These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 13: A Short Reflection on Camino #10

I recorded this short episode in the Praza de Obradoiro, the plaza facing the western facade of the cathedral. I speak of some of the blessings attached to my tenth Camino. Each of the ten have deepened my understanding of what it means to be part of a pilgrim Church and a pilgrim people. We are headed home to Heaven and the more we understand the nature of our pilgrimage the more apt we are to travel light and to appreciate the simple things in our lives. Have a listen.

Transcript

Robert Nerney 0:11

Hello and welcome to another episode of These Holy Bones, a podcast about the ancient pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago, where the bones of St. James are interred beneath the high altar. I'm your host, Robert Nurney. This episode is being sponsored by Ocean Magic Surf and Skateboard Superstore in Jupiter, Florida. Whether you're dropping in on your first wave or you're a seasoned shredder, Ocean Magic has everything you need, from high performance surfboards and skate decks to premium wetsuits, beach wear, and all the gear in between. Skateers Ocean Magic has trucks, wheels, bearings, complete setups, and all the latest brands. Surfers, check out Ocean Magic's epic selection from Firewire, Lost, O'Neal, and more. Heading to the beach, grab stylish swimwear, sun protection, and flip-flops, all in one spot. So you'll get advice from people who know what they're talking about. Swing by Ocean Magic and Jupiter, just minutes from the water. Ocean Magic Surf and Skate. Florida's home for all things surf, skate, and stoke. Check it out. Welcome to another episode of These Holy Bones. This is Robert Nerney, your host, and I'm sitting in the plaza in front of the cathedral in Santiago. And it is crowded. It's not packed, but it there's a crowd here. And uh good vibe. Lots of uh happy pilgrims who have just come uh come in off the road. They have their packs on their backs, they're clapping, they're very uh festive. And about 20 minutes ago, I um there was an eruption of clapter, and I looked, I'm saying, what is going on? Is the did the king and queen arrive? And uh a young man and young woman had gotten engaged, and so they were embracing and kissing, and people were cheering, and I was like, that's awesome, I would love to interview them, but probably not a good time to say, hey, hey guys, you got a minute? So I didn't do that, but maybe in another half an hour when they calm down. Um so this is uh always a sometimes actually the plaza is anticlimactic. You've walked, say, so many miles and you have this expectation that you know you're gonna feel that this great catharsis, and some do. Some come in, some pilgrims come in and they and they they hug, they cry, they they're jubilant. Um but for me in the past it's often been anticlimactic because I'm such a journeying person, which is probably not the greatest thing. It's great to it's better to be a balance, but uh, I've come here and was like, okay, what's going on? But um today is uh Saturday, it's about noon, and um just it's a beautiful day, the sun is out, it's a blue sky, and uh I think one of the big issues this Camino was Spain was dealing with a lot of wild fires, and pilgrims were like um detoured around uh around the fires and they were stopped, and uh so it was an interesting for many it was an interesting Camino with uh this this obstacle, these wildfires. Um I think Greece is also suffering from wild wildfires, just like the states did last year. Um my major takeaway uh from my Camino this year, as I sit here in the plaza, is that I really my prayer was very intentional. So walking with two Dominican priests, there they encouraged me to have very intentional um prayers. And uh so I really committed myself to identifying my my petitions and praying for my family, my wife, my children, my grandchildren, of course, all my dead relatives and uh friends, my parents and my wife's parents who have passed away onto the you know, in into the hands of God. So I really was intentional. I felt the uh the power of of the prayer. Uh and also we went to Mass every single day for the entire um pilgrimage, which was a great blessing that's never happened to me before. And uh so um, yeah, uh it's great to be back in Santiago. But I'm a few days from uh my finish, so as I linger here, I'm hoping to get more interviews, but it's also a little painful because um I would, you know, I I miss my family, my wife back home. Uh it's been almost a solid month since I left um Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and I get on the plane to Washington, D.C. We spent a day in Washington, D.C., or a night, and then we were off to Madrid, and then to the birthplace of St. Dominic, and then finally to our starting point, which was Burgos. And uh I think the great blessing, well one of the many blessings, but one of the great uh blessings of this Camino was my trek across the Meseta because I love the plateau, and this year was replete, like really, really replete with uh massive um sunflower fields. I've never seen such massive, some such vast sunflower fields, and they're I love sunflowers. So that was that was a gift too. The gifts on the Camino are often very simple, and uh I think you have to be attentive to those gifts. I mean, I you can't you can't um just gloss over them. So that's part of it, and uh yeah, I'm just grateful that um the Lord got me here safely, and I'm hoping to get home safely. That's it. As I look around and I take in this festive this festive uh landscape, uh I say a prayer for all of these pilgrims that they take what they've learned back to their homelands and they implement the the graces that they've received from their Caminos. So God bless everyone and I will talk to you soon.