Bro. Brian McLauchlin, SVD

A Journey of Renewal on the Camino

By Bro. Brian McLauchlin, SVD

When considering a vocation to the missionary life, my guess is that many potential candidates think about missionaries as those in constant service to God through serving others. When viewing the missionary life from this angle, people sometimes think that missionaries constantly work with the poor and disenfranchised every day of the year. Did you ever consider that we can also serve God by taking time out for ourselves? Sometimes a missionary must take out time for himself by focusing on renewal and refreshing the spirit. 

Walking the Camino is a good comparison for our own vocational journey. We all have our moments of ascending up into the heights, where we feel a close connection with God and everything seems to be going “right.” There are also those dreadful moments of descent, those times where all of life seems to be spiraling down, when we feel God is far off into the distance. In addition to these, there are even those moments of sheer monotony, when all of life seems to be a boring “same old, same old.” 

The Camino and My Ministry
While my hike on the Camino certainly had its joyous moments and physical challenges, it also became a time of learning. I teach Anthropology at Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa, so I have a deep interest in cultures. On the Camino, I encountered many people from different countries, backgrounds, and traditions. This experience gave me some excellent and insightful material for my class. 

1. The importance of taking time for renewal. 
Everyone has ways of renewing the spirit each and every day, but sometimes a missionary needs to take a few months or more to build his relationship with God, self, and others. I learned the importance of going off to a new place, where I could have long moments of quiet and reflection. These moments were important times for connecting with God. While moments of quiet were definitely important, so were those times of talking with and connecting to others. Conversations on the Camino quickly moved from “surface talk” to deeper heart-to-heart talks. Also very important, is that time to build relationship with oneself – the time to connect with one’s inner spirit. Through the physical challenges and moments of joy, a pilgrim learns about endurance. I often say that we need to feel our spirituality in our bodies. This sense of embodiment helps us to connect with our core. 

2. Staying faithful and attentive on the journey. 
When we have a goal or we’re on a journey, we must stay faithful and attentive to that journey; otherwise, we end up frustrated, knowing we never completed what we set out to do. The same is true for the Camino, where inattentiveness could leave you tripping over one of the millions of stones along the trail or, God forbid, sliding down the side of a steep mountain. In our own vocational journeys, we must also be faithful to our goals and aspirations. Remain faithful to the journey that is before you. God brought you to the point; now it is important to stay with it. 

3. Sharing the experience with others. 
While all these lessons are important, I think this one is especially valuable. Sharing the experience is a way to pass on a blessing to others. Blessings are not to be hidden in a dark corner, but to be shared with others who want to learn. To this point, share your vocational journey with others. Share the blessings that God has given you with others. I am sharing my Camino with others, through presentations and in the classroom.

A Final Thought
While my sabbatical was meant as a time of renewal for me, I discovered that my experience could also be a time of renewal for others. I am now able to teach with a renewed hope and energy. I am grateful for my time of renewal on the Camino.