The old Irish blessings prays that the wind be always at your back. Today, it was totally in my face, for three straight hours, 30MPH plus, with a constant pelting rain. And cold…

No one said it would be easy. I walked through deep troughs of mud and whatever, pulling and tugging on my boots. The boots I am wearing are truly waterproof, thank God . I prayed for the wind to be at my back but the Lord was having none of it. He didn’t calm the winds for any of us pilgrims as He calmed the winds on the sea for the disciples caught in fear.

The Lord wanted us to brave those powerful winds and that we did. I’m just a bit weary. God doesn’t always calm the storms on the outside, perhaps to make us stronger within. I did receive a tremendous sense of tranquility as the winds were pushing us from side to side. I knew without a doubt we would make. That is the Peace that only Christ can give, the peace when we TRUST that we will make it.

Trust is at the heart of being a disciple and follower of Jesus. We are called to give in to this trust so that a relationship with Him can be forged and deepen. We have to trust that God created us for a reason from the foundation of the world. Yes, this is exactly what St Paul teaches in today’s reading at Mass ,and also, that we are predestined to be God’s adopted children. Paul ends the reading by saying that everything will converge in Christ, Who is the Cornerstone of all the cosmos and creation.

We are ALL braving the winds together and our journeys will meet and converge in Christ. Buen Camino. Fr. Frank

There was an exhibit in Burgos called “Evolution,” a provocative exploration into the origins of the universe. So many people believe that evolution and Christianity can’t exist together, and that official church teaching prohibits belief in evolution. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Church leaves it up to each individual to decide for them self.
In my own opinion, the science of evolution is impossible to refute. I believe that we have evolved as human beings and that the entire created world is evolving. I just believe that a personal God began the evolutionary process, creating the human species millions of years ago. The more we evolve and develop , the more we participate in the recreation of the world. Part of the evolutionary process is the gradual growth of human creativity as we learn the unfolding of God’s Plan in which our understanding of Creation is expanding. We are slowly becoming “divinized” as we participate with God in the unfolding of this Plan: human consciousness is expanding in ways difficult to comprehend or keep up with.
The science of evolution teaches HOW the world and human life came about ; it does not tell us WHY we are here. The “why” is where God enters this human drama. When I see a beautiful sunset, I can sort of understand the concept of the sun’s light piercing molecules and ions and protons creating hues of red and purple and gold. But an awareness erupts underneath the mental concept of a Presence that compels me to feel what I can only describe as Joy. Hence, there is a Purpose to the evolutionary process just as there is a deeper purpose to a sunset.
My good friend Steve is one person I love to talk about these things, for he is a seeker with many questions. My conversations with him are interesting and thought provoking. He , more than any devout Christian , helps me to encounter Christ because faith is deepened when questions are explored. We tend to think that Christ answered many questions , when in reality , he asked many questions. He even responded to a question with another question. I believe if you actually count, Jesus asked hundreds of questions in the gospels.

The best description of the church is one I can relate with as I write this, a description that the Second Vatican Council taught in one of its Constitutions: the Church is a PILGRIM people moving in time. How beautiful.
As a “pilgrim” I am traveling, learning, meeting new people, expanding how I see humanity, expanding how I see the world. In short, step by little step , I am “evolving” and expanding. And God is at the heart of this evolutionary pilgrimage. God is at the heart of YOUR unique pilgrimage in which you can , if you choose, to participate in the recreation of the world. The world and creation is “charged with the grandeur of God,” wrote someone so famous I can’t remember his name. Whoever is reading this: YOU are charged with the grandeur of God…. And you are a work in evolutionary process.
Thank you Steve for helping me to grow.
Buen camino. Fr. Frank

Early in morning I’m ready to leave Burgos and move on to Hornillos. I carry with me in my heart the many prayers you placed on the wooden cross before I departed for this pilgrimage. I will send those prayers pleading for healing, reconciliation , peace of mind, and those of gratitude for many blessings.
Teresa walks with each one of us, and as she teaches, the humanity of Christ is the gateway into God. As I walk, I will up in prayer the German immigrants who helped to found this parish ; I will pray for the priests and sisters who ministered, especially the sisters who gave their lives for thousands of children in the school ; I pray for the people who brought a variety of Hispanic and Latino cultures into our parish, many who remain a vibrant part of the parish; I pray for all the people who have been apart of our history until the present day; I pray in a special way for our young, for God is tugging at my heart and nudging my conscience to reach out to the young and help them to see the gifts God has given them and that st Teresa’s will be a parish that will make way for these young and their gifts.
Thank you all for praying for me on this pilgrimage of faith. For those who sent messages through blog and email: THANK YOU!!!! All those messages seem to arrive at just the right time. Thus Camino is beautiful but very different from the first camimo. You are helping me in ways you will never know. Thank you again.
Happy and Blessed Feast.
Buen camino. Fr. Frank

The must popular image of St. Teresa is her holding a pen in one hand reading to write, an open book in the other and the dove of the Holy Spirit. This very image will grace the corner of Armitage and Seminary. Teresa was a woman of inspiration, this very word , “inspiration” , means to “let breath in.” She surrendered to the Spirit of Christ while pleading that God hear her prayer to completely take over her life. She spent many years praying for this moment in which the Spirit penetrated her heart, creating an ecstasy of Love that overpowered her.
The Spirit led her on a journey, a camino, of massive change and upheaval. She was “inspired” to see the truth of religious life as she was living it; she “saw” the hypocrisy within the walls of her convent where the wealthy nuns were served by those who had no dowry. The life inside the walls of the Convent of the Incarnation was a breeze that spoke apathy and indifference to gospel living. Teresa , herself , was a bit of a busybody, for she loved to chatter and gossip. Something happened within the heart of Teresa that turned her world upside down.
In a powerful touch of irony , Teresa was actually born on October 4th, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. But the Gregorian calendar corrected to lapse in time so her date was moved to the 15th. The reform of the calendar was a reform of time and how it is measured
Reform is a constant theme in Teresa’s life, a reform that really did not settle until until she was in mid life. There’s hope for us late comers!!!
What Teresa proposed was a total reform of the Carmelite Order, compelling the sisters to live a life of evangelical poverty, prayer and obedience. She even went further and inspired her companion in the spiritual life, St. John if the Cross, to make a similar reform in the male branch of the community.
What was the result? She and John formed s new community of Carmelite reform, they branched off, so to speak. This caused both saints horrible consequences. Teresa was despised by most of the nuns who tried to throw get out and succeeded. Many in authority were suspicious of her inspired teachings. Even the Inquisition tried to condemn her but we’re no match for her intelligence and faith. Women were supposed to be seen and not heard and their prayer life reduced to “saying prayers .” Teresa was calling her nuns to a life of contemplative prayer, what she called ” prayer of the heart.” This was unthinkable in the 16th century Church. This attitude that deep prayer was only for monks and some priests was expanded to include women religious. The laity would not experience what Teresa was trying to teach not only get nuns but all people until the Second Vatican Council, just 50 years ago!!
St. John of the Cross didn’t fair much better. His fellow Friars hated the reform he proposed to such an extent that they locked him in a tiny closet for nearly a year!!!!!! It was within these dark, confined walls that John wrote much of his masterpiece, the Dark Night of the Soul. He had to escape the people of his own community, religious men, from being enslaved racist of his radical ideas of reform. His teachings were also under suspicion.
To be inspired by the Spirit sounds beautiful but it always demands a price and is never easy. The same “Spirit” that inspired and filled Teresa hovers over each one of us and our journeys. The open book that Teresa holds in her hands is an apt symbol of our lives: may we be an “open book” that allows the Spirit to not only hover over us if to fill us…change us….reform the way we are living life. May the Spirit freely write the message God has just for YOU in your very heart. But be forewarned by Teresa and John, to change or reform your life will most definitely involve resistance and even rejection.
On this feast of our patron, may our parish community make a difference in our city and church. May we have the courage to become and be reformed into a parish that speaks to the 21st century. We need to have our own parish synod , like the one going on in Rome right now, to forge a new path of evangelization. The people in our neighborhoods are waiting for us.
Buen Camino and blessed Feast.
Happy 125th anniversary.

The Eve of the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila.
We pilgrims love to judge each other. You’re not a “true” pilgrim unless you stay at the dorm-style albergues; or if you don’t carry your backpack but have it shipped periodically; or if you take a bus or , God forbid, a taxi, when you get lost to get back on track ; or if you eat a regular meal deemed too sumptuous.
We all have different reasons for making this journey. Some are quite old and suffer from arthritis; some are living with other chronic illnesses; some are diabetic; some even have a particular physical handicap. We shouldn’t judge until we walk in the other’s shoe…or boot.
In today’s gospel , Jesus , himself, is probably having a sumptuous dinner at one of the Pharisees , which I guess makes him a bad pilgrim. Jesus senses that the Pharisee is making judgements on his demeanor since he is not observing the proper ritual washing before the meal. They are too concerned with the externals of the Law so jesus reminds them, and us, to first clean the INSIDE before worrying about external observances.
Making judgements is a normal part of life and we all make them on a daily basis. It is when the judging becomes judgmental that we get into trouble. We all have a lot of inner work to do on cleaning the inside, our hearts, where Christ dwells. Too often, he dwells in clutter and bitter judgments on the very people he loves.
Jesus ends today’s gospel with one remedy: to give alms, let go of our money and possessions , and allow charity to cleanse the inner chamber of the heart.
When we breath our last, as we all must , all we bring with us is love, our love of God and our love of neighbor. Faith and hope are not necessary in the Kingdom for we will live and breath and love in the very object of faith and hope : GOD. This is beautiful but sobering.
A question for all of us : how am
I judgmental in my own life ?

Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila. May she guide your journey to the One who will make your journey safe. “God ALONE suffices.”
Buen Camino. Fr. Frank

I came to a juncture on the Camino to Burgos and I chose the path that brought me through an ugly industrial park. The other choice was the one of beauty and peace. I was alone almost the entire time with no sign if the yellow arrows or shells. I kept walking and hoping and walking…until I spotted two bulky pilgrims in the distance ahead of me. I picked up the pace and within an hour I caught up with them, a lovely couple from Japan who spoke no English but made it clear this WAS the Camino.
Relieved , I thanked them, and walked on feeling more confident and less alone.
Getting lost is a constant theme on the Camino because it is easy to miss the signs. But in the end ,I really wasn’t lost at all, just uncertain if I was on the right path.
It is so easy to get lost in life. We discover that perhaps we took a wrong detour or are on a particular “path” we didn’t plan. In my feeling lost , I turned to Jesus who just kept walking with me leading me on paths not planned or predicted. There is a wonderful verse in one of the Psalms: “I will lead the blind on paths unknown and will turn the darkness into light ,not letting them stumble.”
God is leading you on paths that are unknown to you but will always lead to life and light. Let yourself be led by God and be surprised at what He has in store just for you. For me, I was led to a kind couple from Japan who spoke no English but spoke comfort to me. I entered Burgos quite confident, bathing in the experience of being found by two strangers.
Buen camino. Fr. Frank

When Emilio esteves wrote and produced the movie, The Way, he loosely based the premise of the film on the classic story, The Wizard of Oz.
Somehow, Martin Sheen in ruby slippers is a bit of a stretch but one I’m willing to ponder. I need a good laugh!
We are all on our own “yellow brick road,” trying to find the right path to Oz, or santiago , or a marriage , or A career, the list goes on and on. We all have a destination that we think will end our restless spirits. But every destination in this life is a temporary stop along the Way of Christ Who IS the Way, leading us all through many stops and hellos and goodbyes into the ultimate Destination: the Kingdom.
We can’t cling to anyone or any thing, for in our clinging we will be disappointed.
The Camino teaches us pilgrims that life is moving quickly with people and places entering and leaving the journey. I am facing my own sadness in that the people I came with are gone. Yes, new people have already welcomed me on their journey ,forging new friendships that will be fleeting.
I truly hate goodbyes and have never been good at saying them or living them.
In my own sadness, Christ enters. The One, the only One , who NEVER says goodbye. The tears welling up in my eyes will be transformed into joy as they wash away the sadness. I’m sitting in a 12th century church trying to hear the hushed voices of the people, God’s people, who graced these walls and sacred space. People who have entered the Place of final destination, waiting for you and me to join them around the table in the Kingdom…a table that resembles an ancient door… Into the Heart of Christ and his Mother.
In the first reading at today’s Mass, the prophet Isaiah speaks of this final destination as a mountain in which all his people will gather strong this table , tears washed away, living together in joy. This is one of the most beautiful images in all of scripture. But to gain entrance into this feast, we have to have the proper garments. We must be clothed with humility and mercy, the two virtues that open us to the other. We can’t find a place at table with closed and selfish hearts.
With open hearts and an open mission, we the people of St. Teresa of Avila, are called to go into the neighborhoods and on the streets of Chicago and beyond to invite people to this feast of Eucharist…a foretaste of that Feast on the Mountain and in the Kingdom.
Buen camino. Fr. Frank

I walked into an old hotel in Santo Domingo and saw a great way to use a beautiful, old door. Mount a solid piece of glass over the entire door on four pillars so that there is a six inch space between the door and glass. Then create four legs to mount the glass/ door creating a table.

We eat to be nourished to live the gospel. Every meal whether alone , as a couple, with family or friends can become a door that opens into a world outside of ourselves. I usually eat alone but my awareness of Christ present with me opens the doorway of gratitude for my food and home. In my solitude I can become more aware of those who are truly lonely. Solitude is not loneliness but being alone with the Other. But I would much rather eat with others, even strangers.
Jesus opened many doors through meals: the disciples on road to Emmaus; the feeding of the 5,000; the dinner at the Pharisee ‘s home with the “unwelcome woman” who bathed the feet of Jesus ; most importantly, the Eucharist with Jesus washing the feet of the apostles. The Eucharist is the meal that opens the door into the Heart of Christ.
When I get back into Chicago , who wants to help me find a beautiful , simple old door and create a table? The creative process ,itself, may very well open the door to Mystery.
Buen camino. Fr. Frank

This is probably the only cathedral in the world with a rooster coop perched above a side altar …. With live roosters inside !!! The story of how they got there, centuries ago, is too long and bizarre to explain in this blog. I would suggest you google the title of this blog and see for yourself. It’s a cute but strange story that gives people a reason to smile/laugh at Catholicism.
Coming into this beautiful town brought us on a path in which the Earth never looked so beautiful. The rolling, red hills gently enveloped us with a tranquil blanket of peace.
The earth is Mother bringing forth life in countless ways: plants, trees, vines, flowers , fruits, vegetables…not to forget worms and other earthly critters. And of course Humankind.

How terribly we treat this grand Mother of creation. Mary has been a constant companion of mine on this journey , a Mother who received her humanity from Mother Earth and gave us her Son, the Son of God, to All humanity. In a church visited yesterday in Najera, the church of Santa Maria Real , an image of Jesus with his arms stretched out on the cross, embraced us gazing up at him. His living gaze enveloped us like the earth as we walked into the village of Santo Domingo.
Directly underneath Jesus on the cross rested an image of Mary holding the child Jesus in her lap. She is the Mother, like earth, who keeps bringing new life into the world, for she is the gift Jesus gave to the world on the very cross of unconditional Love. We are her sons and daughters and she, too, envelops each one of us on our journeys.
We are surrounded, enveloped , by earth, creation , Mary, the Saints and Jesus. He gave his life on the cross not simply out of ransom, but unconditional Love. I believe if there never was Original Sin, Jesus would still have died on the cross just to witness to his unconditional love. Perhaps I’m entering heresy. So be it. In every heresy there has to be a kernel of truth. Yes, he died to heal and forgive us of our sins but the mystery is much deeper than even this truth. Mary, who was conceived WITHOUT original sin still experienced the redemption of the Cross.
Mary is leading us to express Truths that have become tired and rote in new and creative ways.
As I walk the way with so many young people , who have chosen to distance themselves from any religion, I have a desire to think about ancient Truths in ways that they can receive. I want them to have an experience of the Church as Mother enveloping them with meaning, purpose and mission. We have to start speaking our faith in new “languages” that may seem
like heresy but may very well be the same Mystery spoken anew. My mission is to try and reach the young, the future of our Church and Faith. And I have NO doubt whatsoever that this Church will be in better hands.
Buen Camimo. Fr. Frank

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