The Camino: therapy for a sick society
Brendan McManus SJ was asked to give the homily at the annual Irish Camino Society Mass in St James Church in Dublin on 28 July 2024. Brendan has many years experience of walking trails and leading groups in Ireland and Spain, integrating the spirituality of Ignatius Loyola – the ultimate pilgrim. Read Brendan’s homily below.
The Camino: therapy for a sick society
As part of the Jesuit training, a fellow novice and I walked the Ignatian Camino in Spain for a month in 1994. Walking up to twenty miles (32 km) a day and with no money, we were reliant on people’s goodwill for food and shelter for the night. We walked in the footsteps of St Ignatius from his birthplace, Loyola, to the place where he wrote the Spiritual Exercises, Manresa.
We slept in doorways, garages, ruined castles, and even out in a field one night. It was extremely challenging in terms of basic needs: food, shelter, safety. In fact, handling the fear or uncertainty was the greatest challenge. This demands a certain level of humility and trust, especially to be able to ask for help and to ‘hand it over’ (to God). Easy to say but very challenging in reality.
After about a week, not eating or sleeping properly, and walking long distances, eating Red Cross emergency rations, I had had enough and wanted out. I told my companion, that I was thinking of going home. He said to me. “That’s fine, but you need to pray about that first.” (The last thing I wanted to hear!) So I found myself alone in a corner praying like I never prayed before.
The turning point, as I prayed during that ‘dark night’ for inspiration, came from realising I was in the grip of fear and listening to the negative ‘voice’ of desolation. I realised that I needed to trust that it would all work out. It was my fear that was the problem and surprisingly, deep down I had a sense of peace at the thought of continuing. Having come to some sort of consolation about accepting my own limits and dependence on God (i.e., humility), I was ready to walk again in trust, and we made it to the end and it was complete joy. I think of this moment almost daily.
The Camino de Santiago is I believe an experience of God and the Gospel; it has an interesting paradox at its heart: the more you move away from materialism, egoism and selfishness, the more happy you are with simple lifestyle, few things, connection with others/compassion and basic humility. This flies in the face of a contemporary world caught up in appearances, wealth, and individualism. Most find it incredible that people would willing give up luxury, ease, and self-centredness to live out of a backpack, stay in cheap shared accommodation and walk miles every day in the Iberian heat. The Camino is essentially a centuries old penitential pilgrimage, yet the paradox is that it brings about great happiness and joy (not without cost) and releases people from the tyranny of empty materialism, modern over-thinking and self-centredness. Instead, the Camino is like therapy, a programme of recovery of basic humanity, embodied mindfulness and compassionate connection to others. And all on a shoestring budget in the bucolic rural north-west Spain!
Struggling to come to terms with my brother’s suicide, I decided to walk the Camino de Santiago, the 700km Northern route in 2011, where I had a profoundly transformative journey of rebirth and renewal that helped me move through grief and anger to hope, gratitude and acceptance. It was literally at the eleventh hour, at the very end of the Camino in Finisterrae, a simple ritual of burning my brother’s T-shirt, that brought this cathartic release of grief, agonizing but ultimately freeing. I came home a different person, freed from the guilt and remorse.
The Camino manages to bring about this transformation or healing fairly organically and naturally. Living life as a pilgrim implies a simplicity that underlines our common humanity in its underlining embodiment, limits, and connection to others. It’s not about the clothes you wear, the exterior or superficiality; rather it is a delightful rediscovery of the relief of being oneself, fully inhabiting one’s body, feeling at home in nature, and relating to others in solidarity on the same journey. Conversations are typically not about who you are, what you have or your job, but rather go right to the heart of your life project; joys and sorrows, desires and hopes. Paradoxically, this brings real joy in being who you are in all your wonderful, colourful, limited humanity and being able to relate to others in theirs, without any pretence. Typically, it restores your faith in humanity, the kindness of strangers and human solidarity.
Essentially, the Camino reminds us of our mortality and transient nature; life is limited and precious, and it’s a one way journey. The only time you have is now, there’s no point in compulsively accumulating wealth and hoarding things away. The Camino reminds us that we are pilgrims, only travelling through this world and that we have to hold things lightly and not identify with them too much. We can’t take them with us where you are going, so we might as well begin divesting ourselves now. The important thing is waking up to the beauty that is around us, especially in others, and trying to help others as best we can. It means being grateful for the little things, realising that life is a gift and ultimately every ‘thing’ in this world is. The Camino exposes the typical consumerist trap of wanting more, pride and possessions, thinking that life will be great when I get more stuff, more status, more esteem.
However, the Camino is a tough and challenging pilgrimage in its essence, a journey of sometime painful transformation; not always the great victory you see people celebrating in the Cathedral Square at the end. It is a gritty, down-to-earth, humanising experience of hitting limits and being ‘purified’ (a crucible or fire often) on the road to freedom, ‘redemption’, recovery or rebirth. The Camino experience can be treated a physical journey on one level however, at a deeper level it is about desire: people seeking a deeper connection with themselves, the natural world and looking for answers and guidance in their lives, often hoping for some kind of healing. People often set out as hikers and become pilgrims as they slowly make their way along, gradually (painfully at times) discovering limits, the humbling experience of being ‘embodied spirits’, and gaining insight on hurts in need of healing, and often uncovering a sense of meaning or purpose for their lives.
Arriving in Santiago, the Camino’s end, therefore is only ‘halfway on the journey’ (cf. J.A. Shaia, Returning from Camino), people still have to unpack and reflect on what has often been a very profound experience. Even though they have had these significant experiences, they still need to express them, put them into words and be heard. often this can take months and even years to understand what has happened. The real challenge is to live this ‘alternative vision’ and pilgrim life back at home of course, surrounded by technology, advertising, media and cultural pressures. There is real life beyond screens, social media and technology. Again, a lot of it boils down to this ‘inner work’ of living from our deepest selves, overcoming unhealthy attachments and addictions, and living in real freedom and humility. It is challenging to live the Camino back at home but it is possible with some help and structures see my new book: ‘McManus & Flynn, Living the Camino Back Home, Messenger Pubs. 2024‘.
Finally, some action suggestions:
1. First thing in the day meditate or pray for around fifteen minutes; it also works well to simply go for a walk first thing (‘get out of bed and put on the boots’ as one pilgrim said) to orient yourself for the day.
2. Develop an ‘attitude of gratitude’; a key Camino insight is seeing everything as a gift, lowering expectations and looking for the good in everything. This means giving people the benefit of the doubt, that is, assuming that there is good in everyone.
3. Take time to discern and work through decisions, especially important ones. You always have a choice about how you deal with events and how you live your life.
4. Try to be your ‘best Camino self’ every day, the person God wants you to be, treating others well, having good healthy relationships and having a goal/direction in life. Stop trying to control things. Try to help others whenever you can; be a ‘Camino Angel’.
