Let me digress from - The great Jubilee/Benedictine/48-state (and Canada!) Pilgrimage of 2025!

Bear with me as I take a slight detour. I need to recount something that happened on Day 11 but it deserves its own post. It was a fail for me and especially today, with the reading about Lazarus and the rich man, important to bring to mind. I hope I can remember this lesson and be more prepared in the future.

On the front terrace of the Cathedral, there is a bench. When you move closer, it's actually a powerful reminder.

The statue is covered, except for the feet. Moving closer, you can see the nail marks. This picture is from the website. I didn't take one because there was something about it that made it seem not appropriate to stand and take a picture. I confess, I didn't really see it on the way in but I passed it again, twice, when I left to seek out the bathroom during Mass. 

The Cathedral's bathroom is down the block at the parish center. The church security guards escorted me out and to the corner to point the direction, then watched as I walked in, waiting until I returned. I was grateful for what seemed to be extreme kindness to a visitor. Reflecting on it now, I realize it was more a statement on the area. 

While the homeless population is lower than, say, Seattle, it is growing at a rapid rate in Vancouver. The lack of affordable housing combined with job instability means more people are on the streets. 

When I was walking back into the Cathedral, I stopped to touch the nail mark on the feet. It brought tears. Such a good, visceral, reminder that Jesus is here, among us, in the poor and needy. He is with all of His children who struggle.

Finishing Mass and heading back outside, it was a shock to see that, in addition to Jesus on his bench, there were His actual children in need, lined up to ask for assistance. Because I was unprepared (ug...I wish we had brought about 10 of our homeless bags) and because there were so many people exiting,  I could only catch one of the mothers' eyes and say God bless you. I know it's not what she was looking for but I do hope, at least in a small part, she felt seen by someone.

I suppose God placed this on my heart today, with the readings, and the happenstance appearance of our former pastor at 9:30 AM Mass (he's a regional vicar now so he floats parishes...I miss him and his wisdom and, perhaps less, his loudness and cartoon voices when reading - I was particularly annoyed with his Lazarus today but, I digress). What he said in his homily that was helpful is this...

Jesus told this story of Lazarus and the rich man and Luke recorded it to be read down through history, even reaching us today. Abraham told the rich man, " If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets (referring to the Jews of the time) neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead."

Father reiterated Abraham's question of the rich man to us - why/when will you be persuaded? Now, in our time, someone has risen from the dead (the teller of the story) and STILL we are not persuaded to change our lives. What, exactly, will it take for us to change our belief that wealth and power in this life is more meaningful than living for eternity? When will our decisions reflect exactly what we are chasing?

Father is a bit of a "tie up heavy burdens" sort sometimes because, really, what he's asking is impossible - to be fully persuaded. However, we can do a bit more than we are doing. From today's first reading :

Lying upon beds of ivory,
 stretched comfortably on their couches,
 they eat lambs taken from the flock,
 and calves from the stall!

If this seems a bit like us - if we have more than we need while others lack (goods, food, security, love, self-respect) we can't continue...we must be persuaded. Today.

I looked into support programs for the homeless in Vancouver and I will give something to both of those I found. It won't be a lot but, in giving, I will be moving more towards the sharing side and away from the keeping/storing side. Yes, we need to keep enough to provide for those most immediate to us but, by saving up and storing, we take away the power of God to work big miracles in our lives (even the biggest miracle of forgoing comfort and power). 

Father said we will be judged by the amount we give away. And, who knows? God is all about tying up the ends - perhaps that woman I saw will be served by one of those programs. Perhaps some amends can be made for not helping when I was in front of her. Perhaps, later, I can avoid the discussion with Abraham. Wouldn't that be something.

We are blessed. 

Day 10 - The great Jubilee/Benedictine/48-state Pilgrimage of 2025!

 Blessed Feast of the Assumption! There would be much to give thanks for today, not just because we were nearing the end of our trip.

We woke up early, had some breakfast, packed the car, and said goodbye to our four-legged (and two-legged) friends. You know it's a good time when the city boy gets in (or close to at least) on the action.

That's as close as he gets...

Somewhere between the Hillsboro stadium and the RV, we had crossed the river into Washington state, our 48th state! It doesn't appear that there is any photographic evidence to speak of so, you'll have to take our word for it. Not too long into today, we would be at several notable WA sites.

First things first. We decided to celebrate the Holy Day with the Benedictines (seemed appropriate) so we headed off to St. Martin's Abbey, a unique little space in the middle of St. Martin's University. It took a while to find (GPS failed) but eventually we made our way in and were rewarded with, not only a Blessed Mother feast with the Benedictines, but the Abbot himself presiding. Here are some photos from the website. It was a bit dark for my taste but they chanted and there was a nice variety of people in attendance. 

St. Martin

Not quite that full in the Summer...

The ambo was a flying eagle...that was cool

When we had spoken to the Abbot and headed out, we set off for our next stop. It seems, every trip like this, I try to do something nice for DH and plan a stop just for him. Then, when we actually get there, I act like a baby because it is the last thing I wanted to do. I must work on that. Or, perhaps, move his stops to the beginning of the trip when I'm not completely spent.

Happy or not, we headed through the rain (yes, this is Washington!) to the Museum of Flight. One saving grace...instead of paying almost $30/person to walk around looking at airplanes, we used our Carnegie Museum membership and got reciprocal privileges so we got in FREE. If I'm bored, at least I didn't pay for it. Lol, I wonder how many times/places DH thinks the same thing???

Here are some pictures. I wish I could narrate but, truthfully, other than the Concorde and Air Force One (the old one) I was totally lost. 

I made sure to take enough pictures to count it as history/geography

It was cool to show the kids the way things used to be. Guessing the Trump plane is a bit nicer...

and without so many knobs

Here he is, in his element, passing on the magic to the next generation

so happy...

The Concorde was tighter than I would have imagined.

It wouldn't be the most crowded place we'd be that day...

DH was kind and limited our time to the "must sees" and after about an hour we were back on the road. That was a good decision because we seem to have visited Seattle at the worst possible time- major road construction everywhere. It was ok, though. We were together and there would be lunch at the end of this...along with the most congested (people) two blocks I've ever witnessed. 

Welcome to Pike Place Market.

This was actually at the end, when we had sort of adjusted to the place.

This was the beginning...when we were waiting in line for lunch. Can you guess which child shares in his mother's extreme agoraphobia?

Luckily we persevered and got some yummy chowder to boot.

In the end, it was a pretty interesting place...like the Strip District by the water on a steep hill and about ten times the size. We did get some pretty excellent pastries at Piroshky Piroshky 

If you are a Seinfeld fan...the vibe is totally Soup Nazi. Very long line, very short time to order and make sure you get it right! I was pleased to head out after this adventure. My boy and I had reached our people limit.

Back on the road, full of other people with the same idea. Luckily we were heading North to our home for TWO nights and would have time to rest and recharge once we had arrived. Two stops to go...First, and most important...

When you find out there is a city that shares your name, you need to make the stop...
even if it is pouring rain!

Then, of course, supplies were needed for our two days in Washington. We couldn't very well subsist on pastries. Here are the random photos that came up from the kids' phones on our Safeway visit. Why? No idea. I think they were delirious at this point.

They were impressed that WSU has it's own brand of cheese

It was an interesting store...

Filled up with fuel and food, we headed to our home for the night (and the next night!). It had been a long day of traffic and we were happy to be in our nest. We would close out our (international) Jubilee tour tomorrow with a visit to our Northern Neighbors. We are blessed!