Friday, November 11, 2016

7QT: Learning Scripture Through Song

In which I make some more pilgrimages, do some other Catholic things and finally start learning some Bible verses. Woot!


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Our Lady of La Leche y Buen Parto (Milk and Happy Delivery)

As mentioned in a previous post, I went to Florida for another work trip in February. This time we met in St. Augustine. I was super excited to find out that this is supposedly America's first parish and the site where the Spaniards landed and celebrated the first Mass. On this site, called Nombre de Dios, is also the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche which houses a statue depicting Mary breast feeding the baby Jesus. A coworker visited the shrine with me and I prayed for some friends who are trying to conceive. Later before my flight I took a walk back to visit the museum where I met a man from Vermont (small world!) who told me all about Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the founder of St. Augustine, and showed me the man's coffin which, admittedly, looked pretty darn cool.

I arrived in St. Augustine on Tuesday night just before Ash Wednesday so I went to Mass at the Cathedral Basilica which was easily within walking distance. The next morning I went to Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and remembered to pass through the Holy Door for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. As usual, I stayed in the pew to pray for a while before leaving. An older gentleman stopped on his way out to ask if he could pray for my intention. Explaining that he is a Carmelite he took out what was the largest brown scapular I've ever seen and had me hold one end in my lap while he held the other end against the back of my shoulder. Then he prayed a wonderfully beautiful prayer and we chatted for a while. I think he said his name is Richard and that he lives on a horse farm. He told me that all of the bones in his ankle are shattered and that doctors tried to put it back together with screws but they pulled out and so the doctor wants to amputate--so pray for Richard's ankle! Also pray for the young street musician named Brandon who spent a coffee break telling me his story.


--- 2 ---

In May, mom and I went with Carl and Jeremy to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in DC. We also attended the Vigil Mass the evening before, celebrated by Cardinal Sarah (nice name!) from Guinea. Mom, who is not Catholic, decided to come through the communion line with arms crossed to receive a blessing from the Cardinal. When she got to the front, the Cardinal stood holding the Eucharist and looking confused until the man holding the Communion-plate whispered into his ear and then he gave her a blessing. I guess it's not a universal sign! But she did finally get the blessing and the next day there was a book singing for God or Nothing and I got to speak with the Cardinal. Actually I just said "Thank you, I'll pray for you!" and he said, "Yes, please pray for me." Still, I was excited.


--- 3 ---

I showed some of the Catholic wonders of Santa Fe, NM in a different post entitled 7QT: A Santa Fe Pilgrimage, but managed to see some new things during a work trip this summer. This time I visited what is suppose to be the oldest church in the country, San Miguel. Unfortunately I did not get to attend a Gregorian Chant Mass with Schola which would have been AWESOME! Instead I attended Church at the Basilica which, I discovered, has Stations of the Cross by Gib Singleton, the man who designed the corpus for St. John Paul II's crosier.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

--- 4 ---

At the end of August, mom and I went with Carl to see a DC Padres game at the Bowie Baysox Stadium. The Padres is a team of priests and seminarians that plays several games each summer against local high schools. The Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara, our local blue nuns, were there to cheer them on. It was a good time even though mom and I were both on special diets--no hot dogs for us!

--- 5 ---

Mom and I have been memorizing scripture verses through songs and we have three sources that have been so unbelievably helpful that I'll post one from each for the last three Quick Takes. The first is Seeds Family Worship, a band that has a bunch of videos with words on Youtube and has several albums that can be purchased from their website.

"Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 55:22


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The second is a band called The Rizers (short for Memorizers) that also has a bunch of videos on Youtube and a few albums that can be purchased on their website.

"Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always and pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18


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Shannon Linville also has a bunch of videos on Youtube. Her style is targeted toward smaller children, but it's still a great way to learn scripture.

"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1




For more Quick Takes, visit This Ain't the Lyceum!