World Meeting of Families 1

It had not occurred to me that Rapid City should send a pilgrimage to the World Meeting of Families until Fr. Adam Hofer suggested it to me. A phone call to the Bishop later, and I was a pilgrimage leader. It was for this reason that I found myself gently shivering outside the Cathedral rectory at 4:30 AM on Tuesday morning, wondering where chauffeur Jackie was.  By and by, she arrived and deposited us Rapid City Regional Airport a few minutes after 5:00. Fr. Dillon and I checked in and waited for our group. Said group was apparently more eager than we were, as they had already cleared security and were wondering where the priests were. 

The flights were crowded but uneventful. Soon enough we found ourselves in Newark, NJ. there we were to catch a bus to the convention center with Archbishop Chaput. We waited.  Then we waited some more. We received a call that the bus was near. We waited still longer.  When we found the bus, we were too late to make it to amass. We headed to our hotel, and with the tour guide's help, we arranged to celebrate Mass at the Cathedral in Trenton which is only five blocks or so from where we are staying. 

This morning we loaded the bus with pilgrims from Sioux Falls, and prayed Morning Prayer on the way to the convention center. Arriving in Philedelphia, it quickly became clear that we would be too late for the priests to co celebrate the Mass. We sat in chorus. The keynote speaker after Mass was Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments. He emphasized the importance of harmony between Church Teaching and Pastoral practice. From there Fr. Dillon and I went to the exhibition Hall to buy me a good manly rosary and to Speak to Courage (outreach to homosexual men and women, who will be in our diocese to address the priests next month). By then it was lunch time. One cannot go to philly and not eat a Philly Cheesesteak. So we ate a Philly Cheesesteak. 

The afternoon presenter was Helen Alvare. She emphasized Man's call to relationship, and his fulfillment of this call in the family. The family trains us to love our neighbor. 

Fr. Dillon and I spent most of the afternoon chasing down tickets to co celebrate the Papal Mass on Sunday. As evening drew on we made our way to the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal, a beautiful shrine dedicated to Our Lady. We sang Marian Hymns on the bus ride to dinner, and now we have all trundled off to our rooms. An early day tomorrow made earlier by a two hour time change. 

Our Group

Cathedral In Trenton

Evening Prayer outside the Cathedral

Curried Goat for supper last night

Scenes from this morning

Cardinal Sarah

New Rosary

Shrine of the Miraculous Medal

Flowers for Our Lady