Pilgrimage update

Well, I guess I can check another parish off of my "pilrimage checklist". After yesterday's marathon work day, I discussed with Todd the possiblility that I would be able to attend Mass before we started out this morning. Since the dealer that would provide us with the truck for the return back to Fresno did not open until 8 and daily Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bishop began at 7, time would not be a problem. Todd knows how important daily Mass is to me, so he urged me to make the effort to go. Todd is a very good man. I pray for him often.

I looked up the location of the church on "google", and it was supposed to be .4 miles (sounds like it's just around the corner, doesn't it?) North of the hotel we were staying at, which prompted my decision to get up early and walk to Mass. What you don't realize when walking in Bishop is that anything "North" means "uphill". Not good for a man with a bad back and knees, especially first thing in the morning. I was dragging myself to the church the last 100 yards or so. Once I went in however, the pain lessened as I reflected more on God's Good News and less about the pain.


And the view didn't hurt, either! Although the church (above) is pretty non-descript from the outside, there is a great-big bay window that uses the Sierra Nevada mountains to "frame" the Crucifix and fill the eye with both Christ and His creation (Gn 1:1-10)



Although this picture (right) is not the exact view (it would have been "tacky" to take a picture with my cell phone of the actual view, it is really close to the view behind the Crucifix. How can anyone not be impressed with this view? Sorry about the quality of this picture. I downloaded it from "google" and it was the ONLY one (out of 50 pages of pictures) that was even close to what I saw.


After receiving the Eucharist and final blessing, I felt renewed for the walk back to the hotel to meet with Todd and get on our way. I found out that walking downhill is a lot less strenuous on my back than walking uphill . Not only that, but Mass--and the view-- put me in the proper frame of mind for the rest of the day.


OK, enough of the personal glimpse into my work life--on to the readings for tomorrow! Exciting stuff! AND the Feast Day of Saint Teresa of Avila! She is the very first saint I read about in Butler's Lives of the Saints and her story is available by clicking on the link below.

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Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Luminous Mysteries
Memorial of St. Teresa of Avila
Romans 3:21-30
Psalm 130:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6ab
Luke 11:47-54


The powerful passage from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans reveals what some have called the “heart” of the gospel: that we are made right with God not by our own efforts but through the free gift of God’s grace which we receive through faith. All has been done for us in the costly death of Jesus; we need to receive the gift of the Lord’s mercy, His “plentiful redemption,” as the psalm says.

This is easy to say, but pretty difficult to live! I think we all have a tendency to want to “do for” God, to grow closer to God by way of our own efforts, even to earn forgiveness on our own.

Teresa of Avila can help us in this regard. In her autobiography, entitled Her Life, Teresa lists a number of obstacles that prevented her from making progress in the spiritual life. The third obstacle she lists is “self-reliance.” Teresa insisted on the need to trust God for everything and to be cautious about “doing things” for God. Yes, by all means, we need to cooperate and say, “yes” to the grace and inspirations that the Lord gives us. But everything is a gift of God—including our good inspirations.