PathToHoliness

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We’re getting closer to the release of the movie, “There Be Dragons.” This is the movie poster. It sure looks like it will be a good one.

Roland Joffe, the director who brought us the highly acclaimed and deeply spiritual film The Mission has returned to his roots with the epic movie There Be Dragons, a powerful story of war, tragedy, love and redemption. Featured in the NY Times, the $35 million Dragons is rated PG-13 and planned for release in theaters worldwide in Spring, 2011. Set during the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War (early 1900s), Dragons tells the story of two childhood friends who become separated during the political conflict to find themselves on opposite sides as war erupts. One chooses the path of peace and becomes a priest while the other chooses the life of a soldier driven by jealousy and revenge. Each will struggle to find the power of forgiveness over the forces that tore their lives and friendship apart.

Recently my wife, Cindy, and I were out of town in different states. We of course went to different churches for Sunday Mass but had very similar experiences.

I would classify them as “weird.” In my case I attended Mass in Lexington, KY at Mary, Queen of the Rosary. I knew something was different when I had to ask an usher where the Tabernacle was. Turns out it’s not in the church proper or anywhere near the altar. It’s in a separate room across the hall. It’s a very tiny room with a couple kneelers in it. Kind of makes it hard for very many to visit with our Lord. And maybe even more telling was the fact that before Mass no one was in the little chapel with Jesus. Most people were yakking in and outside of the church.

Otherwise the church appeared pretty normal. But then we got to the Mass. Let’s just say that there were a several things that I found very distracting. First was the sign language dude right in front of the altar to one side. He was in to it with lots of waving of hands and arms and, well, you get the picture. Now, I could understand this if there were people seriously in need of this service. However, best I could tell, no one was watching him. Except me because it was new I guess. It gets better though. Prior to the readings the priest asked all the kids to come forward before being led away. I’ve seen this before and think it’s a travesty for those children. But he sits down on the altar steps with them I guess tried to pretend to be one of them for a couple minutes. Next up is his sermon after the Gospel. I knew it was going to be strange when he pulls a stuffed monkey out from underneath him and wraps it around his neck and starts telling a story about monkeys in the jungle. He wore it throughout his sermon. He put it away at the end with the comment that monkeys aren’t Catholic! Okay.

So while I was attending Mass in Lexington, Cindy was attending Mass in Plano, TX at Prince of Peace church. I think the design tells a story in and of itself with the round structure and flying saucer shaped disk suspended from the ceiling.

I’m going to ask her to add to this post with her experiences. Let’s just say, her story trumps mine.

*Post Update from Cindy*

I don’t know if it was the most unusual Mass I ever attended, but I have been to literally hundreds of Catholic churches all over the world and POP-Plano is by far the strangest church I have ever entered in my life. It was like walking into a piece of “modern” art – which makes it really hard to describe. Like art, I may not know much about it, but I know what I like and this was not it. You can get a general impression from the photo, but it was the stainless steel poles surrounding the perimeter and the donut hanging from the ceiling that really made it unlike any other church I have seen. They are very proud of their “award winning church,” according to the POP website, which gives a guided tour of their worship space. Apparently they have gotten some questions (no doubt) about the design and felt it necessary to explain them. Here’s an excerpt:

“Art and Environment in Catholic Worship” points out to us that what a church building looks like is not important as long as it facilitates the liturgical actions of the Community. When a design promotes good liturgy, it is successful. When it also includes beauty and simplicity it is a major event. We feel that we have combined both. This has been recognized by professional organizations and publications.

We present this “tour” with the prayer that it will help you understand the reasons behind some of the decisions made in the design process. We believe that our church reflects the wisdom that flows from the liturgical renewal affirmed by the Second Vatican Council.

About the “donut” floating on the ceiling – according to the website, “The canopy or “cloud” over the raised platform reminds us of the cloud that was a sign of God’s presence as the Israelites were led through the desert after their release from slavery to the Egyptians.” Ohhhhhhh, now I get it!

As far as the liturgy itself, it was of the normal liberal Catholic variety, nothing I really hadn’t seen before – but the church design itself will be hard to top in the “weirdest ever” category in my book. It’s also important to note that this was the closest church I could find to where I was staying near Dallas, in a new town called Prosper, and it was 18 miles away!

Everyone I know refers to the Basilica of St. Louis, King as the “Old Cathedral” in St. Louis. It may be old but it’s still going strong. The Basilica sits right off I-70 under the St. Louis Arch so it can’t be easier to find or get in to. There is a weekday, including Saturday, Mass at 7am and my wife and I have attended a number of times over the years.

I did so yesterday on my way to Lexington, KY for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. That’s my home away from home for a couple days. I’m getting ready to decide on which church to attend Mass this morning and will probably feature it here later this week.

The history of the Old Cathedral and the early history of the City of St. Louis are intertwined. The Old Cathedral Museum, located on the west side of the Cathedral, contains many artifacts and relics from the early days of the Catholic Church in St. Louis and also historical information. When Pierre Liguest Laclede and his First Lieutenant Auguste Chouteau founded the City of St. Louis in 1764, Laclede dedicated the square just west of where he built his home, to church and graveyard purposes. The first Catholic Church in St. Louis built on this site, was a small log house built in 1770. St. Louis IX, King of France, is the Patron Saint of the City and of the Church. In 1776, the mission of St. Louis became a canonical parish and the second log cabin church was built. Its bell, the gift of Lieutenant Governor Don Piernos and enriched by 200 Spanish silver dollars in its casting, can be seen today in the Old Cathedral Museum.

Here’s a charitable organization we support that I thought I’d bring to your attention. It’s the Merida Foundation. At Mass this morning Rudy gave me their current update letter to save postage. That shows you how committed they are to using donations carefully! Rudy and Dorothy just got back from a trip to Mexico and had a good trip with Fr. Fred Elskamp, who has been a Pastor at our church. They make about 3 trips a year and bring about 1,200 pairs of eye glasses with them to distribute to the poor with vision problems. That’s just part of the good work they’re doing. Here’s a description:

The Merida Foundation is a charitable corporation originally founded and funded by Dorothy and Rudy Lemke in December 2003 to benefit the descendants of the ancient Mayan people of Mexican’s Yucatan Peninsula. Since 1982, now retired optician, Dorothy Lemke has been providing eye glasses to the poor, visually impaired people in the rural villages surrounding the city of Merida.

Since its inception, the Merida Foundation has also funded nutrition projects for undernourished school children in the region. Today, the foundation is feeding approximately 350 hungry children at six nutrition sites.

Here’s where you can find information about making a donation.

Today’s first reading at Mass (Ecclesiastes 1:2-11) made me feel compelled to make this note. I love this reading. Here’s a portion of the reading.

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains for ever.
The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
The wind blows to the south, and goes round to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.
All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.
All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.

What hit me about this is how true it is in describing what I have felt as an arrogance by certain elements in our culture that think they know how things should be when in fact they know next to nothing and for all their words and actions, won’t even be remembered in the near future. Because of my work in agricultural communications I come into contact with people and information from groups who think they know how our government should work and be controlled, who think they know what everyone else should eat and who think they have found some new truth about the environment. Really? I think it’s more about using scare tactics to deceive stupid, gullible people into agreeing with them and providing them with power and control for their own purposes.

I’m all for sensible environmentalism. The farmers I know are the best environmentalists who walk the walk and talk the talk. The wackos who can do nothing but condemn every business trying to make a profit (farms) while holding their hands out to the government for a bailout have no credibility with me. But look at how much money groups like Greenpeace rake in. As if they are actually accomplishing anything or aren’t really trying to feather their own nests.

There’s so much good that can be done in the world but humility is needed as I think the reading of today suggests. Let’s take care of our resources but realize that there’s a bigger goal and that is to serve God and seek to join Him in His kingdom someday.

This week I had the opportunity to attend weekday Mass at SS. Peter & Paul Church in Naperville, IL.

Saints Peter & Paul was founded in 1846 and is the oldest established parish in DuPage County. The parish was originally established as St. Raphael’s, after the given name of its pastor, Rev. Raphael Rainaldi. The first church served 25 families, and was a small frame structure with a lean-to attached to the south side, which served as both sacristy and priest’s residence. This church was built on the west side of Front Street (Ellsworth) and faced east.

I love to show off my girls. Yes, my three daughters. They were celebrating Chelsea’s birthday (which was a couple of days ago) with my wife last night. I couldn’t be there due to a business trip so they sent me a phone photo. Chelsea is in the center with Caitlin to the left and Carly to the right. Chelsea writes here on Path To Holiness sometimes btw. You can find her regular writings on her own blog, Reflections of a Paralytic.

I miss them a lot between traveling and there activities but we do get to see them pretty often.

It looks like you have options if you want to watch live coverage of Pope Benedict’s visit to the United Kingdom. His trip will end with the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman.

For starters EWTN will be covering it live. It also looks like there will be live broadcasts from the Vatican Television Center.

Then it looks like the Catholic Communications Network will be live streaming as well. They’ve got a blog started. You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

It’s time to celebrate 30 years of marriage. Cindy and I are taking a few days of vacation to do it.

This morning we attended Mass at Holy Spirit in Pensacoala, FL. After Mass we renewed our vows with the Deacon. We also talked him into taking a photo of us in front of the Altar.

So, all I can say is summed up in lyrics from a favorite song of mine:

Happy anniversary baby
Got you on my mind
Happy anniversary baby
Got you on my mind

I may be away from home this week but it’s not for work for a change.

Tomorrow is my wife Cindy and my 30th wedding anniversary. So we decided to take a real vacation. This is something we can’t remember doing. Just the two of us for a week on the beach.

The weather and the water are beautiful.

This morning we took a walk on the beach before it gets busy with holiday traffic. We’ll be attending Mass at Holy Spirit Church in Pensacola.

I’m going to add a photo to this post later. I’m taking a CoffeeZone break to get at least one post on. My travel schedule really shouldnt be an excuse for not posting more often.

I’ve been meaning to write about the Rosary again for a while now. I wanted to let you know that Chelsea and I make them and if you leave a comment request well send you one. We make a variety of types of rosaries. My favorite are with cord and the beads are knots like the one you’ll see in the photo. We also make them with plastic beads and slender cord too.

The rosary is one of my favorite forms of prayer for a lot of reasons. For one thing, you can say it anywhere, anytime. I have a rosary ring that I wear at all times. I can use it while driving, in a boring meeting, on the plane, etc. But I also have a nice rosary in a small zipper case in my pocket. I also have one of my cord rosaries with me when I travel that I keep by my bed in a hotel room. Whenever I have trouble sleeping for any reason I just pick it up and start saying it. It calms me down and I often wake up with it in my hand in mid decade.

I’ve got quite a few rosaries. Two of my favorites are the one handed to me by Pope John Paul II and one blessed by Pope Benedict XVI. I have a few from relatives and my rosary given to me when I became a Knight of Columbus. They all have special meaning but you can only carry around so many rosaries.

So, here’s a word of encouragement to get a rosary if you don’t have one (or leave me a comment and Ill mail you one) and start saying it. I prefer daily but I recommend at least once a week if you can. You’ll be amazed at the difference it will make in your life.

Here’s the latest church I was blessed to attend Mass at, as well as confession. It’s St. Mark Catholic Church. I was traveling with my wife, Cindy, for a change. We were doing some work at a swine health seminar in Wrightsville Beach, NC. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it. The beach was nice but it’s good to be home.

“St. Mark is a Roman Catholic Parish sustained by God’s Word and Christ in the Eucharist, empowered in the Holy Spirit, which provides for the sacramental life of our community. As a welcoming and diverse people, we are called to evangelize, to teach and to live the Catholic faith. We do this through our parish and school programs and our commitment to stewardship that span all generations.”

In case you haven’t seen the trailer yet for There Be Dragons I found it on YouTube. The movie about the life of St. Josemaria Escriva is still due out in early 2011.

Follow There Be Dragons on Facebook and Twitter.

I’ve been in a blogging drought here the last several weeks. In that time I’ve been to events in Panama City Beach, FL, Minneapolis, MN, Denver, CO, Willamsburg, VA and Des Moines, IA. Finally got home at the end of last week.

So I may not have been real diligent in my posting but I did make it to weekday and Sunday Masses at several churches like Holy Ghost Church in Denver. I’ll try to be a little more frequent here now that the schedule has calmed down temporarily!