PathToHoliness

Last week I was in Danville, KY for some project work and attended Mass at Saints Peter and Paul Church.

This is a pretty little church in downtown Danville.

This weekend I made my annual retreat which was held at the Sojourn Center in Dittmer, MO. The weather started out sunny and warm but changed to rain and snow. That didn’t dampen our enthusiasm.

The facility is a new one to us who have been making Wespine Study Center retreats for many years. It’s really set up nicely to conduct a retreat with a beautiful little pond and trail around it and through some adjoining woods.

The annual retreat is part of my plan of life and very important to my continued development of my interior life. It’s a time to “recharge the spiritual batteries” and I highly recommend it to everyone.

This week while working in Raleigh, NC I attended Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes. This is the altar in the main church.

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish was founded in 1954. Our school opened the same year. The present gymnasium served as the church from 1954 until 1976 when the new church was dedicated. The parish has continued to grow over the years and our parish center, The Fallon Center, was dedicated in January 1993. At the same time, the demand for Catholic education has caused us to have to double the size of our school, and our new school was dedicated in September of 1997. Our new parish office building and Perpetual Adoration Chapel was dedicated in March, 1997.

I was here to attend the Dixie Deer Classic and do some project work for John Deere. You can find photos from my visit in my online photo album.

This is the altar in the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, TX. My wife, Cindy, and I traveled together for a change to a conference there and attended Ash Wednesday Mass.

San Fernando Cathedral has always been at the center of San Antonio. It is a special place that occupies a unique position in this city and for the many visitors who come by the thousands every year.

From its founding on March 9, 1731 by a group of 15 families who came from the Canary Islands at the invitation of King Phillip V of Spain, this church was planned to be at the center of the life of this city.

Cindy went on a very short tour downtown and passed this outdoor statue of St. Anthony, patron of the town.

We were also in Grapevine, TX where we attended Mass on Saturday and Sunday at St. Francis of Assisi.

Although traveling does get old, the opportunity to see so many churches and attend Mass in so many places is a bright spot.

This past week I was in Orlando, FL and got to attend Mass at the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe.

This is a picture of the altar from when you first walk through the front entrance doors. There is a chapel directly behind the altar where they have daily Eucharistic Adoration. Here’s some description from the website:

A 2,000 seat Shrine Church adorned with inspirational stained-glass windows, depicting the story of God’s love for man, and Mary’s place in God’s plan for salvation. The Shrine’s fourteen aisle windows are entitled “The Magnificat Windows.”

The Outdoor Chapel, featuring a magnificent bronze sculpture of the Mother and Child, created by renowned artist Jerzy Kenar.

This is the view inside St. Mary’s Basilica in Phoenix, AZ. I attended Mass there while I was covering the Cattle Industry Convention. The Church is located right next to the convention center so it couldn’t have been more convenient.

One morning I went over for Noon Mass only to find that they had Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Then I looked at my phone and realized I was still on central time and an hour early. So, I got to pay a special visit with our Lord and come back again later for Mass.

This past week I was in Houston and attended weekday Mass one day at Christ, the Incarnate Word Church. This is a mostly Vietnamese parish I guess.

I arrived early and those attending were all standing and chanting. You can hear what it sounds like using this link. It was a very nice Mass although I certainly couldn’t understand the language. That’s one of the things I love about the Mass. It doesn’t matter where you are, the form is the same so you can follow along. In fact, with my iPhone and using the iBreviary application I could read the Mass readings. I’m finding that application very handy.

It was a crisp morning with frost but the sun was shining and it warmed up very quickly. I’ll be back on the road again this week to Phoenix and have to look online to see where I can attend Mass there.

I was in Gainesville, FL recently and although I couldn’t stop to go in, I did get a snapshot of St. Augustine Church. This is where Cindy and I got married over 28 years ago!

I can’t even remember when I’ve been in Gainesville other than stopping by off the highway. It was great to spend a day and actually meet some old friends.

I want to wish you all a Happy New Year and blessed Feast of Mary, Mother of God.

As Catholics we must always have a joyful awareness that this life, as beautiful as it may be, is not our ultimate end. Though we fight for truth and freedom in our beloved country, it remains but an earthly dwelling place, a temporary homeland where we must prepare ourselves for the greater Home that awaits us:

I know the country I am living in is not really my true fatherland, and there is another I must long for without ceasing. This is not simply a story invented by someone living in the sad country where I am, but it is a reality, for the King of the Fatherland of the bright sun actually came and lived for thirty-three years in the land of darkness. (Story of a Soul, Manuscript C)

Heaven. Resurrection. Eternal Life. What we believe, what we hope for, is not merely some lofty philosophical ideal or the fantasy of uneducated simpletons. It is truth, Divinely revealed and able to be known through human reason (CCC 156-59.) I love this little dialogue at the end of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov:

“Karamazov!” cried Kolya, “can it really be true as religion says, that we shall all rise from the dead, and come to life, and see one another again, and everyone, and Ilyushecka?”

“Certainly we shall rise, certainly we shall see and gladly, joyfully tell one another all that has been,” Alyosha relied, half laughing, half in ecstasy.

“Ah, how good that will be!” burst from Kolya.

How good that will be, indeed! As this month for All Souls comes to an end let us pray for all the faithful departed: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

Now we begin that great season of hope where we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord when truth and justice will reign for all eternity.

This past week I wound up in Emmetsburg, IA to attend a farm field day. The weather wasn’t very nice but at least it wasn’t snowing, just rain.

I found Holy Family Church and attended Mass on Thursday morning before the event I was in town for got started.

Right nearby to Emmetsburg is West Bend, IA. A number of years ago I was driving by and saw a sign for the Grotto of the Redemption. I visited and spent the night there. Mass that next morning was in the upstairs of the house an elderly priest lived in. I’ll never forget it. I wish I’d had time to stop in for a visit this time but it didn’t work out that way.

This week I got to travel to my home town of Sarasota, FL.

I went to daily Mass at St. Martha’s right downtown. You can read a history of the Catholic community and the church on their website. Here’s an excerpt:

The Sarasota mission post of the Tampa Jesuits became a parish when Father Charles L. Elslander, as a young man, said Mass in the little frame church facing east on Adelia Street on October 1, 1927, and the congregation numbered 132.

The little church came to be known as St. Martha’s in honor of the patron saint of Owen Burns’ mother, Martha, who had suggested to her son that he donate the first lot.

St. Martha’s feast day is July 29.

Our Lady Queen of Peace was the church I got to attend Mass at once again this year on my annual fall visit to Madison, WI for World Dairy Expo.

The church has a 6:30am Mass each week day which is perfect since I usually need to be on location at the Alliant Energy Center by 7:30am for different activities.

I’m planning on starting an online photo album of churches where I get to attend Mass soon.

The second part of the Easter Triduum consists of the Veneration of the Cross. My camera phone didn’t take a very good picture of this at the service we attended at St. Andrews in Holts Summit, MO last night.

I think Chelsea has written a good post on the Cross, something that so many in our society won’t even take the time to think about. We have a lot of crosses and don’t usually see them as ways to grow closer to Christ. I know I have this problem.

Venerating the Cross helped me to consider how upset I get at all the little things that go wrong instead of thanking God for the opportunity to shoulder my little tiny part.

Here it is Holy Saturday, a day that can best be described as a day of waiting with expectation. At least that’s how I’ve always felt. It’s a day for rest and contemplation, for an especially good examination of our conscience.

The Easter Triduum is one of my favorite times of the year. Yesterday at our Church, Cathedral of St. Joseph, we attended the evening Mass.

Our Bishop celebrated the Mass and afterward we had the procession with the Blessed Sacrament which was reposed for adoration until midnight in our side chapel.

We are blessed to have 24/7 Adoration here as well.

I haven’t been contributing much here lately but I have been making it to Mass most every day on the road. Like last week in Washington, DC.

I attended at the Cathedral of St. Matthews. This is a beautiful church very near the Capitol.

Established in 1840, St. Matthew’s originally was located at 15th and H Streets, NW. Construction of the present church began in 1893 under the direction of Monsignor Thomas Sim Lee. The first Mass was celebrated on June 2, 1895. The church was dedicated in 1913 and designated a cathedral in 1939 when the Archdiocese of Washington was established.

The Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle, which honors the patron saint of civil servants, plays a major role in the Catholic life of the nation’s capital. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Washington.

You can purchase a book about the restoration of the Cathedral called, “A Landmark Restored.” The book contains 31 pages of historical information and beautiful photographs of the Cathedral’s restoration process.

The Podcast and New Media Expo is taking place in Ontario, CA. This group, including two priests, are podcasters who are exhibiting in the trade show.

They’re promoting sqpn.com, “The Best in Catholic Podcasting.”

SQPN (Star Quest Production Network) is a multimedia organization specializing in the production of audio and video programs faithful to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Its mission is to respond to the Church’s call to use the media for religious information, for evangelization and catechesis and for formation and education¹.

I was able to make it to Mass this morning at St. Secondo D’Asti, a very small church near my hotel.

I can’t remember when I’ve seen a Mass with the priest facing the altar and then communion given out at the rail which is still in place.

It was very nice.

They also have confession before Mass even though it’s at 6:30am.