With the priest at Notre-Dame-au-bout-du-pont, St. Jean Pied de Port, France

Scripture reading: Exodus 14:10-14, 31
v. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?”

When the Israelites saw the Egyptians approaching in full battle gear they realized the enormity of their situation. “They were terrified and cried out to the Lord” (v. 10). “What have you done to us? You could just as well have struck us dead back home.” Over the past few days Maurice and I have been saying to one another, “Do we really know what we’re doing?” Of course the answer is no. We laugh and the wave of fear dissipates for a while. If we listen closely we can hear the still small voice of God: “Do not be afraid” (v. 13). “One step at a time and see where I take you.”

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This evening we went to mass (in French, of course!) at the church of Notre-Dame-au-bout-du-pont. Even as we sat on our hard bench we could tell that the priest loved us all. His homily was from Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, reminding us not to put our confidence in perishable things but in eternal, even if we have to suffer now along the way. We partook of the Lord’s supper: the body of Christ yet broken for us, his blood still outpoured for the sins of the world. At the end of the service he invited all the pilgrims to come forward for a special blessing. He asked everyone to say where they had come from, then he blessed us, that God would be our shade in the heat of the day (it’s hotter here than usual), that he would be comfort in our weariness, and that he would bring us to our goal. Amen. We met Jesus right there in the welcoming love of the French priest.

As I said goodbye to the priest he said to me, “Bonne route!”  I had to ask him to repeat it, so he did.  “How do you say that in English?” he asked.  I thought a second.  “We say, ‘Bon voyage!'” I told him.  We both laughed.

the bridge and the gate of Notre Dame

the town pelota court (the wall at the end is the jai alai)

There’s where we’re going tomorrow!