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Hello to Wednesday and welcome to this week's small-town church-- St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church. This quaint little church is located on the peninsula that houses Fort Monroe in Virginia. My family has been stationed twice in Virginia--once in Charlottesville, once in the DC area. I've loved both times, though, Charlottesville is about as good as it gets for mid-sized towns for me. It was crazy hard to move from there. During our time in Charlottesville, my husband had to take a 2-month long class at the Naval Station in Norfolk. The Naval Station is directly south across the James River from this church. Some weekends, my kids and I would go over to visit my husband. I can't believe we never hit up this church. An interesting fact about this church is that it is "the only diocesan church in the nation located on a military installation." This must be why it's pretty and doesn't look like a military building like all the ones I'm used to. Lol. From the church's website: "Rev. John McGill, Third Bishop of Richmond, and Col. Rene E. De Russy, representing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, signed an agreement, dated June 6, 1860, that, with permission granted by President Abraham Lincoln, authorized the construction of a Catholic church on Fort Monroe. The government would retain ownership of the land, but the Diocese would own the church and rectory buildings. After spending a lot of time in the Norfolk, Williamsburg, Newport News, and Virginia Beach when my daughters were in gymnastics, I can tell you that there is a heap-ton of things to see and do in this area. I'm not kidding or exaggerating even in the slightest when I say that the Norfolk Botanical Gardens are THE best I've ever been to anywhere in the world. And...they aren't far from this church. So, Catholic Pilgrims, if ever you find yourself touring the battlefield of Yorktown, climbing to the top of the many lighthouses in the area (I climbed Fort Henry lighthouse while very pregnant with my son) or dining on the waterfront district in Hampton, think about going to Mass at St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church. Live the Faith boldly and travel well.
Continue ReadingThere's a note, just one note, in an Allison Krauss song that is proof to me that Heaven is real. I know that sounds crazy, but when it hits, I can't describe the feeling it gives me. All I know is that I wish it lasted forever and because one note makes me desire its sound for eternity, to me, that means my soul was made for eternal goodness. The song is "If I Didn't Know Any Better," for those wanting to know. When I look at the masterpiece painting "Ecce Homo" (Behold, the Man) by Antonio Ciseri, I literally have to be pried away. My soul is so moved by it that it's almost painful because I don't know how to express how it makes me feel. One time, my dad and I went to a John Hiatt concert together in a very cool theater in KC. At one point, we got to get close to the stage and John Haitt started playing the song, "Cry Love." I was so entranced, I couldn't move. I remember so vividly how captured I was in that moment. I went home that night and probably listened to it on my dad's cd player 20 times before my soul felt satisfied. It's one of my top three favorite songs of all time. In the "Brothers Karamazov," Father Zosima says, "Much is hidden from us on earth but, as a compensation, we have been given a mysterious, sacred sense of a living bond with another world, with a lofty and superior world." "And if the awareness of (the soul's) ties to that world weakens or dies in you, then all that has grown within you will also die. And you will become indifferent to life, will even come to hate it." I have my ties to Heaven: Music, paintings, churches, the Eucharist, my children's faces, my husband's love. All these things let me know without a doubt that Heaven is real and that I'm made for it. So many people have lost that tie or have never felt it and we see the consequence of that loss all around us, which is tragic. That is why it is so imperative that we promote the good, the true, and the beautiful, Catholic Pilgrims, so that we can help remind people. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Tuesday.
Continue ReadingWe've probably all seen the videos of the young women (and men, too) who are defending their decision to never have kids. I'm not here to talk about that necessarily. But, I saw a young woman make a video where she said, "People always ask me what the purpose of my life is. The purpose of my life is to get my nails done. The purpose of my life is to take naps. Have you ever taken a nap? They are fantastic. The purpose of my life is to travel..." I watch those kinds of things with such sadness. No, you were not born so that you could get your nails done or take naps. Those aren't purposes for a life, they are activities that you do (all can be done with kids, I might add). The purpose of your life is to be a gift to others. Never has anyone been born where God had in mind for them a life totally lived for themselves. Never. The mantra of our western culture for far too long has been to focus on the self to an extreme degree. This has not made us more healthy, happy, fulfilled, or capable human beings. Yes, being a gift to others is not as easy as living for oneself, though I would argue that it's harder to go through life imploding in on yourself. Everybody has a purpose and that purpose is to be a gift to other human beings through loving them, caring for them, supporting them, and enriching their lives. And it can't just be a now and then kind of thing, it has to be a gift of self that stretches you and asks something of you. Christ's life is a full and complete gift to us. Mary gave herself to the whole human race by saying yes to being the Mother of Our Savior. The Saints give themselves away for love of God and love of others. You were made for more than nails and naps, Catholic Pilgrims. So, live the faith boldly and travel well this Monday.
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