May 26.  One year ago, to the day, I began my remote preparations for walking the Camino de Santiago.  Now, after a couple of thousand kilometres of walking, several hundred hours of exercising in the gym, careful gathering of materials, clothing, and equipment, it’s time to go.  On May 30, I will go to Madrid, then on to Roncesvalles the next day, to begin the walk on Saturday, June 1.

My intention is to walk an average of about 30 km a day. Taking an occasional rest day in some of the Jesuit communities along the way.  I hope to arrive in Santiago by about June 28 or 29, so I can have a day or two of recovery before returning to Rome, and thence to Canada.

If you have been following this blog site, you know that Fr. Erik Oland and the two novices have just completed the Camino.  His reflections have helped me prepare mentally, psychologically and spiritually for this somewhat daunting project, as have other resources which include several books on the Camino and the movie, The Way.  If you want a good idea of what the experience involves, the movie, I’m told, is very faithful to the reality of the Camino.  It’s worth watching.

After all of that preparation, how do I feel about this undertaking?  Well, it’s both exciting and intimidating.  I have never done anything like this before and so I am uncertain about how I will manage all that it involves, the physical challenges, the psychological challenges, and the spiritual challenges that it will present.  But at the same time, I am very hopeful and eager as I anticipate getting started.  Everything I have read and heard and seen about the Camino says that it will be a rich and rewarding experience, perhaps life-altering.

I hope to make this pilgrimage a religious experience, a sort of 30-day retreat, using the reflection guide prepared by Fr. Eric Jensen, S.J., a member of the English Canada Province.  Without being able to anticipate just how God will bless me during this time, I can certainly expect that I will be challenged to let go of everything and allow God’s providence to care for me.  In preparation for that very thing, I have composed a prayer that I will say each morning as I begin to walk.  And I invite you to join me in that prayer each day.  Whether you use this prayer or not, please do pray for me during the month of June.

Loving Father, Your Son taught us the way to You, and promised us that whatever we ask in His name You will grant.  In the name of Jesus, I ask You to guide me and guard me along the way of Santiago and to use this time, that I turn wholly over to You, to teach me all that You want me to learn.  I accept the challenges and the pains, the discomforts and the deprivations of this day in reparation for my own sins and for the sins of those whom I love, whom I carry in my heart along the way.  Grant me the gift of trust in Your providential care for me.  May my efforts this day bring You greater glory.  Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.