Today’s stage gave us the most spectacular scenery we have seen so far. We passed through Peníscola, where we saw from a distance the fortress of Pope Luna, and then we walked for several hours alongside a rocky beach. The sea looked bright, blue and crystal clear. It was hard to resist the urge to jump in!
Today’s stage was a longish one: 38 km. Towards the end we were running out of strength, but we solved it with the remedy that always works for us: singing at the tops of our voices. We went through a very varied repertoire: our classics “Color esperanza” and “Tenía tanto que darte” were there, of course. The star song was “Una sardina, dos sardinas”, which we sang for 20 minutes non-stop (when we get into something, we’re very persevering…).
Today’s accommodation was a bit unusual: a campsite full of children doing summer activities, who were completely blown away by our arrival with the cross held high. In the middle of the afternoon it started to rain, which wouldn’t have been a problem except that today we were planning to celebrate Mass outdoors… But the solution Fr Toni came up with was brilliant: we all squeezed, packed tight, into one of our bungalows: the 55 pilgrims in a space meant for 6. There we celebrated a Mass that had all the warmth of the first Christians in the catacombs: a bit uncomfortable but very united, feeling the fraternity and becoming aware that, as long as the Lord is among us, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome.
In the meditation, our priest helped us reflect on the importance of education, based on the story of Moses, who was exquisitely educated at Pharaoh’s court. He encouraged us to take our education very seriously, not only our academic education, but also our spiritual and emotional education, so necessary for gaining maturity and making the right decisions. Things to mull over…
That’s all for today! Good night, parents!!