Dear Friends in Christ,
This past week, I was blessed to travel with a bishop and priest friends from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to Kansas City, Missouri. Every year, this group of us, who worked together at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, pick a city in the United States and spend a week together. Our main goal in traveling to Kansas City was to receive a private tour of Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs. None of us dared to wear anything with the Eagles logo out of respect! Our private tour was given by Mr. Lamar Hunter, Jr. son of the founder of the Chiefs and really a sports visionary. I am currently reading his biography, a gift from his son. This three-hour tour was certainly a fantastic way to begin our week, but so much was added. Of course, we celebrated Holy Mass together every day which is always the center of our daily life, but the Lord gave us other opportunities. A great surprise was to travel to the monastery where the Benedictine Sister Wilhelmina was found incorrupt. She is under glass and we prayed asking for her intercession. The thirty-seven sisters celebrated None or Midafternoon prayer with every word changed in Latin. Heaven on earth! We also visited a wonderful Catholic bookstore which is owned by a young father of five who I knew from Merchantville! What a blessed surprise to visit with him and to see him living out his faith so vibrantly. Of course, we traveled to the national World War I museum and Present Harry S. Truman home and library in Independence, MO. Of course, the food was great (including one of Lidia’s restaurants, whom I would love to be my grandmother!). I bring all this up because there is a lesson to be found. Amongst the secular things we planned, we always find spiritual things to keep us close to the Lord. We read in Sacred Scripture, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.” (Isaiah 55:6). No matter where we are or what we do, always seek out opportunities to love and experience Jesus. Do not miss Mass on vacation unless it is impossible to attend Mass. Look for a shrine or place dedicated to prayer. Pope Saint John Paul II reminded us: “In his final Sunday audience in Rome before his departure for Castel Gandolfo, the Holy Father spoke once again about vacations, saying that these periods should not be ‘wasted’ in ‘dissipation’ and ‘simple entertainment.’ Instead, he told his audience, vacation time should afford ‘a good opportunity to revive one’s interior life.’ The Pontiff warned against holiday hedonists who make it difficult for others to enjoy a restorative vacation, and to appreciate the ‘important cultural dimension’ of leisure.” I had a good week because I experienced the Lord in Missouri!
God bless you,
Father Szolack