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Finding God Along the Way: Wisdom from the Ignatian Camino for Life at Home
"I relished Christine Eberle's account of her walk, in the footsteps of Ignatius. A long hike provides space for meditation and epiphanies, and this book provides them on every page, together with the everyday challenges of blisters, variable weather, and quirky but delightful international companions." – Senator Tim Kaine
After spending 300 miles on the Ignatian Camino in Spain with a group whose average age was 67, Christine Marie Eberle returned to the United States with blisters that would fade, friendships that would not, and the conviction that anyone can develop a pilgrim's heart on this life's journey.
This moving and often humorous account of one woman's pilgrimage encourages readers to reimagine their own life's path. Follow author Christine Eberle as she joins a group in the autumn of life along the 500-year-old pilgrimage route of St. Ignatius Loyola. Pray with them as they walk toward the rising sun. Raise a glass with them at the end of the day. Seek solitude with them in a crowded pilgrims' shelter.
Traversing mountains, deserts, vineyards, and shrines, witness the hard lessons that pave the way for spiritual transformation. Above all, by using the questions sprinkled throughout the chapters, allow Eberle's journey to reveal your own pilgrim heart—one that does not require hundreds of miles of walking!
After spending 300 miles on the Ignatian Camino in Spain with a group whose average age was 67, Christine Marie Eberle returned to the United States with blisters that would fade, friendships that would not, and the conviction that anyone can develop a pilgrim's heart on this life's journey.
This moving and often humorous account of one woman's pilgrimage encourages readers to reimagine their own life's path. Follow author Christine Eberle as she joins a group in the autumn of life along the 500-year-old pilgrimage route of St. Ignatius Loyola. Pray with them as they walk toward the rising sun. Raise a glass with them at the end of the day. Seek solitude with them in a crowded pilgrims' shelter.
Traversing mountains, deserts, vineyards, and shrines, witness the hard lessons that pave the way for spiritual transformation. Above all, by using the questions sprinkled throughout the chapters, allow Eberle's journey to reveal your own pilgrim heart—one that does not require hundreds of miles of walking!
192 pages, Paperback
Published January 14, 2025
About the author
Christine Marie Eberle
4 books18 followersAuthor, public speaker, and educator Christine Eberle passionately explores the connections between Scripture, spirituality, and everyday life. A college campus minister for 25 years, she also leads retreats, sings as a church cantor, and performs dramatic interpretations of Biblical women. In person and on the page, Christine desires both to feed the faithful and offer nourishment to people skeptical or weary of religion, insistently asking: Where is God in all this? She has found answers to this question in some surprising places, and she shares those answers--and those places--in her first book, Finding God in Ordinary Time. You can pre-order signed copies and follow her blog at christine-marie-eberle.com.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 9, 2024
I am very fortunate to have been provided the opportunity to read an advance copy. Christine’s writing style is like an arm around your shoulder, inviting you to join her on a journey. As the adventure unfolds you lose connection to all preconceived notions and become a pilgrim. I felt like a member of the group and learned much on my journey. Thank you Christine. Pilgrimage is life!
January 2, 2025
A friend provided me with an advance copy of this book knowing my love for adventure touring. At first, I was not convinced it was for me. I’m not particularly spiritual, nor have I ever considered a religious pilgrimage. But the author spoke to me anyway. The book chronicles her epic 300 mile journey along the Ignatian Camino in Spain, traveling with two dozen strangers. She shares her highs and lows as she navigates nearly 4 years of anticipation, followed by 4 weeks of adversity, epiphany and finally, resolve. Along the way, she reflects on what she has experienced and asks the reader some interesting, soul-searching questions. I could relate to her challenges and fears, and the lessons she learned. Finding God Along the Way is less a travel guide about the Camino, and more a guide on how to travel, especially if the adventure includes traveling with a bunch of like-minded strangers. In that case, it should be required reading.
December 31, 2024
As a Jesuit of fifty years and an experienced Ignatian retreat director, I got increasingly excited as I read Christine Marie Eberle's Camino memoir. The book "prays," readily inviting the reader into a spiritual journey. The author's incorporation of well-chosen scriptural citations at the beginning of each chapter grounds her colorful narrative in the church's sacred texts. I plan to add the book to my Ignatian toolkit, both for personal prayer and as an accessible resource to recommend to those whom I accompany as guide.
Fr. Robert W. McChesney, S.J., author of The Soul Also Keeps the Score:
A Trauma-Informed Companion to the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius
Fr. Robert W. McChesney, S.J., author of The Soul Also Keeps the Score:
A Trauma-Informed Companion to the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius
January 2, 2025
I am only partway through Finding God Along the Way but already see what a wonderful companion this book will be for me as I transition into a new season of life. Christine has masterfully and wisely weaved the experiences of the Camino with the Spiritual Exercises but also just everyday life experiences. Already I have experienced laughter, tears, and joy— there is much to savor, a day at a time, a step at a time— finding God along the way, allowing him to find us and being his hands and feet and companion for others we meet along the way.
February 10, 2025
I read this book because my mom signed us up for the webinar with the author. I normally don’t read this genre, but I really enjoyed the adventure she went on. I can relate a bit as I’ve done the Camino de Santiago, so reading this book surfaced a lot of old memories.
April 7, 2025
Summary: An account of hiking with a group whose average age was 67 on the 300 mile Ignatian Camino.
Christine Marie Eberle was at a juncture in her life. Finishing a career in campus ministry, a friend asked her to help organize a pilgrimage. Most people hear “pilgrimage’ and think of the Camino de Santiago. Instead, Christine helped plan a pilgrimage on what is known as the Ignatian Camino. She had always admired Ignatius and this pilgrimage followed the steps of Ignatius from the Basque region of Spain to Montserrat and Manresa in Catalunya. But what made this unusual was that she was part of a group from the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, whose average age was 67 (she was in her late fifties).
The narrative begins with her headaches over organizing travel and the pilgrimage leader’s simple question: Why did you not tell these people to meet you in Loyola? For her, the pilgrimage had begun with this lesson in relinquishing control.
In a series of short chapters, chronicling the stages of the journey, organized into the four weeks of the pilgrimage, Eberle unfolds how she learned the wisdom of pilgrimage. She recounts the important places of Ignatius journey from the “cannonball moment” as Ignatius recovered in Loyola from a near death experience after a cannonball shattered one leg. Then there are all the daily practices of the Camino, from a gathering song, walking two hours in silent reflection, staying together, gathering for delicious meals and bedding down each night in guest facilities.
In addition to all that, there were the blisters that plagued her most of the journey. She learned to get help from other hikers, including veterans. A key turning point came when the director, Father Jose, decided her blisters were so bad, she needed to rest and take the train on the next leg. She felt she had failed, not getting good enough shoes and training. Her spiritual director emailed back, “You cannot fail the Camino if you truly see it as a spiritual quest.” She invited her to let go of her dreams of Camino and accept the reality and what was being offered her. Another time, an offered short cut led to lessons on simplifying one’s life.
The book comes to a close with arriving in Montserrat and Manresa. At Montserrat, they describe how pilgrimage has affected them. At the close, Father Jose blessed them with the words, “May God teach you to be pilgrims forever.” Then at Manresa, they leave the prayer requests others had given them at the altar. They took turns interceding for them each day of the journey. It was a tangible expression of the larger body of which they were part.
She describes three ways she felt changed through the Camino: silence, spontaneity, and serenity. She also recounts how they learned to:
Travel lightly.
Stay in the present moment.
Open yourself to the wonder of each encounter.
Ground your day in prayer, and your prayer in gratitude.
Rely on (and be reliable to) those who share the journey with you (p. 181).
The lessons she shares speak to far more than an extended pilgrimage like the Ignatian Camino. As the reflection questions concluding each chapter emphasize, we are all pilgrims. Therefore, her five traveling rules apply to us all. Although I may never walk the Ignatian Camino, Eberle’s account encouraged me in my own walk with Jesus.
____________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Christine Marie Eberle was at a juncture in her life. Finishing a career in campus ministry, a friend asked her to help organize a pilgrimage. Most people hear “pilgrimage’ and think of the Camino de Santiago. Instead, Christine helped plan a pilgrimage on what is known as the Ignatian Camino. She had always admired Ignatius and this pilgrimage followed the steps of Ignatius from the Basque region of Spain to Montserrat and Manresa in Catalunya. But what made this unusual was that she was part of a group from the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, whose average age was 67 (she was in her late fifties).
The narrative begins with her headaches over organizing travel and the pilgrimage leader’s simple question: Why did you not tell these people to meet you in Loyola? For her, the pilgrimage had begun with this lesson in relinquishing control.
In a series of short chapters, chronicling the stages of the journey, organized into the four weeks of the pilgrimage, Eberle unfolds how she learned the wisdom of pilgrimage. She recounts the important places of Ignatius journey from the “cannonball moment” as Ignatius recovered in Loyola from a near death experience after a cannonball shattered one leg. Then there are all the daily practices of the Camino, from a gathering song, walking two hours in silent reflection, staying together, gathering for delicious meals and bedding down each night in guest facilities.
In addition to all that, there were the blisters that plagued her most of the journey. She learned to get help from other hikers, including veterans. A key turning point came when the director, Father Jose, decided her blisters were so bad, she needed to rest and take the train on the next leg. She felt she had failed, not getting good enough shoes and training. Her spiritual director emailed back, “You cannot fail the Camino if you truly see it as a spiritual quest.” She invited her to let go of her dreams of Camino and accept the reality and what was being offered her. Another time, an offered short cut led to lessons on simplifying one’s life.
The book comes to a close with arriving in Montserrat and Manresa. At Montserrat, they describe how pilgrimage has affected them. At the close, Father Jose blessed them with the words, “May God teach you to be pilgrims forever.” Then at Manresa, they leave the prayer requests others had given them at the altar. They took turns interceding for them each day of the journey. It was a tangible expression of the larger body of which they were part.
She describes three ways she felt changed through the Camino: silence, spontaneity, and serenity. She also recounts how they learned to:
Travel lightly.
Stay in the present moment.
Open yourself to the wonder of each encounter.
Ground your day in prayer, and your prayer in gratitude.
Rely on (and be reliable to) those who share the journey with you (p. 181).
The lessons she shares speak to far more than an extended pilgrimage like the Ignatian Camino. As the reflection questions concluding each chapter emphasize, we are all pilgrims. Therefore, her five traveling rules apply to us all. Although I may never walk the Ignatian Camino, Eberle’s account encouraged me in my own walk with Jesus.
____________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
January 13, 2026
I’m glad I read this at the start of the New Year. Circumstances kept me more at home than planned this holiday season and so reading this book about a woman on an Ignatian Camino pilgrimage, a woman in her autumn years, took me on an unexpected internal journey. She told her story with humor, warmth, love and honesty. It’s a good story, well-paced, with vivid details (blisters, eek) and wonderful written sketches of her fellow pilgrims. I appreciated her candidness about hiking without readily available restrooms and spending nights in communal accommodations with fellow pilgrims. And I was moved by her descriptions of hiking in prayerful, shared silence. She also draws readers into engaging with their own related experiences by including reflection questions for readers to ponder. I found these reflection questions at the end of chapters helpful, most especially questions about the current terrain of our spiritual lives, what unique gifts we find in the current seasons of our lives and how do we embrace those gifts, who mothered us literally, spiritually, and/or metaphysically and where have we found shelter. Engaging with some of the questions drew me into deeper gratitude. I like her approach to the examen too. I’m looking forward to learning more about Ignatian Spirituality. And as a result of reading this book, my husband and I have renewed conversations about what we would need to do make some sort of pilgrimage possible in our lives. While I’m not entirely sure I will ever hike a pilgrimage, this book inspired reflection, thought and action.
December 22, 2024
As someone with a passing interest in travel but little curiosity about religious pilgrimage, I wasn’t sure if this book would hold my attention. However, Christine’s thoughtful storytelling and vivid writing drew me in immediately. She has a remarkable ability to make the Camino experience feel accessible, even for those who may never embark on such a journey themselves.
Through her insightful reflections and engaging anecdotes, Christine becomes her own version of a Camino guide, consistently pointing toward St. Ignatius and his timeless teachings. I particularly enjoyed reading about the joys and challenges faced by her pilgrimage group, which added depth and humanity to the narrative.
If I had one regret, it’s that I didn’t read this book more slowly, savoring the spiritual insights in the same long-form way the pilgrims experienced them during their 30-day journey through Spain in the footsteps of St. Ignatius. This book isn’t just about a pilgrimage—it’s a meaningful invitation to pause, reflect, and connect with God along the way. Highly recommended!
Through her insightful reflections and engaging anecdotes, Christine becomes her own version of a Camino guide, consistently pointing toward St. Ignatius and his timeless teachings. I particularly enjoyed reading about the joys and challenges faced by her pilgrimage group, which added depth and humanity to the narrative.
If I had one regret, it’s that I didn’t read this book more slowly, savoring the spiritual insights in the same long-form way the pilgrims experienced them during their 30-day journey through Spain in the footsteps of St. Ignatius. This book isn’t just about a pilgrimage—it’s a meaningful invitation to pause, reflect, and connect with God along the way. Highly recommended!
January 14, 2025
I am savoring this marvelous book. The word "wisdom" in the title is spot-on: wisdom hard-won and keenly articulated, offered in relatable experiences to grace us. We walk the Way with Christine (and her fellow pilgrims) as readers from our armchairs.
With the conviction that the whole of life is the raw material for reflection and spiritual growth, Christine offers the fruits of her musings and prayer drawn from day-to-day anxieties, humor, challenges, delights, and vulnerability. A key lesson she learned, offered resoundingly to us: "On the Camino, grace would work through—not despite—my imperfections, arriving when I needed it most."
I'm ecstatic in recommending this book for its content, for its approach, and for the author's compelling storytelling. Her writing style sparkles throughout. I have set a reminder for the start of Lent to journey through the book again at a contemplative pace, availing myself of the pauses built in with reflection questions at the end of each chapter. The book delivers wonderfully on its title!
With the conviction that the whole of life is the raw material for reflection and spiritual growth, Christine offers the fruits of her musings and prayer drawn from day-to-day anxieties, humor, challenges, delights, and vulnerability. A key lesson she learned, offered resoundingly to us: "On the Camino, grace would work through—not despite—my imperfections, arriving when I needed it most."
I'm ecstatic in recommending this book for its content, for its approach, and for the author's compelling storytelling. Her writing style sparkles throughout. I have set a reminder for the start of Lent to journey through the book again at a contemplative pace, availing myself of the pauses built in with reflection questions at the end of each chapter. The book delivers wonderfully on its title!
February 9, 2026
I first encountered Finding God Along the Way through a book club discussion, and I’m grateful I did. Hearing others reflect on it made me realize how quietly powerful this book is. Christine Eberle doesn’t write as a spiritual expert talking at you she writes as a fellow traveler paying close attention to the small human moments that shape faith.
What struck me most was how relatable her pilgrimage felt. The blisters, the weather, the companionship the fatigue all of it grounded the spiritual insights in real life. This isn’t a book about walking hundreds of miles as much as it’s about learning how to walk more attentively wherever you are.
It stayed with me after the discussion ended, which says a lot. Thoughtful gentle and genuinely reflective, this is the kind of book that opens quiet conversation both with others and within yourself.
What struck me most was how relatable her pilgrimage felt. The blisters, the weather, the companionship the fatigue all of it grounded the spiritual insights in real life. This isn’t a book about walking hundreds of miles as much as it’s about learning how to walk more attentively wherever you are.
It stayed with me after the discussion ended, which says a lot. Thoughtful gentle and genuinely reflective, this is the kind of book that opens quiet conversation both with others and within yourself.
December 7, 2024
I had the fortune to get an advanced copy and it has been a wonderful addition to my advent reflection. You will want to read this book for the sheer pleasure it brings as you follow the pilgrim and her companions on their journey. Then you will want to go back and meander through again and again to mine and savor the spiritual insights and challenges you will find throughout. I’m looking forward to my next trek through this delightful book.
January 6, 2025
Christine has given us the gift of the journey, and she unpacks her experience with rare honesty and vulnerability that allowed me (as the reader) to unpack some of the baggage I carry through life (without the blisters!). To live simply, meditate, appreciate an air mattress, pause, have a profound trust in spirit, and never be scared to ask for help - those were just some of my takeaways that I will contemplate as I move forward in my own life. Christine has inspired me to take this trip - with a great focus on massive preparation!
October 8, 2025
I am quite glad I read this book because now I am completely sure I can not do this walk. I had thought about it for many years and though the concept is beautiful and yes, it could bring me closer to God but the arduous nature and destruction of the feet is not something I want to endure. As someone that completed Outward Bound 35 years ago and barely survived, I do not think this would be for me. The book is quite intricate in his descriptions of the day to day adventures of the hikers.
January 17, 2025
If the Camino is a metaphor for life, then Finding God Along the Way is the spiritual guide you are seeking! Christine Eberle's style is beautiful and conversational as she describes the challenges of the pilgrimage and how God waits in the wings, desiring only our love and that we find the deepest longings of our hearts.
February 9, 2026
I haven’t finished Finding God Along the Way yet but after seeing it highlighted on Saturday I felt drawn to start reading. what I’ve read so far is gentle and thoughtful more about noticing than rushing. It doesn’t feel preachy just reflective like walking beside someone who’s paying attention. I’m taking my time with it and that feels exactly right.
Reader
Reader
May 29, 2026
I bought this book after hearing Christine speak at the 2026 Catholic Women’s Conference in Brunswick, ME.
I was so moved and filled with amazement at both of her talks that when I saw she was signing copies, I asked her to inscribe it for me..and she did!
I was so moved and filled with amazement at both of her talks that when I saw she was signing copies, I asked her to inscribe it for me..and she did!
May 4, 2025
I'm a big fan of Paraclete Press, and when this one was advertised I had to buy it (I'm also a big fan of books about caminos/pilgrimages). I really enjoyed so much about this book, including being able to live vicariously through the pilgrimage. Christine Marie Eberle does a wonderful job of bringing us into the story, with all the ups and downs of the journey. I didn't know anything about St. Ignatius, or the Ignatian Camino, so that was interesting. I also liked how this book was laid out as a devotional, which I happened to read during Lent. I also liked the very short chapters! Thank you for a great book, and experience.
February 11, 2025
I loved this book. It’s not preachy, and definitely not dry since it unfolds like an adventure story. As such, the writer didn’t know what would happen next, and neither does the reader. Kind of like life.
There are numerous, rich layers in the book; it’s a gem on many levels. If I had to choose my favorite ingredient, though, it would be Eberle’s honesty and wry sense of humor. Both make this narrative readable, and oh so human.
There are numerous, rich layers in the book; it’s a gem on many levels. If I had to choose my favorite ingredient, though, it would be Eberle’s honesty and wry sense of humor. Both make this narrative readable, and oh so human.
October 31, 2024
I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book thanks to Paraclete Press and the author Christine Marie Eberle. Initially I thought I would read it quickly and then write a quick review. This is a book I will turn to again and again in the future!
The author’s experience and insightful observations while walking the Jesuit Camino are thought provoking and comforting at the same time.
Highly recommend this book.
The author’s experience and insightful observations while walking the Jesuit Camino are thought provoking and comforting at the same time.
Highly recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews