"A Pilgrimage to Dallas"

Recording of Dallas Show - https://youtu.be/2Maw8CF7-BI?is=pT9I496277_bto2w

Red - End of Silence: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lQN1f65klT3U_qQh-9SbJLQMomraU9hew&si=zcaeocq2R12-ZBQD

"Pieces" - https://youtu.be/1c_y4mG8II4?is=0S306F990tCMExj9

Email questions to: frstavarz@holyfamparma.org 

Music Copyright: https://artlist.io/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Hello everybody, welcome back to another episode of Unveiling Christianity. I'm Father David, and I'm Mark Turnus. Mark, how are you doing today? Your Chattanooga Wilderness, Tennessee shirt on.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

I never know what I'm wearing here until you point it out to me. And I and I don't have my collar in. I pointed that out to you right away. I kind of relaxed.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

It kind of freaks people out.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Well, it you look very different without it. I mean, you look very casual. I've seen you, you know, you've been at the festival in t-shirts and all that. Sure. You know, I mean, but uh for the most part, when you wear the short sleeved black shirt, you normally have the collar in.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Yes. It's uh so a priest shirt, if you don't know, it's just a I mean, in a sense, it's a it's just a black shirt with the what's it called? Uh the top of it's kind of sewn down.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

The collar is like sewn.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Yeah, the collar is sewn, and then there's a white plastic strip that you just kind of you you tuck into both sides.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

He's he's actually like playing with it right now. I can see he just slides right in. You there's a button there, and then you're button. Kind of like a very, very small tie.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

I've never considered it that way. A very small tie. That goes, that's plastic and goes the other way. That's right. That's right. It is kind of weird though. I haven't I'll never tie a tie again. Wow. You would never wear a suit. At the end of seminary, uh, there's like a when the guys are ordained. Well, now I suppose now deacons, there's a a great gifting of the ties. So, because you know, you're not gonna wear a tie again. So you have all these ties because in seminary, you uh the masses on Sundays and all these things you wear, you wear ties all the time. So there's a great gifting of the ties. So to receive a tie from a guy is like you know a great honor, you know.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

So if if you ever wear one again though, just come to me because I have the diagram. My son went to Padua and they had to wear neck ties when he was a you know 13 years old, and I had to teach him how to tie a tie. So there's a little diagram I have.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

I think if I had to do it again, I would remember, but would you getting the bow getting the bow tie was hard.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Oh, I could never do that. But I I knew how to do the double Windsor and the single. See, I I I worked in a in an environment where I had to wear suits pretty much my whole career. So I wore ties almost every day for yeah. So they're kind of a silly thing when you think about it. This little I I just think they're kind of silly. It covers up your buttons, right? Isn't it? That's that's that it does. It serves a purpose. But now I have to say something. Priest shirts, buttons are already covered up.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

This is true.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

That's why I wouldn't wear a tie. Yeah, they they they they don't need a tie because their buttons are covered up with uh with this, I don't know, with part of the shirt.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

You're you don't see any buttons. Little things you never think about.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

I I never do until well, you know, I hardly ever sit across the table from a priest and just kind of look at his outfit, very rarely. Yeah, well, here we are. Here we are doing just that. And you pointed out my shirt.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

So yes. So, you know. So we talked about clothing and it's all good. So uh it's fun. We got Father Spicer with us, speaking of priests. Yeah, but uh Father Patrick Spicer is with us here at the parish. He started this last week this last weekend. So he's not with us today, but he's with us at the parish. Indeed. And uh yeah, we'll have him on the podcast here, um you know, coming up too. Yep. So uh yeah, we're excited to have him. We and we we welcomed him with uh pierogies and polkas.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

So you can't do better than that. Right. Well, I guess if he had like uh prime rib or something.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

I would take the pierogies and polkas. Yeah, we yeah, it's a very it's a very Parma welcome. So yeah, that's true. So we were uh just grateful to him and um and everything. So he's coming from the other side of Parma, so not not too far right St. Columns. But we'll have him on to be able to share his story and uh and everything too.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

So yeah, I look forward to meeting him. I met him at a wedding of uh a relative of mine uh from Column Kill, and he did the wedding and actually came to the reception. Sounds really good.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Would you have anything else fun this week?

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Yeah, I I camped. I went camping up to uh Marblehead, actually East Harbor State Park. There you go. Beautiful weather. We did not get out on uh on the water. Um, it was a little windy. Yeah, but uh other than that, uh did the typical tick camping camping stuff with all the campfires and just relaxing and unplugging from everything.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

And we're gonna we're gonna switch places. I'm gonna be there next week.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

There you go. So now I'm now I'm jealous.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

We'll just trade places. So where are you going? It's kind of it's kind of crazy. It's just like it's an hour and a half away, you know, but it feels like you're in another world.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Well, one of the things you have to do, and I'm I'm gonna recommend it to you, is unplug and just don't take your phone or don't use it a lot.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

And just just well, that'll be retreat.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

So I'm gonna do a retreat in July. Uh-huh. That'll be the real unplug, but uh for sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Uh I asked you and you didn't answer where you were going, so you probably don't want to.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

No. I was just finishing my my my thought there. You know, uh going over to Putin Bay. Uh uh, we got a it's with some friends, we've got an Airbnb on the kind of the quiet side of of Putin Bay. Is there one thing? Yeah, there's uh offering what's it uh it's the west side northeast side. Oh the northeast side. There's a park over there.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

There is, and there's a like a little beach and isn't there like a like a little religious retreat for kids up there or something? I do not know of that.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

You'll have to check that out because our mother of sorrows is the is the parish there.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Uh-huh. Uh huh.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Right kind of near downtown.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Yeah, yeah. Well, that's cool. I love that island. I I it is really funny.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

It is fun. It gets a little crazy, but we're gonna be kind of on the quiet end.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

So I I was staring at it when I was camping at uh at East Harbor, so it's it's a it's a great island. So you're on the quiet end, but you can you can venture to the not so quiet end.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

That'll be fun. No, it's and then you have a retreat coming up. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Yeah, and then an eight-day silent retreat in uh June July, that is. So okay. That'll be really beautiful, but yeah, having a little downtime this summer, it's good. Uh I did uh I did make it out to Cedar Point on Wednesday. So so that was fun.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Wednesday, just like two days ago? Yeah. Wow. My friend who was camping with us went. Oh, was it windy? Did you get on the rides?

SPEAKER_00 6:24

Uh we did. It was it was nice most of the day, but then um well then a storm kind of rain came in, yeah. Right, rain later the day. Right when I was standing in the line for the the new coaster, the sirens curse. It was uh it was threatening a storm kind of ironically.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

I just wonder what the what the wind has to be before they shut down the tall rides, because it was 20 with 30 mile an hour gusts.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

So that was yesterday. Yeah. Oh Wednesday was fine.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Yeah, Wednesday was fine. It was just a little bit of rain, like at five o'clock or something. I get it, I get it. But I was able to finally I made pilgrimage and I finally was able to ride the new dragster uh with the the two towers and everything. It was pretty incredible.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

So that one I would do, the ones that go round and round, no, but that I I can do the the dragster and and the millennium and those kind of guys, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

But to have it in our backyard, it's pretty awesome. Fulfilling you know, childhood dreams. It's great.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Yeah, we really we we had I grew up in at uh Jagga Lake, which was literally in our backyard, right? Not nearly like Cedar Point, but it was pretty cool. It was pretty cool, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

But it's good. Summer fun, right? Yep, yep. You have to do uh we need to play as as humans, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Yes, we do.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

Can't be all work, we gotta play and rest and all these things. So kind of with that, so we want to do a conversation today. Uh actually, I just wanted to do a bit of a sharing and a reflection. And we mentioned it last time. So our last episode we talked about, you know, why we hope for heaven that ultimately uh we believe in an afterlife and we believe uh in a place of eternal glory with the Lord forever. And uh ultimately that place is simply just relationship with Him. Uh it's being in God's presence forever, and it's beyond our understanding and our beyond our our wildest dreams.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

And it's outside of space and time. It's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Yeah, for sure. Um, but at the same time, you know, God has put us here on this earth, right? And there are realities that can point us to this eternal fulfillment, this eternal happiness, this eternal joy that we are well that we are meant for and created for. Uh, but that ultimately we have to work with God to get there, right? Uh it's it's not a magic trick getting to heaven. Uh that's not a matter of luck. It's a journey. It's a journey. It's an intentional journey of of following God and living with Him. So so kind of with that, I wanted to share a little bit about uh the uh I quote unquote unquote called that a little pilgrimage because Ah, you talked about that last last podcast.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Right. The road to Dallas.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

So down to Dallas. So I went to so on the outside on on the surface, yeah. I went down to Dallas kind of like for a 24-hour little uh adventure.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

It was quick.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Yeah, down because it was Corpus Christi weekend and I had to be back for the mass and everything, so uh in the procession on Sunday. So on the outside, it was just it was a quick trip down to Dallas for a concert, which I never have would have thought about before or anything, but uh when I saw it come up a couple months ago, it was my childhood band uh called Red. You know, they're a Christian rock band. And uh I saw them for the first time, so they were doing an anniversary tour. Uh so their album, End of Silence, came out 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

And but with that, their lead singer, uh Michael Barnes, was gonna be stepping down from the band to, you know, spend time with family and do all these things. So it was essentially the end of the original the original band. And you know, at that time of my life I was into uh I was into my faith somewhat. I I kind of explained it as like I like Jesus but not that much.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

Uh kind of it's there, but it's not like the most important thing. But and I wasn't into worship music at the time, like praise and worship kind of you know, Jesus music wasn't wasn't wasn't. Right. But the Lord kind of found an in-road through Christian rock music. So Red and Cutlass and uh some other some other bands. My cousin and I had uh really gotten into those bands and stuff, so but I saw them live uh at a really small venue in Massel in Ohio, the Lions Theater, with probably about 75 people or so. And it was a really kind of transformative experience for me, insofar it was like one of the first cool rock concerts I got to go to. And my my my dad took us and some other friends and my uncle and but but how cool would it be to see Red with 75 people?

SPEAKER_01 10:42

I mean, that would have been really cool.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Yeah, and then I kind of followed them throughout their years. So yeah. Yeah, I kind of followed them throughout their years at larger venues with larger bands where they were they were uh the openers for and everything, and uh but just in more ways than I can explain, this band in particular kind of has spoke to the Lord spoke to my heart through them and their music in ways I can't really explain.

unknown 11:04

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

It's heavier music, it's kind of if you know Lincoln Park and everything, it's kind of heavier rock music, and but just the way they use strings, the way the uh there's dissonance and and kind of all these things. Anyway, it just speaks to my to my heart and really was a a way the Lord opened my heart to faith when I was a kid. So when I saw that they were going to be doing their last show ever, I didn't consider it initially, but then as I thought about it, I was like, You gotta go. You know, maybe I should go. Maybe like like I kind of felt like I'm meant to do that, like this is an important thing. And I kind of had in the back of my head uh my pastor uh growing up when I was in high school, uh, Father Blyn, and uh he's been much uh very much of a spiritual father to me. And I kind of heard his voice in my head like, yeah, you should go.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

You know, how long did you know about the show? I mean, it was it real spontaneous.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

No, no, no, it wasn't real spontaneous like in February.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Okay, so you knew it was coming up, yeah. So you had time to kind of think about it and everything. It wasn't like on Monday you woke up and said, I'm going to Dallas on Friday. Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

No, it wasn't that spontaneous for sure.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

But it was pretty spontaneous. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:08

So uh I kind of felt called to go to this show, right? And I I've never done this before. I wouldn't really could do this for any other band, uh, going to another state for a show, but I just kind of felt called. It's like my childhood kind of experience, kind of wrapped up in uh and everything. So so I kind of I was kind of joking around calling calling it a little pilgrimage. So we'll talk about what a pilgrimage is, but uh but more or less it's uh you know, we talked about heaven last time that we're meant for this uh eternal glory, this eternal relationship of love with God that fulfills our hearts for all eternity. Well, there are moments in life in which God wants to invite us into that and wants to wants to point to the heaven reality that we're we're meant for. But we have to we have to journey with him as well. So there's this thing called a pilgrimage. We may have heard of a pilgrimage before. It's not just simply a trip or a vacation, you know, it's uh it's a journey with a spiritual intent.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

To a lot of times a sacred place.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Yeah, it could be to a sacred place, right? So we have lords and Fatima and uh uh that's the way I've learned of them. Right, right. It could be kind of more local places too. There are shrines and different things we can that's right, we can make a pilgrimage to, and it's part of it is it's the it's the journey of getting there, understanding that like the Lord is invite the Lord is the main actor here, he's inviting us into this journey. Uh and we're meant to encounter him in some way, uh, through this through this process or experience healing, or you know, uh you know, there's different things. Obviously, the the big one is like the Camino, uh one of the most famous pilgrimages is the Camino in Spain where people will walk, you know, hundreds of miles.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

Right. You don't have to do it by foot, right? I mean you most most pilgrimages are like by foot.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

Well, it's not it's not necessarily by foot, it's not how you like physically get there.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

You you referred to the trip to Dallas, though, as a pilgrimage in a sense.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Yes. I suppose we're kind of defining it right now. Okay. You know, the pilgrimage, it's it's it's the journey itself. Like it's no matter how you get there, whether it's by plane, car, bus, foot, you know, it's it's that's not the point. It's it's it's the journey that you're taking, it's the steps that you're taking.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

And you're going for religious and spiritual reasons.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Yeah, I mean, and since you you want to have an encounter with God. Right. There's there's some reasoning. People will go on pilgrimages for different reasons. Right, right. Yeah, they want to experience healing in some way, they want to experience of God in some way. Maybe they're going through a hard time and they want some clarity and some peace. There's they're seeking something eternal. Whether they would put maybe words to that or not, they're seeking something. Or they're feeling invited to do like I just need to do this. Like in my sense, it was just like I just kind of like I feel like I need to do this, you know.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

Right. I'm I'm learning here, like our listeners, because I've never really done a pilgrimage. I don't really know that much about them. I've been to famous pilgrimage sites, but I've never done one.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

So this is how with that, I think so. I'm gonna I'll kind of start explaining the journey here, and I think maybe as I explain, it'll kind of flesh out kind of what uh what it looks like. Okay. So yeah, so I uh I needed to leave kind of later on Friday. So the the the concert was Friday night, uh, like at seven doors open at seven o'clock, you know, in Dallas. I needed to leave later on Sunday, uh later on Friday because I had some obligations here, you know, the school year was finishing up and everything. So so it was gonna be kind of a quick uh kind of a small window. You know, the flight was leaving like at three, and you know, the I was gonna be getting into Dallas like at 5 30, and then the um the show more or less started at 7. So it's like okay, it's kind of a small window. Not room for error. Yeah, and then no room for error, and then and then I'd be there on Saturday, and then I would fly back Saturday, be back Saturday night for the Corpus Christi celebration and procession on Saturday. If everything goes well, everything needs to go well, right, in this situation, right? So, but okay, the Lord's invited me into this, and I had the sense like, okay, if he's inviting me into it, he's gonna provide, right? So Friday morning, probably like 11 o'clock, I start getting notifications. Flight delayed. All right. Flight delayed. I'm like, oh fun. Right? Okay, well, Lord, you're you're sending me here, right? So this is gonna work out, right? So I I kept getting pushed back. So then I like, well, I'm just gonna go to the airport anyway. I'm just gonna I feel led to this, so okay, we're just gonna go. This seems getting complicated, but whatever. You know, in the back of your mind, it's just this question am I gonna miss you know the the show and am I gonna miss uh essentially why I'm going here? Then I'm just spending time on flights for two days for really no point. At least in my perspective, right? From my viewpoint, it would be quote unquote pointless, right? So I get to the airport and everything, hanging out there, and long story short, it was it was a two-hour delay. And then we eventually get on the flight. So I'm like calculating in my head, okay, is there enough time to be here and do this and then get here, and then I need to take an Uber to the airport and from the airport. It's like a 10-minute walking distance, so I'm gonna have to run to the venue. All I'm calculating, calculating, calculating all these things. And on the flight, I'm just like, I'm not listening to music, I'm not really, I'm just kind of like anxious. Like, is this gonna work out? So it's like, okay, the Lord invited me to trust him, but yet I have all this anxiety. Okay, I have all the anxiety. Well, okay. So I'm calculating everything we we land, takes a long time to taxi because it's Dallas. So huge airport. So then it's like you hear these horror stories of like, you know, people spend two hours, you know, and the plane because they can't get to their gate and all these things. So like worst case scenario is going through your head, right? You know, but so the evil one I mean wants to play with our thoughts, right? And everything. So we get off the plane, I get the Uber, we go, and then yeah, I'm I'm like I throw my bag in my hotel room, and then I I'm running to the to the venue, which is like again ten minutes away or so. And it was just the the relief of of just see actually seeing the venue and being here and just knowing the whole journey of the day and all the ups and downs in my heart kind of throughout the day. It's like yes, we we made it, right? And then uh it was uh I missed the first uh opener, but then I was I was there for the second band before Red came on. So it was just a sense of relief and just joy and gratitude. Uh like in that whole time there was so many ups and downs, so many questions, so much anxiety about the whole thing. But it was an invitation uh of God to say, like, yes, if I invite you into something, just trust me.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

I'm gonna deliver.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

Yeah, you're not gonna know how it all happens. It might seem like it's all messy and it might not be your plan.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

Right. But then like so try it was an invitation to a trust. And so uh that's a gift of a pilgrimage. It's actually a deeper relationship with God, a deeper awareness of God's grace and presence in our lives, right? Okay, so it turned out, I mean, the concert was amazing. The all the songs they played, it was emotional, um and uh everything. It was just so beautiful. So and then the next day, okay, I have to make it back though, right? So there's a little bit of important there's a little bit of anxiety about, okay, I got it here. Well, but at the same time, okay, well the Lord got me here, he's gonna give me back, right? Well, the reality is was I had when I booked the flights, it was only like the options were 6 30. It was like 6 a.m. and 8 30 p.m. There wasn't any other options. I was like, I don't really want to leave super early. I would love to be able to have like a couple hours to walk around Dallas, maybe uh have some barbecue. That was that was my uh that was my other uh heart's desire. If you ever had Texas barbecue, it's uh pretty amazing. So I ideally I just wanted to have a little bit of time to spend. Okay. So that's why I did the later flight. Well, I was talking to um I was talking to someone here in the parish, and they were like, Well, maybe you should think about getting an earlier flight, because you know, in the case that something happens or whichever, right? So then I did. I ended up they they added a three o'clock, so then I ended up switching. That was I it was it was a little voice of the Holy Spirit, I think, through this person, right? Yeah, uh a little prompting, like hey, so uh I did switch the flight and I was able to, thankfully, to uh a three o'clock in the afternoon. So uh I wake up in the morning, got to sleep in and everything, got to uh and then okay, I have some time now, so I'll plan on walking around and I'll let I'll let the Lord guide the day, right? I ended up walking around Dallas and oh, it was also threatening storms the whole time. Of course, of course, it was threatening storms uh kind of the whole day, and I'm not uh really super aware of the Dallas kind of weather, like is it predictable or not, whichever. So it was uh threat of like thunderstorms like 60%. So like, well, it's gonna be pointless if it's raining the whole time and I only have my backpack and I have you know, I don't really have I have didn't really have any luggage, but it's like everything I have is with me, and I oh I forgot my raincoat too.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Oh, that's always good.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

So I realized as I got to the airport, I forgot my raincoat, and it was supposed to be raining the next day. You forgot it in Cleveland, right? Oh, I just left it in the rectory. Right, right. But not in your hotel down there. Okay, I get it. So it was another layer of like, okay, well, you know. But it turned out. Okay, so another invitation to trust. Okay, didn't bring this, just how all the things happen and play out aren't necessarily random, but God's a part of them. If you approach something as a pilgrimage, right? That God's a part of this. Okay, so moved up a flight, forgot my rain jacket, wasn't sure how the day was gonna plan out all play out all these things. So I w I started walking around, it turned out, okay, the storms got pushed back further and further and further. Like it was it was eleven o'clock, then it was one o'clock, then it was two o'clock. It's like, okay, that's really nice, 'cause I get to I get to walk around without any threat of you know, having to dive into a building or something. Well, I started walking around and it was just a sense of peace came over me and and uh I actually so I I went the basilica wasn't very far uh in in Dallas. So I walked over to the over to the basilica and it was I walked in the door, there was some kind of guy in a suit standing outside. It was like, well, maybe usually Saturdays they have weddings and stuff. So I I I predicted there was probably a wedding going on or something, but I was gonna just kind of pop in, pray a little bit, and and head out. Well, I walk in the door and there's a full church and uh I guess it was confirmation and the bishop was in the middle of preaching. Uh and so it was a confirmation mass, it was a confirmation liturgy. And uh so he was preaching, you know, it was the Jesus encountering the disciples, and you know, peace be with you, you know, just offering his spirit. And so the bishop was preaching very beautifully, and he was but it was the words he was preaching spoke to me in that moment. You know, it was it was like uh peace be with you and like how there can be chaos and messiness in our lives, but just trusting in the Lord's presence and inviting him makes all the difference, right? And yeah, I mean I'll just say, you know, it's uh it's it's been great being you know, a priest and a pastor here at Holy Family and you know, whichever. And at the same time, there have been kind of moments of unsettledness and chaos and you know and um you know anxiety and different things, right? So uh life is both good and difficult for all of us. Yes. And so I just in the sense like those words kind of spoke to me. Uh and also the church itself, uh there was um particular devotion to the sacred heart. So it was actually up in the main window. I saw uh you know, there was an image of Jesus and the Sacred Heart, and then uh uh Margaret Mary Alaco, uh who was uh who had received visions from Jesus in regards to the Sacred Heart. And the Sacred Heart has been kind of very much a part of my my priesthood and and my life. I actually had it a part of my first mass and on my first mass vestments and stuff. It was just the sense of uh just seeing the beauty of Jesus' heart, just how much he loves us, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Right. I've seen that vestment, it is beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

Yeah. So I just but you know, I didn't plan this. I walked into the church and there was this kind of beautiful, uh kind of beautiful thing, right? So then uh kind of walked along from there just feeling really just joyful and okay, walked around the city, got to see the sights, and it was that that's really what my heart had desired. Like, I just want to check out this city, see all the interesting architecture, and just kind of walk around and and everything. Kind of I love to be able to explore it, and and that that just brings a lot of joy to my heart. The Lord knows this, so he provided me that opportunity. The other thing, as I mentioned, uh, was I desired Texas barbecue. So did you get it? I did. All right, I did went to Terry Terry Black's barbecue, and it was glorious and amazing. Uh so that was able to happen, and then sat at a coffee shop and and all that. Meanwhile, guess what happened? I can't. My flight was being delayed.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

I I knew that, but I would I I wanted to play that out.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

Yeah, so then my flight was being delayed. Okay, one hour, hour and a half, two hours. Which is a whole nother story about how the same flight is cancelled or is delayed by two hours, both directions, both days, but whatever.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

Was it two hours only then? Both ways pretty much. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Wow. So I mean it's always it's always uh weather or maintenance or something.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

But you still beat the original eight o'clock flight, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

So eventually got back around 9 30, you know, and everything. So back was back to the parish, made it. Oh, but then it was good that I switched because the 8 30 probably got canceled. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

I just guessed that.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

Yes. So it's good that I switched because you wouldn't have made it. I wouldn't have made it back and it would not have been great. So it would not have been great. Yeah. So I don't know, it just it kind of gives a little uh No, that's an amazing story. That is gives a little insight into like I felt this was kind of a a a pilgrimage insofar as like I'm going here for a reason, not just to listen to this band. Well, at least on I suppose that's the thing. In my estimation, or from my perspective, it was to go and see a band that I had connected with. And that would have a good been a good reason in and of itself, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

But the Lord kind of took it deeper to say, I want to be with you and teach you and walk with you kind of through this.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

And that's what pilgrimages are about. It's the journey, it's the trip.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Right. And when people go on like the Camino and everything, like there's there's things that happen and they're not necessarily random or meaningless.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

They're way outside explanation at times, and it's just providence, it's just God doing his thing.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Right. Just like he did with you. Right. And it's to say if we open our eyes to God, we'll see God. In a sense, if we allow our we don't open our eyes, God opens our eyes. If we allow God to open our eyes, we'll see him. And in all kinds of different ways. So, in a sense, it's kind of like pay attention to the little things. Because you know, taking a pilgrimage, whether we take an official pilgrimage or not, it all it points to the fact that our whole lives are about a pilgrimage. Our whole lives are about a journey of getting to heaven ultimately. Right. And uh it's about both the journey and the destination, right? It's not the journey itself, because um there there is a destination. Uh, but we can't just simply be focused on the destination because we're gonna miss the journey. It's both and right. It's it's both and and um yeah, it's just a it's just a great opportunity to I think to take a pilgrimage, though certainly you don't have to go to uh to Lourdes or Fatima or Spain to do a pilgrimage. You can there's plenty of uh places around Ohio or around the country or beautiful pilgrimage sites um with um saints and miracles and of things that have happened, right?

SPEAKER_01 27:45

I think you so when we were talking about this, you were you were talking about a place in Yeah, I went to El El uh Santa de Chamayo in uh New Mexico. Yeah, and people people on Good Friday they do a pilgrimage from Santa Fe, New Mexico, 30 mile walk, and they get their Easter Sunday. And uh it it's an amazing, amazing place. It's got a history that I really can't get into, but it's very, very miraculously uh uh put on the map, so to speak. So and a lot of healing. I was in a room with uh a room this size, you don't see the room, obviously. I'm sorry, listeners, but a huge room just full of crutches and notes of people who were healed there. So it was really, really cool. We kind of stumbled on it. Um, but you know, I say stumbled on it. My wife wanted to go to it. We were drawn there by God.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Have have you ever been to Lord's uh shrine over on the I was a little easy?

SPEAKER_01 28:40

I oh oh no, I'm thinking of the one in Bellevue. There's one in Cleveland. The uh sorrowful heart, I think.

SPEAKER_00 28:47

Yes, so there's one in Bellevue. Okay, but they're not actually as well. Yeah, and there's a similar situation where they have this little grotto that's that resembles you know the original. Yeah, and but there it's it's been a pilgrimage site, and they do have a lot of um healings that have happened there and different uh the same thing.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

Right. But I mean, even being in the room and looking at those crutches, it was just kind of like wow. I mean, you just felt God there. Right. You just felt it like this this isn't coincidence, this is like too many. There's too many crutches here, there's too many notes from people. Yeah, and you just felt so heartfelt and so warm and like like I was on a pilgrimage, and I I owe it to my wife because she always finds these things when we're traveling.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

So you know, I think it's part of the part it's part of what makes being Catholic cool, you know. It it it is. We have the basilicas all over the place. We have these real and tangible things of how God has worked right here and now, and we can encounter those and enter into those. And um, so yeah, to say we want to just kind of support going on a little pilgrimage, uh, but again, it doesn't have to be something official or far or far. I think it's also the sense of how do we approach, you know, eat even each day as a pilgrimage.

SPEAKER_01 29:54

Right.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

How do we approach you know the places to where we're going as a as a as a sense of a pilgrimage that God is with me and is working, and you know, even if it's just going to work or going going home or going to church or going wherever, that God's with me in this place to have a pilgrimage kind of mentality, right? I think can be a beautiful can be a beautiful gift.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

So we're sojourners passing through this physical world on our way to heaven every day, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:21

Yeah, every day.

SPEAKER_01 30:22

So well anyway, just wanted to be able to share the story and hopefully it made some sense. That was cool. I I I'm glad you did because you alluded to a lot of that stuff. And you you left out this time the vision you had on the on the plane on the way back. Which I'm sorry. Oh, I mean, you got that.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Oh, no, no, yeah. I thought I thought there was something I was forgetting. Okay, so because the flight was delayed two hours, you went into the state. It provided for a very beautiful opportunity, which was kind of like the capstone of the whole of the whole time. So, okay, it's like flight delays, flight delays, uh coming back. Right. So there was when we were flying back, there was some storms in southern Ohio. So so there were storms in in uh Texas, but there were storms in southern Ohio. But because of the delay, we were flying over Ohio around sunset time. But because you're in a plane, obviously you're higher. Uh I it was one of the most beautiful flights I've ever taken, uh, because you had all these storm clouds and things kind of beneath you, but then the sun was was up top, and then obviously illuminating all of the clouds in a beautiful sunset kind of way. There was and it's like you know, when the sun kind of pokes through and it's like you can see the ray, you just I could you could see such huge sun rays. And yeah, it was just I I I did cry a little bit on uh on the plane, and it was just it was a sense of God, yeah, made this happen and it was so beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

I think it was God saying, See David, I got this. Right. I got this, right? Take it easy, I got this.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

Right. And it just uh it was just so cool. So I was just so grateful. Yeah. But all right, with that, um, you know, so we can finish this uh episode on pilgrimage. So with that, we are gonna take a little uh transition ourselves. So we mentioned, you know, just being on vacation and a retreat in the next couple weeks. We do have our summer fest coming up uh at the end of the at the end of July. So please join us for that. We'll have um uh our bands and food on Friday and Saturday night, and then you know, even if you're a little farther away, you can make pilgrimage here to Holy Family, and we'll have our community day of prayer on Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Sunday is the cool day. Yeah, so outdoor mass and adoration.

SPEAKER_00 32:29

And Father Eric Gerris, who's uh vocation director of the diocese, he's gonna give uh a talk in the afternoon on uh on some different things, and then we'll have benediction and uh and a um a uh food truck finale and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 32:42

So and all this outdoors, God willing, with the weather and it's absolutely it'll be great. God will provide. So cool. You gotta do Sunday, but come come Friday and Saturday as well. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

Uh but say, you know, there's a lot of stuff going on these next number of weeks, and uh, we need a little downtime too. So at this at this point, we're gonna kind of with this episode, we're gonna end season one and then we'll start season two uh in August, kind of when the school school year starts. So uh yes, we are sad to not be continuing over these next number of weeks, but I think it'll be helpful because we'll get a little downtime and then you know, now that we have finished the Why We're Catholic book that provided us a really nice kind of structure through these episodes, we want to kind of take some time to think about okay, what's our gonna be our focus for season two? Uh we have some book ideas uh that we'd like to to run through. Uh also some interviews with different people around the parish uh and things. Uh also getting questions from all of you. So I will uh I think we're gonna set up um, well, you can just send me an email. Uh, how about that? So I'll include my email to to to the show notes. So if you have a topic or a question you'd like to have answered, uh some part of our faith that you would like to have unveiled, uh have a little more explanation about, uh please send us your topic uh and question. We won't necessarily be able to get to everything, but we'll we'll do our best to be able to try to to to to yeah, answer any questions and talk about any topics uh that we can. And then also as we get into the school year too, I like to get questions from the kids and teachers and uh because obviously they're gonna be journeying through the year uh as well on different topics and kind of make this a conversation with uh with different people in the parish. So so we have some thoughts, but it'll allow us to kind of get our thoughts together and provide some structure to this to this uh season too and everything.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

So don't delete us on Spotify as a favorite. We will be back.

SPEAKER_00 34:34

Still uh give us five stars. Uh we we will be back. Stay tuned, yes. I know we're all in the rhythm of uh Saturday mornings of these episodes coming out, but we will return in August and we'll do some promotion and everything in the in the bulletin and everything as we come back, and we'll be uh we'll be jumping back on the train, it'll be fun, it'll be it'll be exciting.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

So I I know my daughter's gonna miss us because she has a uh very, very young child, and she listens to our podcast at one in the morning right after it goes live. So she really looks forward to Friday night so she can hear our podcast. But we'll be back, Pam.

SPEAKER_00 35:08

Yeah, we'll be back and it'll be fun. So um, okay, so with that, um, we will do our gospel for this weekend, which is gonna be uh from uh Matthew, now that we're in this twelfth Sunday of ordinary time. So let's pray. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen. Amen. The Lord be with you. And with your spirit. Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

Glory to you, Lord.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

Jesus said to the twelve, Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light, what you hear whispered, proclaim on the real housetops, and do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your father's knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. Do not be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my heavenly father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly father. The gospel of the Lord. Anything speaking from the gospel work?

SPEAKER_01 36:34

It's it's packed, it's it's it's very dense. I the one line that just pops out is uh everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my heavenly father. Jesus can be vague a lot. Here he's very, very clear. Yeah I think it's uh it's an action is called for. Um acknowledge me before others. He talks about speaking, preaching from the rooftops. I mean, uh, how well do I do that? I think that's something I'd I'd like to pray about and uh that that uh Jesus teaches me how to do that a little bit better to acknowledge him to others.

SPEAKER_00 37:12

While we use our example and our actions, we're also called to use our words, you know, to to give witness to Jesus. And uh yeah, I was grateful uh for the ability to do that today, you know, ultimately not just to talk about a trip that I took, but like to talk about the goodness of God, you know, and and to say there's a we have a a responsibility to do that as Christians. That we should be vulnerable, we should, you know, we should um you know be looking to where God is in our lives and be able to just share it with others. And I think that's what I was setting on too, uh sitting with too. Um what you hear whispered proclaim on the house on the housetops.

SPEAKER_02 37:46

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

You know, to say, you know, God speaks to all of us, and it may seem like small and un small and random things, but uh but it's not. And so are we sharing with other people what God is doing in our lives? I think it's a really important part of uh being a Christian.

SPEAKER_01 38:01

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

So all right, any prayer intentions?

SPEAKER_01 38:05

Yeah, tomorrow is the first anniversary of the death of my brother-in-law Ed Franz. And uh I'd like to pray for him, I'd like to pray for his wife, I'd like to pray for his children, his sister, my wife, and his brother and his mother. That God gives them peace. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

Yeah, I'm just gonna offer prayer for just uh for fathers, you know, this weekend. We have uh Father's Day weekend and everything. And whether you're a uh father, uh kind of a fatherly role, uh, it's such a gift uh to have um fathers, right?

SPEAKER_02 38:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 38:37

Uh and so maybe hopefully we're gonna be able to spend some time with them if they're not with us. Certainly we um yeah, we pray for them and we're we uh are grateful for them. So um, and then uh any new fathers. So we actually am celebrating a wedding at the parish this weekend. So uh yeah, prayers for them and all the all the marriage prep couples that I'm working with as they continue to move towards this uh vocation of uh life and love. So all right, let's pray. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, amen. Amen. Good and gracious God, heavenly father, we give you thanks and praise uh for this day of our lives, or this opportunity to uh to be together and to share and to uh unveil your presence in our lives. We ask you to be with us uh this summer and these over these next number of weeks. Uh fill us with your peace and your your presence. May you open our our eyes to your hand in our lives. Uh may we not take anything for granted, uh, but everything as a part of uh your presence and your your providence. We just give you thanks. Uh we just uh entrust our lives and our hearts in these next weeks to you uh under intercession of our blessed Mother who looked to you in all things, as we pray. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, everyone, thanks for joining us uh on the journey, certainly up to this point. Uh, please don't go away. Yes, we are gonna take a couple weeks off uh and everything, but we're gonna come back, yeah, just full, full of ideas and full of conversation for our second season and everything. So so to those who've been listening, thank you so much uh for everything. And then please, uh, if you have any questions, uh we send those along uh to the email and we can have those uh and have those for you uh when we start back up in August. So all right, so thanks so much and have a good day.