Mystery Trip Continues

God bless Masstimes.org.

It sent me to a beautiful, traditional church with cases of reliquaries on each wall and the tabernacle smack in the middle.

I arrived a few minutes after eight, and the man facing the statue of Our Lady was already praying Morning Prayer from the Divine Office.

I joined in at the end of the first Psalm. Half way into the second, he turned around and startled, said, “Would you like to come up here?”

Well, I guess that’s what the Holy Spirit had in mind for me. We finished the office together, and had the pleasure of praying as the Church – as One.

After that, the Rosary, led by a deacon.

The church began to fill with too many people for a daily Mass, and in a few minutes, a girl in a First Communion dress enlightened me.

After the Mass, I went back to the conference and caught the second session.

My table mates nodded politely when I said I had been at Mass – they figured I was sleeping in!

By the next break, it was clear that one of the other attendees was Catholic, and we spent a good deal of time together throughout the rest of the day.

In the evening, Michael Card and Scott Roley gave a concert. As it was about to begin, I got a text from my husband asking me what I was wearing.

He was in the back row.

So we enjoyed the concert together, twenty years after our first Michael Card concert in California, the first we’d been to as a couple.

Afterward, we spoke with him and got some great pictures.

His comment about performing: “Always play at the very edge of your ability. Everyone can play what they’re good at, but you should always stretch yourself to where you really have to depend on the Holy Spirit for help.”

Then, my last night away.

Just to show how fuel efficient the rental car was – all that travel used only four-and-a-half gallons of gas! Our van would have used more than half a tank!