Day 28 of the Camino - Dedicated to Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish Staff and Volunteers.

Today is day 28 of the Camino. Our destination was Vega de Valcarce (15.3 miles). The weather was cool and breezy.  The forecast called for rain so we wore our rain gear throughout the day .  For those who aren't aware, wearing rain gear for five hours of walking is like being inside a sauna for thirty minutes. You sweat a lot. As it turns out, it only sprinkled on us at the end of our walk. The worst part is that after all this walking (over 350 miles) and sweating I still haven't lost but a few pounds. Go figure!

I walked the day with Sr. Leota, Janice and Peter (aka: Elmo, Dora and Donatello). Once again the majority of our walk was over asphalt and concrete. Our feet, leg muscles and knees always hurt more at the end of the day when the surface we've walked on was hard. I never knew that our bodies could ache so much just from walking. The good news is that we all made it to Vega de Valcarce and we didn't get lost once. 

The Camino path we walked today followed alongside a country road and the river Valcarce. The running water and the singing birds were a nice reminder of God's presence in all of creation. We stopped several times to listen and take pictures. If you enlarge the picture above you can seeing the river in the center. 

The running water reminded me of Psalm 42:2-3 which states: "As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When can I enter and see the face of God." 

I offered my walk and prayers today for the parish staff and the volunteers at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Port Isabel. I'm so blessed to work alongside such loving and caring people. All of them have wonderful gifts and talents that they generously share with the people of our community. I miss them all and look forward to working, learning and growing with them upon my return. 

I want to thank Father Mike Gnanaraj, Msgr. Patrick Wells, Fr. Sosa, Rosa, Hena, Gina, Celia, Ricardo, and Gilberto for picking up the pieces and doing the extra work during my absence. Because of their skill and generosity, they made it possible for me to take this sabbatical. I also want to thank all the volunteers who generously give of their time to help the parish staff complete weekly projects. May God bless all!

Good night and Buen Camino!