God does everything in his own time

BARCELONA – MERITXELL (300 KM) – 23 JULY TO 3 AUGUST 2018

Four years ago I had the chance to take part in a pilgrimage on foot from Barcelona to the shrine of Meritxell.

To be honest, it wasn’t the great summer plan I had in mind: walking 300 km, hours and hours under the sun, getting up at 4 in the morning, going up and down mountains, eating sandwiches every day… It isn’t the idea of summer a 21-year-old girl has after a tough year at university! But God always works his surprises at the best moments and, on 24 July, there I was at the door of the parish, half asleep, with my rucksack on my back and ready to set off.

The first days were hard, but also days of much reflection: What was I doing there? Walking all the way to Andorra? Ahead of me lay a great many kilometres, 15 days of walking and few hours of sleep.

But, little by little, with every step, Jesus and Mary were touching my heart, and they made me see that all that effort, that capacity for sacrifice, that sobriety for God and for others was worth it, and that this really was true happiness. Giving yourself to others and no longer thinking about yourself is living a full life.

Along the way, the support of the other pilgrims was essential to keep walking: the songs, the banter and the jokes made the way more enjoyable. Nor will I forget the talks and deep reflections with the companions you met along the way. How much I learnt from each one of them!

I clearly remember the eighth, ninth and tenth stages of the way. They were the hardest: in three days we climbed the Puigmal and the Carlit. Personally, climbing two mountains in three days with an ascent of more than 900 m isn’t really my thing, so halfway up the Carlit I stopped and said: I can’t go on! I spent quite a while stopped on a rock, with a friend, wondering how we would manage. Pilgrims kept overtaking us and encouraging us to keep going, but we stayed put. Until the last one came up to us and said: “Have you seen what beautiful views? It’s wonderful to see what God has done for us!” Those words made me lift my head, look at the landscape and think: If God created this for me, can’t I keep climbing for Him? And that’s what I did: I carried on walking with different eyes.

Finally, after several days on the way, we reached the shrine of Meritxell. The feeling of having arrived was incredible, and I realised that it had been worth coming. I had been able to swim against the tide, to step out of the worldliness of life and to value more what God has created and done for me.

God does everything in his own time.