Say a prayer for Paul from Manassas

We had to travel over a thousand miles to meet someone from our own back yard. The receptionist at the desk at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine was very friendly. When we told her we were from Virginia she replied saying, "I just talked to someone else from Virginia, a man traveling by himself."

As we were walking up the path to the church for Mass we saw a man coming down. "Are you from Virginia?" I asked. "Yes," he answered looking puzzled. "How did you know?"

"I'm clairvoyant," I laughed. Then admitted the receptionist told us there was a single man from Virginia and I just guessed. We introduced ourselves and then he told us he had recently returned to the Church after 40 years. He was teaching the Bible in a Protestant church, but started having questions that they could't answer. Guess he made a nuisance of himself because they wouldn't let him teach anymore. He didn't exactly explain what brought him back to the faith, but had visited Marian shrines all over the world even before his return. (Hmm...do you detect a little Mother Mary help here?) Paul had just gone to confession but couldn't stay for Mass because he had to get on the road to head home to Virginia. His dad died recently and he was in the area helping his stepmom. (What a good son!)

But that wasn't the only exciting part of his story. Paul's daughter was at a Protestant school and she decided to become Catholic. And now his wife is in RCIA studying the faith.
Well, the Blessed Mother knows all about the Trinity and the domestic church of the family mirrors the Trinity so why not a trinity of conversions.

We ended our conversation saying we would pray for each other, and I urge you to join, not only in praying but in rejoicing. What a meeting of hope there on that hallowed ground in La Crosse on the feast of the Holy Name of Mary. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.

Sunday Meditation: We are One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church

We began our cross country trip one week ago and in that time we've attended Mass at Sacred Heart in Winchester, VA; St. Joseph's in Marblehead, OH, the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, WI; and St. Mary's in Bangor, WI. Today being at Sunday Mass I had a sense of the one-ness of the Catholic Church. Larry and I sat in the middle of the congregation and joined in the rosary before Mass. As people came in they entered their pews and knelt to join in the prayers. There were elderly and senior folks like us, families with children and some singles, new babies, small children, and teens. All of us were joined together in the Holy Sacrifice as one human family praying for our loved ones, our neighbors and friends, and for those we'll never meet. We listened to the same gospel reading about the unjust steward that Catholics everywhere heard today. We prayed for the victims of 9/11 and for those who committed the atrocities. There in that little country church we shared in the one-ness of the Catholic Church obeying God's command to "keep holy the Sabbath."

Larry and I were blessed at every church we visited this week to experience a sense of unity in the faith. Of course, there is disunity in the Church as well coming from those who reject Church teachings and foment dissent, but we didn't see them this week. We saw and heard priests teaching the authentic faith and preaching the gospel as Jesus instructed when he sent them out to claim the whole world for himself.

And it gave me hope! Seeing these good country folk praying together and greeting each other after Mass, I am confident that evil will never overcome good. Praised be Jesus Christ!