Since I had the day off, I went to St. Philip for the 8am mass. It was a small, intimate service, the day commemorating the feast of St. Martin of Tours, which I thought was interesting because I was just reading about him and his contribution to Western monasticism in the introduction to The Rules of St. Benedict the other day. After mass, Fr. Bill asked if I'd like to join him for coffee, so we went across the street to New Seasons and talked for a while.
We talked a little about our pasts, as well as spirituality. He asked what brought me to Catholicism, and I attempted to give a summary of my roundabout journey. I mentioned that I wasn't raised in any religious tradition and that I was free to explore religion in a relaxed and natural way. I told him of my experience with paganism and Buddhism, about my stay at Our Lady, which really got me interested in the contemplative side of Catholicism, and about the list of coincidences that led me to where I am now.
It was nice talking to Fr. Bill, although I got the feeling that he partially wanted to get to know me better in order to gauge whether I could help him with his mission of getting young adults interested in the Church, which is definitely quite a challenge. Young adults are relatively complacent where they are in life, and the intoxication of youth and the joys of worldly life often overshadow spiritual concerns. But unlike a lot of people my age, I think, I'm drawn towards spiritual matters and really enjoy spending time with spiritual people and at spiritual places, and I'm becoming a regular face at St. Philip.
After that, I decided to finally visit the Grotto, even though it probably wasn't the best day weather-wise to go. The wind was fierce and cold and went right through my light jacket. I looked around, bought a small date-nut cake made by the monks at Our Lady from the gift shop, and attended their noon mass. There were quite a few people in the large chapel, and I rather enjoyed the homily, which was primarily about the importance of serving others.
Glad once again for you, brother, and thanks for journalizing your thoughts and adventures. Yes, the Grotto, I used to spend a lot of time there with my sons when they were growing up.
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