Last week we took a quick trip up into the mountains with a friend. We visited the Cruz de Hierro which is the highest point of the Camino Santiago and is very meaningful to many pilgrims. It is there that tens of thousands of peregrinos have laid down a stone at the base. For some it is an act of penance, others an emotional releasing of a burden, and for others a symbolic act of leaving behind the past. 

The gospel tells us that at the foot of the cross of Jesus we find freedom from our sin and guilt. But I fear that most of these pilgrims feel only an emotional release, and nothing more.