Pictures!!!!

Picked up 3 rolls of film last night, so get ready. We have the pics from our DC pilgrimage as well as our annual Passion Play, and some other shots from around the small holding. I won't do it all in one post, but just be warned ...

The Pilgrimage



Here's the kids camping out on the floor of my sister's apartment. Not everyone is visible-but you get the idea.

The next few pictures show the waiting to get into the Nationals Stadium. One is a picture of my crew, minus yours truly.

Here are a couple pictures of my crew waiting in the stands. You can see from the postures that it is a bit cold (around 7:30 AM). Later in the day it would be warm-I got a sunburn on my head.

Okay-here's the Pope. You can see the pope-mobile in the distance.

We almost got a great picture...but Mrs. Curley cut the Pope's head off-well not quite, but you see what I mean.

Here's a shot during either the opening or closing prayer. We didn't take an other pictures during Mass.

And finally, (and maybe our best shot) is Pope Benedict XVI leaving the stadium

We also had some fun on the way home in the less-crowded Metro. You can see some of the ties are off-but there are some vestiges of our fatigue at the long trip and the long day.

The whole pilgrimage was about our connection to the Universal Church-our connection to Peter-and therefore our connection to Christ. When waiting for 10 hours in the off-and-on rain to see John Paul II so many years ago, it was different. The Church had been in some very dark ages and John Paul was a hope and a Shepard for lost sheep. He came to gather lost children from around the globe. We may not be completely out of the dark ages, but I feel that Pope Benedict comes to a more mature (but still hurting) flock. Our catechesis may not be great-but at least there is something there now to work with. We listen more intently.

I express the thoughts in my heart badly, but we saw Peter last week and that is enough.

Oremus pro invicem!