Tonight I am staying in Roncesvalles, Spain. This is the traditional starting point of the Camino for the Spanish. Roncesvalles has a huge modern albergue (pilgrams hostel) biult on the grounds of the Church Iglesia de Santa Maria and ancient albergue. They offer a PIlgrams Mass nightly. This service is a pared down Eucharist with Pilgrims blessing at the end.
I went to the mass with a few people i have met while walking. It was nice and there was a good crowd. The mass was presided over by 3 very, very old clergy (read white guys) with little apparent joy for what they were doing. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fine service and I am sure they are great and faithful priests, but all I could think about was the lost opportunity.
Here we are in a large church full of many unchurched and non-believing folks (I watched and you can tell and i spoke with a number after) looking for something. Why else do you go on pilgrimage?
What a great chance to tell The Story – to show what the Good News looks like. Like I said I liked it and was very glad I went, but it made me a little sad.