The Journey Begins When does a pilgrim officially become a pilgrim? Is it the first intentional step out the door in the direction of the final destination? Exiting the airplane in the city where one’s route begins? When you receive your “credencial” (like a pilgrim’s passport) with its very first stamp? Or that very first…
Traveling to Chile I was excited about going to Chile, the country where I was born and lived the first eight years of my life. My last visit was after the massive earthquake in 2010. My focus then was providing psychological first aid in a town that had literally crumbled. There, 90% of the adobe…
We’ve reached the end of James’ epistle, which extended past our walk to St. James’ Cathedral. The two journeys have complemented each other, El Camino offering examples and nuggets of insight. But both seemed to end rather abruptly. James didn’t have any final greetings or closing prayers as many other epistles do. Santiago de Compostela…
Devotional Day 30 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured and the earth produced its fruit. My brothers and sisters, if anyone…
Devotional Day 29 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? The he must call the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of…
Devotional Day 28 As an example, brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcomes of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and…
Devotional Day 27 Therefore be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient, strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brothers…
Devotional Day 26 Come now, you rich people, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their corrosion will serve as a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is…
Devotional Day 25 Come now, you who say, “Today we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while…
Devotional Day 24 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or judges his brother or sister, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it. There…
Devotional Day 23 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to…