Ever on the Way

Sunday was the quiet day I had hoped for.

Morning Mass at St. Michael with my fellow postulants, followed by breakfast while meditating over the newspaper. There was a little physical exercise on a stationary bicycle in our basement early in the afternoon. This was followed later in the afternoon with a couple of spiritual exercises: reciting evening prayer while riding the L train to Union Square in Manhattan; and, once there, taking in a little faith in film. And the theme of the film was perfectly appropriate after our nine-day journey to the Midwest.

The Way, playing at a small cinema on East 12th Street, features Martin Sheen as a father who walks the pilgrimage trail to Santiago de Compostela in memory of his son, who died while beginning the camino in the Pyrenees Mountains. This film was a family affair, in that it was produced and directed by Sheen's son Emilio Estevez. It was also clearly a labor of love for Sheen, who as a devout Catholic has previously played Catholic Worker co-founder Peter Maurin in Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story. For a thoughtful review of the film, I recommend this article in National Catholic Reporter; and for a profile of Sheen as a real-life pilgrim, read this NCR interview.

We are ever on the way. Let us, you and I, resolve to remain on the way and help each other stay on the pilgrim path. This week your diarist continues his pilgrimage in the more conventional settings of New York and Connecticut. This week we learn about the early history of the Capuchin order from a brother, John Tokaz, who knows it well. Our resident art scholar, Brother John will take the postulants on a special guided tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Wednesday. On Friday, the brothers will meet in Middletown, Conn., for an annual get-together called Fraternity Day. We will worship and then share food and fellowship until late in the afternoon. I have been told that the postulants may be measured for their habits during this gathering. All this will happen around the usual pattern of prayer, chores, and ministry, and the usual interruptions in routine (I have spiritual direction on Tuesday evening).

Buen camino, my sisters and brothers.