Walking the Camino - Love

"If I have not love, I am nothing." 
The Gift of Love

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.  For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;  but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.  When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.  And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13: 1-13




The Commandments of Love

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,  and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”  He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Matthew 22: 34-40
Do you sense a theme? 

Walking the Camino - St. Theresa of Avila - Acts of Love

Walking the Camino - C. S. Lewis on Happiness and Peace

Walking the Camino - Five Ways to Grow Closer to Mary, the Mother of God

She walked her own Camino Del Rey.  She walked the Way of the Cross with her Son.  As He hung on that bitter piece of wood, dying, Jesus gave His Most Immaculate Mother to the rest of us.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”  Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home."  John 19: 26-27

With His dying breaths, Jesus made her our Mother, too.

Now, as we walk our Camino Del Rey, we can ask her to join us as we walk this Lenten camino growing closer to Son.  As we walk together, we learn of Jesus and we learn of Mary.

Ways to grow closer to Mary, the Mother of God.

1) Pray and meditate on the Magnificat, the prayer of praise that Mary recited with her cousin Elizabeth.

My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid;
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;
Because He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name;
And His mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear Him.
He has shown might with His arm,
He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of His mercy
Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.
Luke 1: 46-55

2) Recite a Hail Mary and meditate upon this prayer.

Hail Mary,
Full of grace!  The Lord is with you!  Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

3) Pray the Rosary daily and meditate on each mystery.  If you do not have enough time to pray the Rosary, pray a single decade of the Rosary daly and meditate on that mystery.

Click HERE for directions on how to pray the Rosary.

4) Read Sacred Scripture from the Bible daily. Suggested Readings:
Luke 1: 26-38
Luke 1: 46-55
Luke 2: 1-20
John 2: 1-11
John 19: 25

Of course your reading of Sacred Scripture does not have to be limited to these verses, so feel free to read others.  There are many references fortelling the Mother of God in the Old Testament.

5) Think of Mary in her everyday life.  Imitate her example.  Perform works of charity.  Love those around you.  Hug your husband and children.   Love those who do not love you.   Visit the sick and dying.  Take food to someone who is ill.  Pray for Peace.  Pray.  Pray.  Pray.  Ask Our Mother to be with you and guide your steps as you walk your Camino del Rey.   She will.  She will.  

Walking the Camino - 30 Word Thursday - The Light of God

 "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12

Walking the Camino - Thoughts on Love and Prayer

Prayer is communication with God.  In a loving relationship, there must be communication between lovers because love is not singular.  Love is for the other.  Love is not for the self.  Love is for the beloved that they might know that they are loved.

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;  it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.  So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  1 Corinthians 13: 1-8, 13: 

Loving communication is the expression of our thoughts, words, deeds, and feelings to the beloved. The beloved hears and cherishes this communication.  The beloved has shown His Love for us. 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” John 3: 16
God is love.  When we communicate with God, He lovingly draws each of us into His Sacred Heart and holds us dear.  God will not abandon us, and He cannot betray us because He is Love. His Love is unending.  His Love is real.  His Love centered on His Beloved Children. 

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”  1 John 4: 7-8

Love is reciprocal.  Love only asks that:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22: 37-40
God is Love.

“For God Who is Mighty has done great things for me, and Holy is His Name.” Luke 1: 49

Halfway through Lent - Are You Walking the Camino Del Rey?

God always seeks out His children.  Like the Shepherd who searches for the lost sheep, God seeks to bring us closer to Him.  God might be silent so that we may hear.  God might give us signs of His Love so that we may believe.  God might bind us close in His Love, so that we do not stray.  God might remind us of our sinfulness so that we may be saved.  God might make us uncomfortable as He shapes us in the Flames of His Unending Love.  God might pull back so that we may learn to trust.  God, the Lord of Creation, does what He needs to do so that when time has ended, we will share heaven with Him.

Lent is a time in which we can, through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, grow closer to God.  As we have walked this Camino del Rey, we have improved our prayer lives, we have fasted, and we have given alms.  Some of us have been strict in our adherence to these practices.  Some  of us have fallen.  (Yes, I have!)  Some have not practiced any of the pillars of Lent.  As Pope Francis has said, “Who am I to judge?” Yet, in some way, we have all walked the Camino del Ray during this Lenten season. 

If you have practiced prayer, fasting and almsgiving during Lent, and you have grown closer to God through these practices, I pray that God blesses you abundantly!  If you have fallen, as I did, then I pray that we be strengthened through these ancient practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  If you have not practiced any or all of these pillars of Lent, then I pray that you begin at this moment and walk this Camino Del Rey with us remembering that God’s love is unending, and God wants us to Love Him, to Talk to Him, to Hold Him Closer to our Hearts.  God wants us to sacrifice little bits and pieces of our lives to Him for love of Him, through fasting.  God wants us to give to others of our bounty.  God wants to be first in our lives.  These practices help us to put Him first.

The Camino del Rey is not easy to walk, but Jesus, our King and Savior, has already walked the Camino, carrying His cross of love for us.  Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, gave His all for us, down to the last drops of blood when He died on that tree.  The Father withdrew from the Son, and Jesus was humiliated.  He was punished unjustly.  He was tortured.  He was beaten.  His flesh was ripped off of His body by the torturous whips.  Jesus carried the weight of our sins on His back.  Jesus loved us enough to do the Father’s Will, even when He knew the pain and the suffering He would be forced to endure.  He accepted and completed His Mission of salvation.  Jesus walked the Camino.  Now, let us join Him by walking our camino with love, joy, and peace in our hearts. 

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13

Jesus, we trust in You.