. Heat is a rarity so I sleep fully clothed with my jacket on.

I came up with the idea of hanging a clothes line across each room I stay, draping the wet clothes over a clothes line, allowing them to dry more easily. I couldn’t find a clothes line anywhere. The store I purchased my new walking poles didn’t have any clothes lines for camping but I found a package of bungy cords with hooks at the ends that could be connected, lengthening the line. It worked!!!! And I remembered to purchase close pins!!

In today’s gospel, Jesus commended the dishonest steward for making a bad situation work out. He did so by lessening the debt that debtors owed his master. The steward was hired to be a good manager of the master’s products to be lent out, with a price, of course. But he appropriated what wasn’t his by stealing. Sound familiar??? Jesus commends his ingenuity, even though it was very dishonest.

This steward just lessened what each person owed, getting in their good graces, ingratiating himself, so that they might help him out after being fired. Jesus loves this guy’s wit and worldly wisdom. I made a bad situation work out for me not in any dishonest but it did have some worldly wisdom about it. The two clerks who were helping me thought my idea was great. Such a little thing to be so happy about.

Yes, indeed, I lost my tried and true hiking poles that have been my support through three caminos. At one of the places I staid, they gave me a pair of used ones, which is great, but they kept bending, and sinking down as I put pressure on them climbing a hill. Not much of a help at all.

Walking in the village of Carrion de los Condes, I actually found a Camino store open, in off season!!!And there was my new set of poles, waiting for me. The clerk was so gracious as she showed me how they work and how strong they were as she pounded them on the floor with much vigor and force. The poles seemed to cry out to me, “We won’t disappoint you.” I found my poles, arrayed in silver and orange, waiting to be my help as I prepare to enter the glorious city of Leon.

Not quite like the “lost shepherd,” but there is a rather poignant parallel: when awe are “found” after getting lost in life, we become a “new creation” very different from before our getting lost. We are changed within the depths of our being through the gift, the energy of grace, as we allow Christ to be the one we “lean on” as we struggle up life’s many hurdles and sometimes steep mountains of inner suffering.

Lean on Christ as I lean on these poles, Christ who leads us on the right path, chosen just for us. May we stay on that path chosen path. Even if we start wandering, losing Christ as our guide and support, he is waiting for us with open arms to be found once again.

I’m going to celebrate right now by celebrating Mass for you.

These poles came at a price, however: $50.00 and worth every penny.