My Childhood Icon

 See this statue of George Washington.  How many times did I pass this statue, when I was a child?  It was on Lawrence Street, in my home town of Methuen, MA.  Lawrence Street is one of the main streets, in town.  I also went to Junior High right across the street, from the statue.  I must have stared at it hundreds of times.  Finally, I went to high school at Presentation of Mary Academy, just down the street from the statue.  Oh how I wished the gates and iron fence, surrounding the area around the statue,  weren't there.  Maybe then I could have cut across and taken a shortcut to school.  

Sometime, when I was in Junior High, I think, a school was being build there.  The church I went to was building a parochial school.  Then the statue was gone.

I always thought it was because it was in the way of the building.  Progress--and all. 

Now I read in The Pilot, the history of the statue.  It was moved to Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills, California.  The next time I visit my relatives in California, I going to see my childhood icon.

Viva Cristo Rey and Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro

Have you ever heard of Catholic Quest, or Envoy, or Patrick Madrid, or Viva Crista Rey? Catholic Quest was new to me, but I was familiar with the other three.

Today, my sister, Bette, and I went to hear Patrick Madrid speak, at her parish, St. Monica's, Methuen. Catholic Quest privides forums for Catholics to continue to learn about their faith. Patrick Madrid gave four talks. He's a lecturer, not an entertainer. I'm ashamed to say, I dozed off on the first talk. It was the history of the popes. Bette had never heard of Pope Joan, so thought this was the best talk. The second talk was more interesting to me. It was about why and how Protestants, like Scott Hahn convert. I prefer personal stories to history. The third talk was about scriptural proof of some of the truths in the Catholic Church, i.e., Eucharist, purgatory. He talked about tradition and what apologetics is and isn't and the danger inherrent in moral relativism.

I subscribed to CD of the month and listed to Viva Cristo Rey on my way home. The story of Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro is perfect for Hollywood. He is a martyr, for sure. Patrick parrels what happened in Mexico to what he sees happening today, here. Scary.

I also bought his book, Search Rescue. He wrote, "Faith, pray for me." For sure, I'll pray for the intercession of Fr. Pro to oversee Patrick Madrid's apostolate. Definitely, I'll be praying for our Church.

One last thing: I picked up a few of Patrick's magazine, Envoy, to leave in the back of my own parish.