I had the pleasure today of traveling to Sacramento for my almost annual pilgrimage to the permanent exhibit on the Shroud of Turin. I almost ended up not going, since some of the people that I was going to go with cancelled late. Then, out of nowhere, different people heard me talking about the trip and got very excited about going. It ended up being a group of 6 of us in two vehicles that made the hour and a half drive up to Sacramento for a very moving exhibit.
We started the day with mass at the convent here in Modesto at 7 AM. We were treated to a gorgeous sunrise on our way into the chapel, which is adjacent to St. Stanislaus Church. This is the view that I had walking towards the chapel; as if just attending mass wasn't enough of a blessing all by itself! Between the natural light of the rising sun, the artificial lighting inside of St. Stanislaus, and the glow from inside the chapel of the Risen Son, it was more than a little moving.
Mass at the convent, in case you have never been, is always moving. The front of the chapel is filled with the nuns (Sister of the Cross) dressed in either their normal black habits or during the warmer months in all white ones. The back can sometimes have only one or two people, but this morning it was standing room only with many people (men and women) filling up all of the pews for an early morning mass. Being in a chapel where there is Eucharistic adoration with a bunch of nuns is moving, but to be there for mass, even more so.
Father Mark's homily brought to life quite a few aspects of God's mercy, since the reading were about that and Pope Francis announced just early in the morning that next year would be the Year of Mercy for the Universal Church. It was Father Mark that made the connection that the theme for World Youth Day 2016, which both he and I will attend, has to do with mercy as well. The highlight of the mass, of course, was receiving the Eucharist. I spent a good part of Thursday night discussing with my confirmation students about the meaning of the Eucharist, so this early mass just brought back to mind the same ideas and feelings that I had while guiding the discussion with the students.
After mass, we left for a quick breakfast. I was hoping that there would be time for a nice relaxing, sit-down breakfast, but we ended up only having time for a quick one at McDonald's. Not the highest quality, but the coffee was good!
Next, we hopped on the freeway for the drive to Sacramento. I was driving my mother-in-law and her husband, Iris and Vito, while the other car had Angel, Jill and Linda, who are all in my weekly Bible study, the Better Spreaders of Bacon. I had plenty of time to talk with Vito, as Iris slept. I always enjoy listening to his 73 years of wisdom, as he has had a very interesting life (he was born in a cave!). The other car was supposed to stay behind us, since they had never been there before, but as we passed Stockton, I couldn't see them anymore in my rear view mirror. It wasn't until we got to Sacramento, and I was able to take my phone out of my pocket, that I realized that Angel had sent a text saying that they were stopping to get gas in Lodi. We were already running late, and they were stopping for gas. Luckily, it didn't matter, since our guide is Latino, and so very flexible.
We arrive to the exhibit, which is in the office building directly behind Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Sacramento. The parish is entirely Latino (mostly Mexican), and so the decorations inside include a lot of statues familiar to Latinos from most countries. There is a statue to the Child of Antorcha, the Holy Child of Praque, the Divine Child (Mother Angelica from EWTN has a big devotion to him as do many Colombians), Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos, St. Toribio (a Cristero), and more. It is really impressive. I have heard that they have a REALLY large collection of relics as well, but have yet to be able to see them. The church is worthy of a pilgrimage by itself, but we saved that for after the exhibit, since that is the real reason we drove to Sacramento.
Our tour guide was Andy Sandoval. He is a very enthusiastic man who takes his responsibilities of working at the exhibit very seriously. He works at the Catholic radio station during the week, but sees as his ministry to share the exhibit as a evangelization tool. He not only gives the basic information, but emphasizes how it all fits in with our faith. Every time he apologizes for his English, but he only has troubles with individual words when he get really excited about what he is talking about. He makes himself understood regardless of whether the listeners speak Spanish or not.
I won't describe the exhibit in much detail, as one really should see it to experience it. Besides, I can't convey in writing the enthusiasm of Andy describing all of the details. Suffice it to say, that I have learned something new each and every time that I have gone to the exhibit. This was my fourth time through the exhibit, three times in Sacramento and once in the sister exhibit in Jerusalem. As I told the others at the end, the most moving time had to be the one in the Holy Land, since when we came out of that one, we walked to the Holy Sepulcher, where everything that we had seen and talked about had taken place.
We ended our pilgrimage with lunch at Chick-Fil-A. I have always thought that it is appropriate to support a business that supports what marriage truly means while on a Catholic pilgrimage. The drive back to Modesto seemed longer than the drive to Sacramento, but that is probably because I was more tired and not really looking forward to a drive to Merced as soon as I got home for my new job.
We started the day with mass at the convent here in Modesto at 7 AM. We were treated to a gorgeous sunrise on our way into the chapel, which is adjacent to St. Stanislaus Church. This is the view that I had walking towards the chapel; as if just attending mass wasn't enough of a blessing all by itself! Between the natural light of the rising sun, the artificial lighting inside of St. Stanislaus, and the glow from inside the chapel of the Risen Son, it was more than a little moving.
Mass at the convent, in case you have never been, is always moving. The front of the chapel is filled with the nuns (Sister of the Cross) dressed in either their normal black habits or during the warmer months in all white ones. The back can sometimes have only one or two people, but this morning it was standing room only with many people (men and women) filling up all of the pews for an early morning mass. Being in a chapel where there is Eucharistic adoration with a bunch of nuns is moving, but to be there for mass, even more so.
Father Mark's homily brought to life quite a few aspects of God's mercy, since the reading were about that and Pope Francis announced just early in the morning that next year would be the Year of Mercy for the Universal Church. It was Father Mark that made the connection that the theme for World Youth Day 2016, which both he and I will attend, has to do with mercy as well. The highlight of the mass, of course, was receiving the Eucharist. I spent a good part of Thursday night discussing with my confirmation students about the meaning of the Eucharist, so this early mass just brought back to mind the same ideas and feelings that I had while guiding the discussion with the students.
After mass, we left for a quick breakfast. I was hoping that there would be time for a nice relaxing, sit-down breakfast, but we ended up only having time for a quick one at McDonald's. Not the highest quality, but the coffee was good!
Next, we hopped on the freeway for the drive to Sacramento. I was driving my mother-in-law and her husband, Iris and Vito, while the other car had Angel, Jill and Linda, who are all in my weekly Bible study, the Better Spreaders of Bacon. I had plenty of time to talk with Vito, as Iris slept. I always enjoy listening to his 73 years of wisdom, as he has had a very interesting life (he was born in a cave!). The other car was supposed to stay behind us, since they had never been there before, but as we passed Stockton, I couldn't see them anymore in my rear view mirror. It wasn't until we got to Sacramento, and I was able to take my phone out of my pocket, that I realized that Angel had sent a text saying that they were stopping to get gas in Lodi. We were already running late, and they were stopping for gas. Luckily, it didn't matter, since our guide is Latino, and so very flexible.
We arrive to the exhibit, which is in the office building directly behind Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Sacramento. The parish is entirely Latino (mostly Mexican), and so the decorations inside include a lot of statues familiar to Latinos from most countries. There is a statue to the Child of Antorcha, the Holy Child of Praque, the Divine Child (Mother Angelica from EWTN has a big devotion to him as do many Colombians), Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos, St. Toribio (a Cristero), and more. It is really impressive. I have heard that they have a REALLY large collection of relics as well, but have yet to be able to see them. The church is worthy of a pilgrimage by itself, but we saved that for after the exhibit, since that is the real reason we drove to Sacramento.
Our tour guide was Andy Sandoval. He is a very enthusiastic man who takes his responsibilities of working at the exhibit very seriously. He works at the Catholic radio station during the week, but sees as his ministry to share the exhibit as a evangelization tool. He not only gives the basic information, but emphasizes how it all fits in with our faith. Every time he apologizes for his English, but he only has troubles with individual words when he get really excited about what he is talking about. He makes himself understood regardless of whether the listeners speak Spanish or not.
I won't describe the exhibit in much detail, as one really should see it to experience it. Besides, I can't convey in writing the enthusiasm of Andy describing all of the details. Suffice it to say, that I have learned something new each and every time that I have gone to the exhibit. This was my fourth time through the exhibit, three times in Sacramento and once in the sister exhibit in Jerusalem. As I told the others at the end, the most moving time had to be the one in the Holy Land, since when we came out of that one, we walked to the Holy Sepulcher, where everything that we had seen and talked about had taken place.
We ended our pilgrimage with lunch at Chick-Fil-A. I have always thought that it is appropriate to support a business that supports what marriage truly means while on a Catholic pilgrimage. The drive back to Modesto seemed longer than the drive to Sacramento, but that is probably because I was more tired and not really looking forward to a drive to Merced as soon as I got home for my new job.