17.2

Back to the bottom of that hill again, after 17.2km

14.5

After 14.5km, some chowder.

11.8

After 11.8km, a ferry.

9.0

After 9km, some water

6.3

After 6.3km, at the foot of another hill.



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After 4km

After 4km, I'm at the bottom of the hill.


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Sunny walk

The rain has stopped at last, and I'm halfway through a 13 km walk.



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Location:Chowder Bay Rd,Mosman,Australia

Jean-Baptist Tassijnsstraat Zwijndrecht

Turnhoutsebaan Borgerhout

Camera

Bought Nikon Coolpix L23, which uses AA batteries,
And Apple world travel kit from Medina.


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Rozentuin Mortsel

The first stage

One of the most popular pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela starts from the French town of St Jean Pied de Port, and travels over the Pyrenees to the Spanish town of Roncevalles. The distance is 27km and involves climbing 1800 metres and this is apparently the most difficult stage of this route. It is a challenge right from the start of the Camino.

The route is described here.

Pope Benedict on St James

These are some thoughts about St James, son of Zebedee, by Pope Benedict at the General Audience in Rome on the 21st June, 2006:

James was able to take part, together with Peter and John, in Jesus' Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and in the event of Jesus' Transfiguration. Thus, it is a question of situations very different from each other: in one case, James, together with the other two Apostles, experiences the Lord's glory and sees him talking to Moses and Elijah, he sees the divine splendour shining out in Jesus.

On the other occasion, he finds himself face to face with suffering and humiliation, he sees with his own eyes how the Son of God humbles himself, making himself obedient unto death. The latter experience was certainly an opportunity for him to grow in faith, to adjust the unilateral, triumphalist interpretation of the former experience: he had to discern that the Messiah, whom the Jewish people were awaiting as a victor, was in fact not only surrounded by honour and glory, but also by suffering and weakness. Christ's glory was fulfilled precisely on the Cross, in his sharing in our sufferings.

This growth in faith was brought to completion by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, so that James, when the moment of supreme witness came, would not draw back. Early in the first century, in the 40s, King Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, as Luke tells us, "laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the Church. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword" (Acts 12: 1-2).

The brevity of the news, devoid of any narrative detail, reveals on the one hand how normal it was for Christians to witness to the Lord with their own lives, and on the other, that James had a position of relevance in the Church of Jerusalem, partly because of the role he played during Jesus' earthly existence.

A later tradition, dating back at least to Isidore of Seville, speaks of a visit he made to Spain to evangelize that important region of the Roman Empire. According to another tradition, it was his body instead that had been taken to Spain, to the city of Santiago de Compostela.

As we all know, that place became the object of great veneration and is still the destination of numerous pilgrimages, not only from Europe but from the whole world. This explains the iconographical representation of St James with the pilgrim's staff and the scroll of the Gospel in hand, typical features of the travelling Apostle dedicated to the proclamation of the "Good News" and characteristics of the pilgrimage of Christian life.

Consequently, we can learn much from St James: promptness in accepting the Lord's call even when he asks us to leave the "boat" of our human securities, enthusiasm in following him on the paths that he indicates to us over and above any deceptive presumption of our own, readiness to witness to him with courage, if necessary to the point of making the supreme sacrifice of life.

Thus James the Greater stands before us as an eloquent example of generous adherence to Christ. He, who initially had requested, through his mother, to be seated with his brother next to the Master in his Kingdom, was precisely the first to drink the chalice of the passion and to share martyrdom with the Apostles.

And, in the end, summarizing everything, we can say that the journey, not only exterior but above all interior, from the mount of the Transfiguration to the mount of the Agony, symbolizes the entire pilgrimage of Christian life, among the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God, as the Second Vatican Council says. In following Jesus, like St James, we know that even in difficulties we are on the right path.

day by day guide for camino frances

This looks like a useful guide to daily stages of the Camino, starting from St Jean Port de Pied:
http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/camino-frances/


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Harbord Beach

This was our favorite beach

First post

A journey begins with the first step.