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We Are All Children of God

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HERS: They say you can never go home again. I think our Roamin' adventure this weekend proved this saying to be true. This weekend we attended the 8:00 am mass at St. Patrick's parish in my hometown, Erie, PA. Yay, no singing at this one! This is the parish I literally grew up in. I have so many memories of St. Patrick's Church, St. Patrick's Grade School and St. Patrick's rectory. So let me give you some history... and not the church kind, but my kind of history with the church. My earliest memories of St. Patrick's is going to the rectory with my mom where she was the cook for the priests for a while and where she helped to clean the rectory with another woman. I remember joining her in the kitchen and playing on the old fashioned elevator that brought us to the different floors. I also have fond memories of accompanying my grandmother (Gram) to the cold basement of the rectory where she was the laundress for many years. She let me iron and use this appara...
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Where Is God?

HERS: The "Roam" has taken us to many different Catholic and one Protestant church over the past eight months. This week brought us to my favorite of God's homes... nature. I remember asking why we had to go to church when I was a kid. The answer I always received was that, just like visiting a friend, we had to visit God at his "house". Well, let's just say we visited his outdoor home on Sunday. We attended the 10:00-ish nature-inspired gathering at Gravelly Point in Arlington, VA. We propped open our lawn chairs and took in all of God's beauty with a bagel and coffee.  It is said in Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." Did you ever just sit outside and take in all of the beauty that nature has to offer? The sky, clouds, trees, grass, fresh air, birds, bugs, flowers, and on and on... It is overwhelming to think that God created all of this for us and it all somehow stays in motion. I am overw...
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Roamin' Cath... Protestants?

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HERS: This week was all about change for these Roamin' Catholics. We talked about doing this months ago in our journey, but finally felt the push we needed to do so. So... this week we ventured to Potomac, MD to... (drum roll please)... St. James' Episcopal Church to the Sunday 8:00 am service... they call them services, not masses, and the celebrants are Rectors, not Priests. Yes, I said Episcopal... and as some like to call it Catholic-lite. As we pulled into the parking lot, we were both pretty nervous. The only time I've been to anything other than a Catholic mass was for weddings and funerals of friends who were of different denominations. Lou said he felt a little guilty. This is our journey and no good journey goes from point A to point B without some sudden turns, a stop or two, some bumps in the road and some fun along the way. I'll consider this week a turn onto a rest stop. We walked in to the church and moved to a little area on the side of the chur...
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The Catholic Church: Past, Present and Future

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HIS: This week brought us to Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Bethesda, MD, but I want to devote my time this week to thoughts that have been swirling through my head in light of the news that came out of Pennsylvania at the beginning of last week. I never thought for one minute that the church’s sex scandal was in its rearview mirror, especially given recent revelations that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington had been accused of sexual misconduct while bishop overseeing the Newark NJ Archdiocese.  This notwithstanding, I was shocked and appalled when I heard about the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s report.  As a life long Catholic and someone who implicitly respects authority, these recent revelations have effected me very deeply.  I believe the church has betrayed us.  At least for me It will take a long time to trust the leadership of the church again.  I believe the church is going to have to do some soul searching (perhap...
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Our Polish-Italian Roam...

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HERS: We took the fifty mile journey to Baltimore on Saturday night to attend the 5:00 pm mass at Holy Rosary Church. This Polish-Catholic church was nothing short of beautiful. Built in 1927, Holy Rosary is so completely different from the most recent churches we have attended. It dawned on me that there seems to be more mystery and a greater sense of respect in the older churches. One negative about this church was the lack of air conditioning, and on a nintey-plus degree day, it was a bit uncomfortable at times. Their solution... a paper fan on a stick to help you circulate the hot air. Lol. On similar note, during the intercessions, we prayed for those who did not have air conditioning. Perhaps a little hint to add a little more to the collection basket. This week we had two special guests on our journey. The first was my dad who we mentioned last week is staying with us for the month of August to get away from the Florida heat. Our second special guest was Leslie, my...
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Are You Being Fed?

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HIS: As I begin each week with a question, I would like to use some poetic license and borrow from the British sitcom that ran from 1972 to 1985, “Are You Being Served?”   Or more precisely Are you being Fed ?  This week Roamin’ Catholics attended the 5:00 pm Saturday evening Mass at Holy Cross Church in Garrett Park, MD with a special guest who will be with us for the next several weeks, Mary’s Dad – Ivan “Duck” Biletnikoff.  Ivan (although, I don’t think I have ever heard anyone call him that), Mr. B, Uncle Ducky or just plain Duck, will be up visiting with us for a bit over a month as part of his annual migration north to avoid the oppressive Florida heat and humidity.  It must be really bad down in FLA if the Washington, DC area is viewed as a refuge from heat and humidity!  So glad we have the opportunity to spend some quality time with him.  Duck is a trooper.  Raised Russian Orthodox, he attends Mass every week with his live in personal assi...
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