Saturday, 5th October, 2019.
"Then suddenly, overpowering me
With the truth, a voice within me
Gentles me, and says:
There is a power in you, a truth in you
That has not yet been tapped........
To be a pilgrim means
To be on the move slowly,
To notice your luggage becoming lighter,
To be seeking for treasures that do not rust,
To be comfortable with your heart's questions,
To be moving toward the holy ground of home
With empty hands and bare feet."
From Tourist or Pilgrim (Macrina Wiederkehr)
Each day of our pilgrimage, Fr Michael ("Call me Michael") will give us a handout of thoughts and meditations relevant to the day. Today's included the above poem.
Day 1 of our Camino pilgrimage consisted of meeting at our Madrid hotel, celebrating Mass together and then sharing a rather splendid dinner.
One of my six flights in my trip London - London (via Crete, Athens, Barcelona, Madrid and Santiago) included a 15kg checked in luggage maximum along with a 3kg carry-on maximum, so I had pruned my luggage to the bare minimum. I was really thankful for this when travelling from Barcelona to Madrid today, as my Metro trips in both cities included two lifts, 13 escalators and 23 flights of stairs, both up and down, some of them very long. I didn't actually count, but that is a conservative estimate.
Plan A was that I would arrive at the hotel, park my luggage and immediately set off to explore Madrid. What actually happened was that when my luggage and I finally arrived at the hotel, we collapsed together in sheer relief and delight and I had a cup of tea.
In the late afternoon (you will notice no mention of exploring Madrid) our group of 25 met for the first time. We are eight couples, eight solo ladies and our chaplain, Fr Michael Dyer. Before becoming a priest, Michael had been a Christian Brother, and knows many of our Brothers at Viridian. The 25 of us come from New Zealand, Singapore and all over Australia.
We then immediately walked down the street of our hotel to celebrate Mass at the Iglesia de Santa Cruz. There was a lot of gold. Right from the start, Michael, and our Spanish guide Val, made us feel like a family.
Our first dinner together back at the hotel was probably not typical pilgrim fare - quinoa salad, salmon and gateau, with wine and much hilarity. There was a major procession in Madrid that night which some of our group attended, but I decided I needed to regroup myself and prepare for the next 12 days. It's begun!
"Then suddenly, overpowering me
With the truth, a voice within me
Gentles me, and says:
There is a power in you, a truth in you
That has not yet been tapped........
To be a pilgrim means
To be on the move slowly,
To notice your luggage becoming lighter,
To be seeking for treasures that do not rust,
To be comfortable with your heart's questions,
To be moving toward the holy ground of home
With empty hands and bare feet."
From Tourist or Pilgrim (Macrina Wiederkehr)
Each day of our pilgrimage, Fr Michael ("Call me Michael") will give us a handout of thoughts and meditations relevant to the day. Today's included the above poem.
Day 1 of our Camino pilgrimage consisted of meeting at our Madrid hotel, celebrating Mass together and then sharing a rather splendid dinner.
One of my six flights in my trip London - London (via Crete, Athens, Barcelona, Madrid and Santiago) included a 15kg checked in luggage maximum along with a 3kg carry-on maximum, so I had pruned my luggage to the bare minimum. I was really thankful for this when travelling from Barcelona to Madrid today, as my Metro trips in both cities included two lifts, 13 escalators and 23 flights of stairs, both up and down, some of them very long. I didn't actually count, but that is a conservative estimate.
Plan A was that I would arrive at the hotel, park my luggage and immediately set off to explore Madrid. What actually happened was that when my luggage and I finally arrived at the hotel, we collapsed together in sheer relief and delight and I had a cup of tea.
In the late afternoon (you will notice no mention of exploring Madrid) our group of 25 met for the first time. We are eight couples, eight solo ladies and our chaplain, Fr Michael Dyer. Before becoming a priest, Michael had been a Christian Brother, and knows many of our Brothers at Viridian. The 25 of us come from New Zealand, Singapore and all over Australia.
Our first dinner together back at the hotel was probably not typical pilgrim fare - quinoa salad, salmon and gateau, with wine and much hilarity. There was a major procession in Madrid that night which some of our group attended, but I decided I needed to regroup myself and prepare for the next 12 days. It's begun!
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