Roamin' Catholics: Body and Soul

HERS: Being the wild and crazy person that I am, I decided to mix things up a bit and start with the “body” part of Body and Soul this week. I’m not embarrassed to say that it was the better part of the evening in my estimation. We went to the new trendy area in Rockville, MD called Pike & Rose, named as such because it is bordered by Rockville PIKE and MontROSE Road. Clever huh? Pike & Rose is an area in Rockville with vertical housing, hotels, shopping and restaurants. Yeah, our area needed another one of these. Anyway, we had a 6:30 reservation at Del Frisco’s Grille which is kind of a steakhouse, kind of an all American fare restaurant, kind of a trendy and modern hangout... Lou nailed it when he said it was a restaurant lacking an identity.   I wonder if the place may have had some issues recently because the manager visited our table on three separate occasions. Hey buddy, pull up a seat and join us, ok? I partook in a trendy version of beef strogan...

HIS: The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire…not really, but yesterday was Pentecost Sunday and that is all about fire.  Fire represents the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus’ disciples following his ascension into Heaven.  Given the way we started the Easter season with a minor explosion and fire on Easter Sunday, it seems only fitting that the Easter season ends the way it began (metaphorically), with the commemoration of the appearance of the holy spirit in the form of flames.  Pentecost is frequently viewed as the birth of the church as the apostles received the “power” from on high and they began to preach and spread the good news of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.  But first, a little background on St. Peter’s in Olney, Maryland. The origins of the parish that would later become known as St. Peter’s go back to the early 19 th century.  Originally a station and then a mission of St Mary’s in Rockville (see Roamin’ Catholics January 14), St Peter’s ...

HERS: This picture is nothing but a tease to get you to read our blog. This nun cutout was at the back of the church this week and well, after seventeen years of Catholic schooling, I couldn't resist. It's total nun-sense. Lol. Lou was nice enough to read his blog to me earlier today, so I know I don't need to go into the history of the church, the beginning of the mass, a good part of the homily, and well, he didn't leave much for me! But there was one part of the homily that I want to expand upon. Fr. Matt talked about the five important parts of the church building at the end of his homily. Those important parts of the church building are the five Exit signs. Huh? That's kind of strange. Now why are these important? He touched upon the importance and significance of taking what you learn at mass and bringing it into your everyday life and to those people around you. How do we do this? Is it telling everyone you meet that you are a Christian? Or is it te...

HIS VIEW: Two songs come to mind as I write this week’s installment of Roamin Catholics.  All You Need is Love and I Would Die 4 U .  These are the main themes for the readings and homily from the Saturday evening mass at St Bartholomew’s in Potomac, MD.  First a little background on this week’s patron saint and then more detail on the song tie-ins. Once again this week, there wasnt a lot of information about the history of the parish on their website, so I will provide some insight into who was St Bartholomew.  St Bart (can I call you Bart?  I feel like I know you) was one of Jesus’ original apostles.  Given the fact that he was an original disciple of the Son of Man, it would stand to reason that he lived in the first century AD.  He was martyred in Armenia and was either skinned alive or beheaded.  YIKES!  He is venerated in several religious traditions such as the Assyrian Church of the East, Maronite, Eastern Orthodox, Orie...

Back home to local roamin'... HERS: We journeyed to Rockville, MD Sunday morning to attend the 8:30 mass at St. Raphael's Catholic Church. I intentionally use the word "journeyed" because St. Raphael is the Patron Saint of travelers. This is one of the first parishes we've attended that does not have any church history on their website. If I had to guess, I would think the church building was constructed sometime in the 70s. The architecture was very simple. The pastor of the parish, Fr. Michael Salah said mass. Most notable was his homily. He had A LOT to say, but I think this week I am fixated on his description of how bamboo grows. Now, I knew that once you have bamboo in an area, it is very difficult to get rid of, but I never knew the reason why. Fr. Michael said that it is after about three years from the time that bamboo is first planted that you actually see a bamboo shoot sprout from the ground. He said that in that time, the bamboo is growi...