Author: Luke Powers

The first time I felt called to the priesthood, I firmly rejected the idea for all the stereotypical reasons. I wasn’t holy enough, I desired a family, I was too young, and outside of the sacraments I didn’t know what a priest did. I began to pray that these thoughts of the priesthood would go away, but they never did. Knowing that this calling was from God, I began praying for answers to these questions and for the strength to say yes to the priestly vocation. The most profound moments of peace and consolation came while praying the rosary. I had no great Marian devotion prior to discerning the priesthood, but soon Mary became the driving force in my discernment. Before telling my friends and family that I was even thinking about becoming a priest, I went to my parish and knelt before a statue of Mary. There I humbled myself and asked for guidance in accepting this call. At that time it was evident that Mary would continue to guide me throughout my discernment.

I have been in the seminary for three years now, and I can honestly say that Mary has helped me the entire way. In our first year of formation we were asked to read St. Louis De Montfort’s True Devotion, and consecrate ourselves to Jesus through Mary. Knowing that the Blessed Mother is guiding my formation has given me considerable comfort. The seminary has been an intense time of prayer, study, and fraternity. Although there are moments of stress and anxiety, especially around midterms and finals, there is an underlying joy of being in the seminary. I attribute this happiness to listening to God’s will and staying faithful to my devotion to Mary.

Mary should be at the heart of every Catholics prayer life. Seminarians and priest should have a particular love for the Mother of God as nobody knows our Lord better than her. If the priest is another Christ, then it is essential that all priests have recourse to Mary just as Christ did. I recommend to anyone discerning a priestly vocation to foster a love of Mary. Finally, I leave you with this quote from St. Louis De Montfort, taken from True Devotion, “She is so full of love that no one who asks for her intercession is rejected, no matter how sinful he may be. The saints say that it has never been known since the world began that anyone had recourse to our Blessed Lady, with trust and perseverance, and was rejected.”

– Luke

 

After a fairly smooth 7 hour bus ride, Micahel and I arrived in Fatima. This is one of four major Marian shrines we are visiting. The other three being Notre Dame, Lourdes, and Czestochowa.

We booked into a hotel recommend by a priest friend, who described it as cozy. Since we have been staying in albergues filled smelly pilgrims, filthy bathrooms, and plastic mattresses, this hotel is like a palace. The next five days will be devoted to rest and reflection. Even though we have only been here for a little over 24 hrs. Fatima seems like the perfect place to nourish our bodies and spirits.

Next year, 2017, will be 100th anniversary of the apparitions. The shrine has been expanding and maintaing the grounds for the expected millions of pilgrims to come the following year. Currently, most of the construction is finished and there are very few people here creating a quite and tranquil environment.

We also happened to run into a small group of American seminarians at the shrine today. They have invited us to join their group to tour the grounds and celebrate Mass together. If you read our post on community, then you know how awesome it is for us to meet our brother seminarians.

I am looking forward to using these next few days to really dive into contemplative prayer. To reflect on my experiences on the Camino, pray for those who I have carried throughout this pilgrimage, and to continue to conform my will to Gods.

Hopfully, these upcoming days prove to be fruitful and we will be able to share some unique insights into how Mary has affected our lives.

-Luke

 

 

 

After reaching Santiago we stayed for three nights to rest our weary legs and to plan out the rest of our trip. We had always planned on going to the coast, about 80K more, after Santiago. During our planning we had caught wind that there was a smaller less known town about a days walk north of the popular ending point. We decided that since we have so much time, we will do both.

The first day of walking after having not being on the trail for three days was quite difficult. Just getting to the pack and pavement took a small toll on our bodies. It was also a little more emotionally difficult as most people don’t continue on past Santiago. The trail has been fairly empty and we have seen almost no familiar faces for the last two days.

However, today we met a youth minister from Lincoln Nebraska at a cafe. After we noticed she was wearing a Focus missionary shirt, a conversation quickly started. She had been walking with a young German woman and together four of us continued on to Muxia. It is always nice to run into fellow Catholics on the Camino. What seems like a common past time by now is to vent about the unreliable Mass times. It took us several hours to find an available Mass today.

We are only about 32K away from the ocean now. It is kind of hard to believe that just over 30 days ago we had begun walking in France. Hopefully, we will reach our final Camino destination in two days. After we finish, we will bus down to Fatima to pray, reflect, and rest before World Youth Day.

-Luke

After walking for 31 days and covering roughly 800K, we arrived in Santiago de Compostela.

The last day of walking brought many pleasant surprises. We had run into many familiar faces and met some incredible people at the Cathedral. There are many stories to tell, but for now we are going to rest before we go any further.

Tomorrow, you can expect some posts dedicated to all the stories we did not have time to share.

Our journey is still far from over. As we rest here in Santiago, we are finalizing our plans to go to Fatima and World Youth Day in Poland. Thank you to everyone who has been reading along and a special thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. And as always, please know that Michael and I have prayed for all of you at the tomb of St. James!

-Luke

Today we are staying in Palas de Rei. I think that it would translate to something like palace of the king, but we have been joking that it is palace of REI, the outdoors store at which we bought most of our gear.

We are only 62kms from Santiago, and, although we are close, the past few days of hiking have been quite mountainous. This has presented me with, unluckily, not a new problem but one with which I have delt many times on our pilgrimage: blisters. The terrain isn’t making anything better either and is starting to take a small toll on my calves. Don’t worry, my pains are nothing truly considerable and this post isn’t just me venting about my aches and pains.

Michael and I have joked about naming our blisters after virtues. So when I feel a sharp pain from the blister on my heel, I should focus on using that discomfort as a reminder to grow in perseverance. We have only been saying this as an ongoing joke, yet I think there is something valuable to be learned here.

We are always told by society and popular culture that we should do what feels best and if we don’t like doing something we should simply stop. But is that really what we are made for? Is our life supposed to be just a collection of emotions?

When speaking about this very topic, Pope Benedict XVI offered some simple yet wise words. “The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with wanting to feel comfortable. Likewise wanting to fulfill our sensory needs are apart of being human. However, we are so much more than just an emotional body. Each of us has a very specific purpose for our life. One that goes beyond this world. As I have pointed out before, if we seek to be fulfilled by earthly means, our thirst will never be quenched.

We are all made to be great, in fact we are all made to be saints. And to achieve this we must go beyond our own desires and deny ourselves. When pain and discomfort presents itself, instead of retreating into a place of temporary consolation we can embrace it and offer it up. When we offer our sufferings to the Lord we unite ourselves to Christ and his passion.

To find a perfect example of this, we don’t have to look any further than our Blessed Mother, Mary. Her fiat (“let it be so”) to God brought about the salvation of the world, yet it wasn’t without pain. Mary wept as she watched her son be whipped, torchered, mocked, and crucified. I cannot think of anything more tramatic than a mother witnessing the death of her own child. Although Mary was already intimately connected to Christ as his mother, she drew even closer to him when her sufferings were united to his. Her “yes” at the Annunciation allowed Christ to come into the world and eventually brought her to the cross with her son. Even at the cross, she accepted God’s will and trusted in his plan, and by doing so entered deeper into relationship with him by suffering with him.

We should all be trying to grow closer to Christ everyday. Any physical, mental, or spiritual sufferings are not a hindrance, but an aid to achieveing this goal. Suffering is a fact of life and we can either look at it with fear and aversion or we can see it as a tool of purification and as a preperation to accept our future death, when we will surrendor everything into God’s hands. Imitating our Lord, especially in his sufferings, may not be easy, but it will bring us closer to truly fulfilling our lives.

– Luke