We were blessed to have Fr. Kris Stubna preside over the Mass at 10 AM. He is really a wonderful priest. He had such a great homily about the Saints (many of whom were portrayed in paintings and statuary surrounding us) and how we are all called to be saints. He challenged us to be courageous and faithful which is not that easy in society at the moment.
At the end of Mass, he took a few minutes to talk about the joy of his vocation and invited the young men in the group to pray and be open to a similar journey in their lives. I get so excited when I am in an audience like that. It is absent in so many parishes these days.
After Mass, Mike Aquilina explained that, since we traveled to a holy place, we were on a pilgrimage. He gave a very detailed history of the Catholic church in Pittsburgh. He started with the French and worked his way through all the Saints who have had roots in or traveled through Pittsburgh (more than you would guess!). My delighted daughter even got to use the same kneeler that Blessed John Paul II used during his visit to the church.
In continued anticipation of our BIG pilgrimage this summer, it was so nice to take a morning and share some blessed time with other families. What a great way to continue the Easter season!
That homily was inspiring. And how neat to see all of those other faithful families with young children.
ReplyDeleteHow did we miss you? We hung around for a while after Mike's talk, but the littles (and I) were tired after our weekend travels and couldn't take much more, so we headed to the park across the way when everyone else was heading to St. Pat's.