Closing Invitation

The end of the earth. We're here at what feels like the end of the Camino, but really this is only the beginning. We all return home changed people. That's the point of pilgrimage. Long ago, when we submitted ourselves to the tutelage of the Camino, we decided that we would enter one way and come home another. In St. John. We answered the invitation to a different way of life. And now here in Phoenix, DETA once again, we're invited to keep walking in that new way. But it's not just about walking the Camino. Whether your path has taken you along this trail or through the daily rhythms of following Jesus, wherever you are, the invitation remains the same. To let the journey change you and to return to you ordinary life transformed. You won't be able to not talk about it. It's the most natural thing to want to share when something has shifted deep inside of you. In the same way, Jesus, before ascending to heaven, told his disciples to go to the ends of the earth to remember and proclaim their journey with him. It was the most natural thing in the world for them to tell others about him. After all, they had been changed even more profoundly by his life, death, burial, and resurrection, And so are we. Wherever you walk, the invitation continues. So as you turn to go home, choose to go with Christ. May the strength of Christ pilot us. May the power of Christ preserve us. May the wisdom of Christ instruct us. May the hand of Christ protect us. May the way of Christ direct us. May the shield of Christ defend us. May the host of Christ guard us against the traps of evil and the temptations of this life. Amen.