Ending

Today I leave Santiago for Finisterre, what the ancient people called "the end of the earth." This is the end of my pilgrimage in Spain, but the pilgrimage of life continues. Two days after leaving Finisterre I will be flying back home (July 30). At the end of our pilgrimage in this life our hope is finding our true home in God.

I have sought the presence of Christ and received no surprises finding him in the journey itself, in the Word springing up in nature's abundance, in prayer and scripture, in the sacrament at each Mass, but most especially in the presence of the people I've journeyed with in my life at home and in my life on the Camino. Some say that the Camino changes you, but I don't know if I've changed - perhaps just "deepened" what I already knew.

For this last piece I will continue to pray for all the intentions that people have asked me to pray for. But as for me, there will be no spiritual reflection going to Finisterre as it was on the road to Santiago. The only focus will be the Atlantic and putting my feet into the ocean water at the same time my wife, Lisa, does in New York - timing is important here and cell phones certainly make it easy to do. Aside from some proof reading and possible redaction when I get home (typing on the iPhone is difficult), this will be my last post.

Every pilgrimage has sacrifice - love itself is self sacrifice in choosing to do the good for the other. Despite the long hours, the beaten feet, the beating sun of the flat meseta, the sharp inclines and more difficult descents, the blisters and bumps, the sore muscles and tendinitis, the crowded albergues stuffed with snoring pilgrims, not knowing exactly where the next meal is, and the frustration of not knowing the language well, by far the greatest sacrifice has been my time away from Lisa. It won't be long, I'm coming home.