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Today's small town church is St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Somerset, Ohio--the oldest Catholic Church in Ohio. My family has been stationed in Ohio twice. It was our first duty station in 2002-2006 and then again in 2018-2020. The first time we moved there, I was not Catholic, but it is where my middle daughter was baptized Catholic. My heart started to soften there. When my husband and I got orders to Ohio the first time, neither one of us was ecstatic. Ohio seemed pretty normal and not thrilling like some other possible places. But, the Lord knows what He is doing, because it was enough like Kansas to not feel too foreign for me and it was only 10 hours from home. It was in Ohio, that I finally surrendered to the military life and "fixed my face" by changing my attitude. I initially wanted my husband to do his four years and get out. Here we are 24 years later and I'm so glad Dustin stayed in. Our second time being stationed in Ohio, I was Catholic, which meant, I wanted to see all the churches. Goodness, does Ohio have some stunning ones. Just in Dayton alone, there are plenty of Catholic Churches to keep you busy. At St. Joseph's in Dayton, there are my favorite stained-glass windows of the archangels over the altar. Cincinnati, also, has so many beauties. I went on my first silent retreat near Cincinnati at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center. One of my all time favorite churches in the US is in Cincinnati at Old St. Mary's. There is also the Maria Stein Shrine which houses the second largest collection of holy relics in the US located in Maria Stein, Ohio. I have not been to our featured church, but, of course, now I must see it someday. It was founded in 1818 by German Catholics, which were led by Dominicans. This church was completed in 1848. I believe their pastor today is still from the Dominican order. It sits outside of Somerset, just out in the country, looking very serene and peaceful. So, if ever cutting across Ohio on I70, and you have time, take a detour and see this quaint country church. Live the faith boldly and travel well, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingWhen my one friend became an atheist, she brought the question of evil to me to try to persuade me away from God. And what she brought was a conversation out of the book "The Brothers Karamazov." It was a short video clip of a conversation between the middle brother, Ivan, and his younger brother, Alyosha. It all centered on the problem of evil. Ivan wasn't necessarily an atheist, he just rejected God's invitation to relationship because of the problem of evil. I think my friend forgot that this was exactly why I turned my back on God at 17. God had allowed evil to happen to me and I rejected a relationship with HIm. She thought this was a slam-dunk argument against God and while it is the strongest one that non-believers have, I asked her, "Okay, so you think that the problem of evil proves that there is no God. Okay, now what? Now that you've removed God you still have the problem of evil. I genuinely want to know, now what?" I never really got an answer. When she showed me that video, I hadn't read the book yet. I'm reading it now for Lent with Hallow, so I understand a lot more of what is going on. Today, for Pray40, Sister Miriam says, "God is not asking you and I to approve of suffering. He is not asking us to make peace with evil. God is not calling us to understand everything. He is not calling us to grasp an intellectual explanation." "And this is where Ivan stumbles. It is his job, he thinks, to decide what is right and what it wrong. And in his pride, he sets himself up ahead of God." This is what I did. I thought it was my job to fix everything and everyone, including myself. I simply could not do that and neither can you. No human can. And because I couldn't enact justice as I saw fit, I became bitter and resentful. Just like Ivan. Without God, there can be no redemption, no healing after evil has been inflicted, no true peace. It doesn't always make sense and I certainly don't have the whole picture and that's because I'm not God. Surrendering to God and trusting in Him is the only way, Catholic Pilgrims. The other way brings nothing but more misery. Have a blessed Monday.
Continue ReadingA couple of days ago late in the afternoon, I made a really simple quick video to put up on a couple of my social media pages. It was a video of my family's "Indiana Jones" day in Turkey. We had a friend there, a fellow Catholic, that took us around to see old lost churches. You can see my son standing in some of the ruins here in this picture. Anyway, the coolest one he took us to was a hidden church IN THE GROUND out in a field. The steps down into it were covered in weeds and we had to clear all that out to be able to walk down the steps. That day was one of my favorite days ever. So, I made this quick video, posted it, and went about my day. When I woke up the next morning, I found that thousands and thousands of people on Instagram had interacted with it. Usually on Instagram, my videos are all duds, so I was shocked. But, ohhhhhhh, let me tell you, the interactions were, for the most part, awful. Basically, the Greeks, Turks, and Armenians went to war in the video's comments. I mean, just saying the most vile things. Protestants came after me and called me a pagan and a cult member. Orthodox people came after me. One man called me a liar and told me that it was nothing but a cistern. When I explained the reality to him, he demanded coordinates so that he could go see it. Um....no. Another guy asked me why I don't hate Turkey, the country. There were a few sane people who could just enjoy the coolness of the video and leave it at that, but the wide majority of people were just insanely awful. It just broke my heart to see such retched ugliness all from a video that was from one of my most memorable days. But, it was getting me lots of followers, which I never get on Instagram, so for half a second, I was like, "Hey, this is good!" Quickly, though, that thought left my head. I knew I had to shut the comments and the ability to share off, so that such vileness wasn't found on my page. Hatred is a bitter, bitter poison, Catholic Pilgrims. Live in the light and love of Christ. PS. I am well versed on why the countries over there don't like each other. I had to learn all about it when I was there. I don't want to hear about here, so please don't start another word war on this page.
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