Where do you like to go?

Have you ever been going through some pictures, either on your phone, a folder on your computer, or even the old-fashioned photo albums and found one that brings back a special memory? This could be a person that is/was very special to you, or a wonderful experience that you had. I will sometimes just go through some of my photos just to bring up a memory of an experience.

As many of you know, I really enjoy traveling. I love to see new places and experience different, or even re-experience places that I have been to before and enjoyed. I have traveled with a few different friends to different places. Yes, I have a few favorites, Rome and the Holy Land are two of the places that I would go again and again, primarily because of the history of the faith. To be at the places where Jesus walked and taught, and did some of his miracles is a wonderful thing to do, or to get close to the place in which Paul was executed, or to be able to be next to the tomb of St. Luke or other saints can be very moving. Some of the other things that we get to experience when we travel is to see the wonderful gift of God’s creation. Another one of my favorite places is Glacier National Park in Montana. To see the beauty that is in the world can be quite moving as well.

The question is, do we need to travel to a National Park, to the Holy Land, or Rome to grow our faith? The answer is of course not, prayer is the primary thing that we need to do to grow our faith. Mass of course is the highest form of prayer that we have, it attaches us to the altar, and in turn to the one altar in Heaven. In Eucharistic Prayer I, there is a part which states “In humble prayer we ask you, almighty God: command that these gifts be borne by the hands of your holy Angel to your altar on high in the sight of your divine majesty. So that all of us, who through this participation at the altar receive the most holy Body and Blood of your Son, may be filled with every grace and Heavenly blessing.” So, in the Mass, we are not only in the building of the Church, we are also in the presence of the altar in the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Mass, we, in a sense, visit not only the beautiful and holy places on earth, but we also get a glimpse of a picture of Heaven! During the Mass, we not only get to see the wonderful things, but we also get to participate in them and receive them as we receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.  No matter how beautiful a building is, or how breathtaking a site of nature is, they pale in comparison to the single most beautiful thing that we can participate in, the Holy Mass. So, as we think about that time we get to spend with Christ, let it be the best time that we can spend.

God bless,
Fr. Ken