"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
In case you didn’t know, Trent Horn from Catholic Answers will be debating James White from Alpha & Omega ministries on the subjection of whether or not Christians can lose their salvation. The rather exciting news this morning is that the debate is going to be streamed live on the Internet at 7pm EST (4pm PST):
“Where there is no repentance, forgiveness is only permission by another name.”
– Gene Wolfe, Pirate Freedom
Probably the most important thing to consider when preparing for the Camino is your pack. In assembling mine, I consulted the list of recommendations found in a companion book I had bought, as well as some other lists I found online. Here is a categorized list of everything I carried on my back along the Camino:
Walking Gear
Backpack (with rain sheet)
Waterproof jacket
Waterproof trouser/pants covers
Hat (for sun/rain)
Sunglasses
Suntan lotion (SPF 30+)
Buff Headwear (great for keeping the sun off your neck)
Trainers/sneakers for exploring the town in the evenings (Optional)
Clothes
Long sleeve (quick-dry) tops x2
T-shirt (quick-dry) x1
Trousers which convert to shorts x2
Underwear x2
Socks x4
A pair of shorts to be used as pyjamas
Sleeping
Sleeping bag (liner)
Inflatable pillow
Washbag
Flip-flops for the shower
Toothpaste/Toothbrush/Floss
Nail clipper
Quick-drying towel
Laundry
Concentrated washing liquid
Scrubba (Optional, but very convenient and a great conversation starter)
Plastic Clothes Pegs
Other
First Aid Kit (Compeed, scissors, band-aids/plasters, tape)
Phone (and charger)
Camino Scallop Shell (Buy in St. Jean)
Camino Guide Book/Maps
$300 in Euros and an ATM card
I’ll be drawing particular attention to some of these items in subsequent posts.
Equipment | Before you leave home | On the road | Staying in Hostels
In a few days, I will be writing about my experience walking the Camino De Santiago, the pilgrimage route through Spain to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, but in the meantime I have some other Camino-related posts scheduled…
Before setting out on my trip, I spoke to several close friends who had previously walked the Camino, and I asked them for tips concerning my upcoming journey. Additionally, while I was on pilgrimage itself, I asked my fellow pilgrims what advice they would give to a friend who expressed interest in walking the Camino (aside from obvious response of “Don’t be crazy!”).
This week I will be sharing four blog posts which will be an aggregation of all the suggestions I would give to any would-be pilgrims. Each post will focus on one particular area:
2. Before you leave home
3. On the road
4. Staying in Hostels
Quite a few of my friends are talking about walking the Camino this year, so hopefully this will give them a bit of a headstart…
Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls
– Jeremiah 6:16
Today’s song is “Wounded” by Matthew West:
When you see broken beyond repair
I see healing beyond belief
When you see too far gone
I see one step away from home
How many times can one heart break?
It was never supposed to be this way
Look in the mirror, but you find someone you never thought you’d be
Oh, but I can still recognize
The one I love in your tear stained eyes
I know you might not see him now, so lift your eyes to me
When you see nothing but damaged goods
I see something good in the making
I’m not finished yet
When you see wounded, I see mended
You see your worst mistake
But I see the price I paid
And there’s nothing you could ever do, to lose what grace has won
So hold on, it’s not the end
No, this is where love’s work begins
I’m making all things new
And I will make a miracle of you
I see my child, my beloved
The new creation you’re becoming
You see the scars from when you fell
But I see the stories they will tell
You see worthless, I see priceless
You see pain, but I see a purpose
You see unworthy, undeserving
But I see you through eyes of mercy
This week I heard a talk on the Gospel of John by Dr. Michael Barber at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.
In the early part of his talk, Dr. Barber discussed the question of authorship of the Gospel. He mentioned how modern sceptical scholars often say that the Gospel was originally anonymous, and that the text “The Gospel according to John” was a later addition. I have often heard claims such as these, so I was delighted to hear Dr. Barber present some potential problems with this position…
The main issue in asserting that the Gospel was original anonymous is that the manuscript evidence does not support this hypothesis at all. Where the manuscripts survive, we find the text present. Not only that, there are some other problems which flow from this…
If the original Gospel was anonymous and the association with St. John was a later development, why don’t we find divergent attributions? Since St. John is not identified as the author within the narrative itself, surely one would expect many divergent attributions to develop? Why was the Gospel never associated with, say, St. Peter? The obvious answer is that the text “The Gospel according to John” was in there from the beginning.
If the sceptics are right, the text had been copied as an anonymous Gospel and distributed throughout the Empire. Why is it that manuscripts from all these different regions bear the text claiming Johannine authorship? It would have been an impossible task to gather up all these different manuscripts retrospectively in order to “fix” them with an agreed-upon author, particularly since they were in different languages (Greek, Latin etc). Once again, the simplest explanation for consistency in all these manuscripts in all these areas in all these languages is simply that the text “The Gospel according to John” was in there from the beginning.
These reasons, coupled with the universal testimony of the Early Church Fathers, should give us great confidence that, from the very beginning, this Gospel opened with the words “The Gospel according to John…”
