Two years ago, I walked the Ignatian Camino across Spain from Loyola to Montserrat and Manresa, every day on foot to a new town or village. Sometimes I passed through mountains or dry areas but often through vineyards, orchards and fields of crops. 

I imagine the group of Jesus, the twelve, and Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and the other women traveling by foot in a similar landscape. Days of walking with time to talk, ask questions and ponder. Resting together and sharing every meal. Finding places to sleep on the floor of a house, a shed or sometimes out in the open. 

Imagine how close they became as companions, friends, and disciples during those travels. Those followers were not perfect, and they would be tested in the extreme, but their bonds lasted into the resurrection where these very ones began building the faith and church we live today.

—Allain Andry is the Charlotte cohort coordinator for Contemplative Leaders in Action, an Ignatian spirituality and leadership program for young adults that is organized by the Office of Ignatian Spirituality. He is also a spiritual director at St. Peter Catholic Church in Charlotte, NC, the Jesuit parish in the Diocese of Charlotte. 

What the pilgrim asks for is a gift, a grace. What we are actually asking for is to know ourselves, so that in this self-knowledge we may be oriented toward that happiness which comes from living solely in the presence of God. We therefore ask that our intentions (desires, motivations), our actions (external works), and our activities (reflections, plans, questions, tastes) be oriented toward the Light of Life. 

—From the Introductory Prayer at CaminoIgnaciano.org