Basilica at Notre Dame

[jcwit]

This past Sunday 2/12/17 my wife and Niece and her Husband and I were honored to attend Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

Such a beautiful building with all the stained glass and paintings on the walls and ceiling, just beyond description. The organ is huge and the sound is something else.

Quite an experience to say the least, this short post does nothing to express my feeling and/or beauty that was there, let alone the Priests message during the service.

Thank the Lord I was able to attend once!

[Boaz]

Glad you got to go and enjoyed the service !

[castalott]

Such a wondrous experience.... Blessings come in many forms....

[koehn,jim]

Glad you enjoyed it did you get over to the Grotto, or see the stadium.

[jcwit]

Yes, was able to go to the Grotto "said prayers there for the sick" also went to the Crypt which is directly under the Altar from above. Also got to see the Log Chapel which is a replica of the one built by Rev. Stephen Badin in 1831 as a missionary headquarters for northern Indiana. The original was destroyed by fire. Ate lunch at Legends across the street from the stadium. Had quite a day of it.

[Pipefitter]

Next time try and talk someone at the powerplant to give you a tour, ND's backup diesel generator is WW2 surplus from a submarine. There is a brass plaque on the wall with the history of the sub, number of tours it made and the number of Japanese ships sunk.

[Blackwater]

One of the things that has always impressed me about the classic Catholic churches, is the feeling you get upon entering them. The stained glass, the whole atmosphere, the organs - you just get a feeling of reverence whenever you enter. And that ain't no small thing! I was raised Baptist, and taught early on by some preachers that Catholics were a "cult," and probably wouldn't make it to Heaven. This is the mentality that spawned that old joke about the fellow who went to Heaven, and was being shown around. He was shown different rooms there, and when he got to one and the door opened, he asked who those people were. He was told "Those are the Baptists. They don't know anyone else is up here." I have to laugh at that joke every time I hear it, because of the element of truth there is in it. But I was always the kid who was always asking questions, and testing any answers I was given. I knew too many Catholics who were obviously some of the most devout people I knew at that time, so I always wrote that off as an effort on the part of those preachers to just "protect their turf." Even as a kid I understood competition!

I've long felt that the dumbest thing we Christians are capable of, is fighting among ourselves and putting each other down. It's good to talk between the sects, but inevitably, one sect will appeal to each of us more than another, and that may well be God's design in it all, and NOT any sort of real "problem" within Christianity. We can MAKE it a problem, if we seek to supercede other sects, but that's an act of OURS, and not of God. I have come to doubt that God really cares much which sect of Christianity we're a member of. He just cares that we DO belong to one or the other. I could be persuaded otherwise, but I doubt I'll ever change that view. It just seems to me, and me alone, that all God really wants is that we believe, as in John 3:16, and follow His directions. If we do, we'll be happy and satisfied. If we don't, we'll never really know real happiness or satisfaction. He is a very forgiving God, provided we are earnest in our belief, and faithful in our walk. We all, I think, see through the glass darkly, but if we put forth our best, we CAN at least see enough to get us to Heaven, where the scales will be lifted from our eyes, and the wax extracted from our ears, and we'll know the answers then, to SO many questions we've long wondered about. What a day that will be!

But even an old Baptist like me loves that wonderful cathedrals, and is awed upon entering them. They just seem to me to be such a fitting and richly appropriate expression of our love for God, and all He has done for us. And FWIW, Catholic theology is some of the best, most unified and deep treatments of theological matters I've ever read. They seem to go directly to the heart of the matter, and all I've read of it surely seems to hold up to even the strictest scrutiny, and is very edifying. Protestant theology seems to treat the human will more than Catholic theology, and between the two, I think there's some real opportunity to understand things better and more deeply than with either alone. Just my view, of course, and different things speak to each of us. I guess that's why the Bible is such a very long book. There's something in there for everyone to glean what they need from it, in order to believe and be assured they're on the right track. Life is always a path, not a destination, and we are, I think, intended to glean all we can from wherever we can glean it, and sort it all out and keep what is worthy and discard what is not helpful to us. The Bible will always be THE most significant path to real edification and true Faith that we'll ever have. I'm just glad I was born in a time when we HAVE the Bible TO study and consider!

I envy Catholics for much of what their services do and mean. It's a very inspirational experience, and who among us doesn't need regular and frequent inspiration? Especially in these troubled and divisive times?

Glad you got there JC. I envy you your trip.