Finding God Along the Way

Wisdom from the Ignatian Camino for Life at Home

$18.99
  • ISBN: 9781640609891
  • Trim size: 5.5 x 8.5 inches
  • Pages: 192
  • Publication Date: 14 Jan 2025
  • Format: Paperback

SILVER MEDAL WINNER -- Illumination Book Award

“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!

Perfect for a Lenten Devotional!

Reviews

“Many pilgrims are aware of the Camino de Santiago. Fewer know about the Ignatian Way, tracing the journey of Ignatius of Loyola through northern Spain. I relished Christine Eberle’s account of her walk. 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. Christine’s observations will illuminate your own walk—whether halfway around the world or in your own backyard.” —Senator Tim Kaine, US Senator from Virginia and author of Walk, Ride, Paddle 

"Eberle’s ability to relate the physical journey to the spiritual one makes this book shine....Eberle’s tone throughout the book communicates a warmth, candor, and self-awareness that creates the feeling of sitting across from a dear friend. Written with her trademark blend of deep insight and humor...Eberle’s writing and storytelling are consistently conversational in a manner that ensures the reader never feels preached at, but instead supported and encouraged to remain curious about their own faith journey." -- Alli BobzienToday's American Catholic

“Christine has done a wonderful job of distilling the essence of pilgrimage and integrating Ignatian Spirituality into a wonderfully engaging narrative. With a lovely light touch she manages to capture the daily struggles and challenges (bugs, beds and blisters!) that make for the essential inner journey that mirrors the outer journey in Ignatian Spain. This book beautifully illustrates Ignatian themes of trust, freedom and listening to the Spirit. A great read!" —Brendan McManus SJ, Camino Guide, Spiritual Director, and Author 

“Readers don’t have to trek 300 miles across Spain to appreciate the wisdom gleaned from Christine Eberle’s time walking in the footsteps of St. Ignatius of Loyola. With profound insight, vulnerability, and humor, Eberle invites readers to journey alongside her as she reflects on the modern-day relevance Ignatian Spirituality and its capability—like pilgrimage—to transform our hearts, our minds, and our perspectives.” —Jennifer Sawyer, Editor-in-Chief of Busted Halo 

Finding God Along the Way is equal parts adventure and strong spiritual experience. In this beautifully written book, Eberle encourages readers to risk what it means to step into the unknown each day, putting the Camino experience within every person’s reach."—Paula D’Arcy, author of Waking Up to This Day and Stars at Night 

“Christine Marie Eberle's Finding God Along the Way  felt like an unexpected, long catch up with your best friend on a Sunday afternoon. I found myself in tears as I read the beginning question, "Do you want to take a walk with me?" and they came often as I read so many relatable struggles wrapped in countless encouraging words and prayers.” —Katie Haseltine, Author of All the Things: A 30 Day Guide to Experiencing God's Presence in the Prayer of Examen 

“Christine catches the spirit of the pilgrimage, living the full experience in her own body and soul and bringing an open mind to both the obstacles and wonders that pilgrims may encounter along the Way.  This book will help you to understand the gifts that you would find walking freely in Spain, following the steps of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a saint who lived five hundred years ago but experienced a transformation that is most needed in our twenty-first century.” –José Luis Iriberri, SJ, Director, Office of the Ignatian Camino 

“An inviting book that artfully weaves together Christine Marie Eberle's pilgrimage with history of Ignatius of Loyola, and the author's own deep reflection on what she learned about herself—and her God. The scriptures she shares and the prompts for our own reflection, are icing on the cake. Whether or not you have shared the experience of pilgrimage, you will find much to savor in this book from one who has.” –Jeff Crosby, author of The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of Our Hearts 

“Filled with warmth, humor and a voracious eye for detail, Finding God Along the Way is Christine Eberle’s invitation to each of us to embark on our own inner pilgrimage. Eberle helps us discover God in places both surprising and familiar. While we can’t all hop a flight to Spain, we can all journey deeper into those hidden recesses of our very souls, where God waits with delight. Eberle masterfully weaves stories that both transport us to the land of St. Ignatius while also keeping us grounded in the spiritual reality of our own present lives. If you’re looking for an adventure into the soul, this is your book."  –Eric Clayton, Author of My Life with the Jedi and Cannonball Moments 

Christine Eberle is not only an experienced, funny, and wise spiritual guide. She's also a great storyteller. In the vivid episodes of this book, she takes readers through stunning Spanish landscapes, hostels, communal meals, and masses and invites us to reflect on our own pilgrimages, including the ones we undertake in our ordinary lives. The rhythm of this book—action, reflection, action, reflection—is the heart of pilgrimage and of Ignatian spirituality itself.”—Jonathan Malesic, Author of The End of Burnout 

“With humor and insight, Christine Eberle invites us to tag along from afar on her Ignatian Camino. Eberle gives us the context and the questions to better understand our own journeys, through the evocative lens of Ignatian spirituality.”
–Elizabeth Grace Matthew, EdD, Regular opinion contributor at "The Hill" and Catholic mother of four

“"Do you want to go for a walk with me?' With this deceptively simple question, author Christine M. Eberle launches us on a journey. Eberle shares the perils and pitfalls of each stage of her travels, as well as the moments of sublime grace and beauty she encountered, while recreating each wild and wide vista of the Ignatian Camino trail—from the formidable heights of its mountains to the fragrant vineyards and arid deserts of its lowlands. With her trademark tongue-in-cheek wit and relentless honesty, Eberle crafts both an entertaining and accessible memoir and a guidebook for meditating life's most important questions. At turns harrowing and joyous, this is a book that lets the reader inhabit each step of an uplifting and transformative odyssey few will get to experience firsthand. By the time the author reaches the pinnacle of her journey and arrives at the monastery at Montserrat, the reader will feel an undeniable sense of accomplishment and triumph”.
–David W. Burns, author of Heart of Stone (Book One of The Medusa Chronicles) 

“What a delight to journey along the Ignatian Camino with Christine Eberle as our wise and thoughtful guide! Scripture, story, and Ignatian principles are woven together in a meditative and inspiring guide not only for those making a literal pilgrimage, but for all of us who lace up our shoes each morning to walk through the holy and challenging terrain of our own lives.”  –Cameron Bellm, Author of The Sacrament of Paying Attention: Contemplative Practices for Restoring Sacred Human Communion (Eerdmans, Fall 2025) 

“Although I have never walked the Ignatian Camino, I feel as if I have reaped the benefits of doing so by reading Eberle’s spiritual travelogue of her pilgrimage. The questions Eberle asks at the end of each reflection remind me that life is a pilgrimage and that whether I travel through Spain or my own backyard, it is the same God who is leading the way." –Ann M. Garrido, Associate Professor of Homiletics at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, MO 

Author Bio
Christine Marie Eberle
After spending twenty-six years as a campus minister in higher education, in 2019 Christine took a leap of faith and began her “encore career” as a writer, public speaker, and retreat facilitator. Drawing on her theater background (and believing that God wastes nothing), Christine often performs dramatic interpretations of women in Scripture. She is the author of two books of daily mediations based on true stories: Finding God in Ordinary Time and Finding God Abiding, pondering the delights and challenges of faith in a voice that is warm, accessible, and surprisingly funny. In 2022, she organized a pilgrimage along the Ignatian Way for members and friends of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC); Christine and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, where she sings in her parish choir. You can follow her at christine-marie-eberle.com.

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