Not a sleepy Sunday!

Sleepy  Sunday mornings don't come too often in parish ministry so it was good to encounter at least the beginnings of one here in rural Catalunya. No, we didn't take the morning off the walk you'll be pleased to hear. But when we arrived in Verdu you got the sense nothing was stirring. Not for long though.  Plenty of action in one part of the village in fact, the polling booth for regional elections, very important and contentious as they will give a steer on the call for Catalan independence.  But our job was to visit and pray at the Shrine of St Peter Claver, the slave to the slaves.  As you'll see in the photo we spent some time there, in the chapel, going around the museum ably guided by Francesca, and stamping our Camino passport. Our general guide was Veronica, who is pictured with us outside the shrine building.  Veronica has lived in Verdu for just six years, coming from Romania, but in that time has learnt Catalan, Spanish and is hoping to transfer her qualifications as a vet to the Spanish system. Working as a volunteer at the shrine, she meets lots of groups including of Jesuit novices, so speaks English well too and is incredibly knowledgeable about St Peter Claver. Veronica and Francesca were interested to hear about Project Bakhita and how the mission of Peter Claver was being continued through other means to combat modern slavery today.  

We could have stayed much longer in the village of St Peter but as Verdu started to come to life we had to be on our way.  14 miles today to ease ourselves into the rhythm.  Our destination Cevera, a medium size town heading west towards Montserrat.  Thankfully the rain of yesterday has cleared and, while the distant thunder was clearly audible around the mountains, we had but a few heavy drops of rain on the route and got to our destination as planned late afternoon.  During our prayer and on the walk the theme has been reflecting still more on our own freedom and how we respond to this gift in our lives, following particular callings, discerning paths to take. A long and windy road Ignatius himself new as he too headed along the Cami Real towards Montserrat.  But grateful for how made in Gods image we are part of his creation and plan God has for us within it.  And Thank God too we have with us not just a nurse and an economist, vital for contingency plans on any intrepid expedition such as this, but a gourmet chef and botanist in the person of Fr Trieu Nguyen SJ. Fr Trieu has already given us so much to reflect on about Gods creation by teaching us about the healing and culinary power of the flowers, fruit and herbs along the hedge ways.  St John's Wort, pomegranate, various berries, thyme, rosemary.  

Tomorrow we head to La Panadella, another 14 miles or so.  Please do keep the Bakhita Project in your prayers as we keep whoever reads this in our prayers and Masses.  And please consider giving if you can.  Details of how to in our first blog.  

Many thanks for your support!

Fr Dominic