Catholic Book Review – Hiking The Camino

Hiking The Camino – 500 Miles With Jesus by Father Dave Pivonka

If you like to walk…a lot…no, I mean A LOT.  And you like Catholic experiences.  And you like to travel.  Then you’re going to love this book.

I DO happen to love walking, Catholic experiences AND travel, so…true to my words above, I loved this book. (I must be clairvoyant.)  But, in all honesty, I think you’ll like it even if you’re a couch potato and home-body!

Father Dave’s 10 anniversary of his ordination was on the horizon (2 years away, to be exact).  He wanted to celebrate it in a special way but wasn’t sure just how to do that until one day someone mentioned to him that they were going to walk a part of the Camino de Santiago.  She said she wasn’t going to hike the whole thing, because that would take a month!

The Camino is an ancient pilgrimage route that begins in France and ends in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, at the cathedral where St. James is buried.  It does indeed take approximately one month to walk the entire route.

Intrigued, Fr. Dave began to research the Camino.  He quickly decided that to go on a pilgrimage, by walking the ENTIRE route, would be the perfect way to celebrate his 10th anniversary and, also, the perfect way to thank God “for allowing [him] to be a priest…”  He gained the permission and support of his Franciscan religious superiors and, also, convinced his classmate, Father Joe, who would also be celebrating his tenth anniversary, to join him.

This book chronicles the trials and tribulations (and exultations) of Fathers Dave and Joe over the course of their Camino adventure.  At 135 pages, it’s a quick read.  And it’s totally delightful.  I just love reading books by priests who are ‘down to earth’ and show us just how much like “us” they are.  This is that kind of book.

These priests LOVE being priests.  They LOVE their faith and God and do not hesitate to show that.  They’re also men that any of us can relate to.  And Father Dave is funny!  Throughout the last several chapters, I laughed out loud several times and just had to tell whichever child was nearby at the time all about why I was laughing.  (okay, so your family members may not be thrilled with you as you read this book…if you’re anything like me, anyway. )

This story is about Fr. Dave’s extremely long walk…his pilgrimage…his “human-ness”…and his faith, before, during and afterwards.  It’s a good story.  And it has a good moral.

I told my family that there was nothing complicated about the Camino.  All I had to do was get up each day and walk.  At times it was very hard, while at other times it was a great joy.  But it was never complex.

This is the case in the spiritual life, too.  If you want to receive the prize prepared for you from the beginning of time, you only need to keep walking.  There will be times when it will be tremendously difficult, and every part of you will cry out for you to stop.  But you mustn’t.

Take a moment and be still.  Pray for the strength to go on and begin walking again.  The grace will be there, and you can do it.  Small steps.  One foot in front of the other.

That’s a wonderful metaphor for this journey we’re all on, called life.  And, a great lesson for how to handle those times in life that are particularly difficult. (hmmm…do you know anyone who is going through a particularly hard time in their life? )  And here’s another quote that speaks to us…Catholics who have suffered through divorce and are either in that horrid place of feeling we’ve completely lost our way OR in that wonderful place where we’ve come through hell and found our way again.

What the world needs more of are pilgrims heading to the house of the Father, pilgrims who will follow in Christ’s footsteps.  If you know the way, then have the courage to lead someone who doesn’t.  If you are lost and don’t know where you are going, find someone who is on the right path, and hold on till you can walk by yourself.

I love those quotes, but don’t get the wrong idea.  This book is not page after page of religious “stuff.”  It’s the story of all the day to day things that young Fr. Dave encounters on the trail, including the other people he meets along the way, with an undercurrent of faith which occasionally rises to the top.  Kind of like my life and, I’m betting, yours, too.

I HIGHLY recommend it.  I also want to hike the Camino…any takers?  Maybe we could make it an SQPN field trip!

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I wrote this review not only because Iwanted to share this book with you but also because I’m a member of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company.  You can get more info about this book here: Hiking the Camino.