Have a good 'way'.

Buen Camino – “have a good way”. Anyone who has experienced the joys and hardships of the pilgrimage (way) to Santiago de Compostela will remember the phrase well. The “way” or the “road” to Santiago is a journey I would highly recommend to everyone. Buen Camino is the greeting to all pilgrims on that road and is heard piercingly (and at high-speeds) by those pilgrims who have to jump into the nearest ditch to avoid the Camino cyclists.

In Ireland, we have grown accustomed to saying “Good luck” to people as a form of saying cheerio. Instead of “Have a nice day” we tend to wish people luck. And rightly so, after all the world is crazy. But this blog isn’t about luck. It’s about the journey – the Camino.I have been a bit anti-blogs in the past. After all they are usually boring accounts of someone (like me) venting at the world. But I have the urge to write, something, anything, these days and even if no one is reading, I am writing and sharing resources with those who wish to use them on their own 'caminos'.

I have just completed my first parish placement in Ballyboden, Dublin. It was only 6 months but it gave me the most amazing opportunity to join the many and varied faith journey’s of the people there. Out of the ashes of the Irish Catholic Church, I do believe that the Spirit is at work and even if I never see the fruits of that work, I am excited. The dedication and commitment of those I have worked with over the past months give a great reason for hope. After all, true progress and development has always come from the grassroots, from those working on the ground: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

The following prayer has been at the forefront of my studies and ministry over the past two years, be that in Ireland or India. Often attributed to Archbishop Oscar Romero (assassinated in El Salvador on 24th March 1980), it is now known as The Romero Prayer:                

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us. No statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything. 

This is what we are about: We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.   We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own. Amen.

{John Cardinal Dearden, November of 1979. They were words drafted by Ken Untene, they are really his words.}

With all of its struggles and frustrations, my own 'Camino' has led me to a place where there is a lot of energy, a lot of 'seed sowing' and an acceptance that I will never see the fruits of that in my life-time. I think we each need to find a place where we are most 'Spirit-filled'; and ask ourselves "what gives us energy?" Pedro Arrupe SJ, former superior general of the Jesuits and liberation theologian, wrote this reflection. I think it applies to all of us, in whatever role or on whatever path we find ourselves:

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”