April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
PARISHES ONLINE
Summer fun boosts pride in Diocese
Parish photos, PokéStops and flat Jesus
Summer fun boosts pride in Diocese
• St. Thomas the Apostle parish in Delmar has become a "PokéStop" for the popular Pokémon Go game;
• St. Michael the Archangel parish in Troy has been asking parishioners to take a "Flat Jesus" paper cutout (similar to the children's book and activity "Flat Stanley") along on their summer adventures and photograph it; and
• St. Kateri Tekakwitha parish in Schenectady is using a photo contest to remind parishioners how important it is to attend Mass while away on vacation.
Kristine Rooney, pastoral associate for adult faith enrichment evangelization at St. Kateri's (whose two worship sites are also PokéStops), fronts the snapshot project on the parish's Facebook account. It's called the "Summer Mass Challenge."
The goal of the challenge is to encourage people to branch out and try different churches during their summer trips. Parishioners are being asked to snap a photo or two of a church in another area that they attended or visited and post the photos on St. Kateri's Facebook page.
As an incentive, everyone who posts a photo will be entered into a drawing for a St. Kateri drawstring bag.
From several states
Four people have already responded to the call for photos. Marlene Brownell, for instance, posted a photo from a recent trip to visit her brother: "We were in town for my niece's birthday," she said, and stopped at St. Mary's Church in Stonington, Conn.
"It's a smaller congregation" than her home parish and some traditions are a little different than St. Kateri's, Mrs. Brownell noted, but her family has attended Mass at St. Mary's several times while visiting relatives.
"It's good to feel like you're part of the universal Church," she said.
Pamela Turnbell and her husband, Terry, couldn't agree more. They've been to countless Catholic churches around the country and even the world, from Westminster Abbey in London to St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.
Most recently, the duo visited St. George's Church in St. George, Utah. They'd driven from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City a little earlier than they'd originally planned, having had a hard time finding a place to park in Vegas on the Fourth of July.
Mr. and Mrs. Turnbell have been to all 50 states and are now touring the state capitols.
While attending Mass at St. George's Church, the couple was asked to bring up the offertory gifts, something that they saw as a sign of welcome.
Different traditions
When they reached the altar with the gifts, "the priest gave us a blessing in Spanish," Mrs. Turnbell told The Evangelist. "That was something that I have never seen. Usually, they just say, 'Thank you.'"
The Turnbells always plan on going to Mass while on vacation.
"It's part of our life," Mrs. Turnbell said. "We've always had really good experiences. There have been a couple [liturgies] that have been more formal than what we're used to at St. Kateri's, but everyone has been welcoming."
Kathy Sharrow, bookkeeper at St. Kateri's, made sure to take a photo when she went to St. Alphonsus Church in Tupper Lake, part of the Diocese of Ogdensburg in northern New York.
Mrs. Sharrow was in the Adirondacks to attend the funeral of Rev. George Maroun, a 67-year-old priest of the Ogdensburg Diocese she knew who had died suddenly June 30. He had just retired last year.
The Tupper Lake church "was a much smaller church" than many local parishes, Mrs. Sharrow said. "It's probably over 100 years old."
Mrs. Sharrow used to work in the Diocese of Ogdensburg, so she is familiar with the area. The priest's funeral Mass, however, included something she had never experienced before: "It's not very often you see the Bishop [Terry LaValley] and 60 priests concelebrating."
The visitor had to sit up in the choir loft during the service, since the church was so full. Father Maroun had been a priest for 42 years and served at two parishes in the Ogdensburg Diocese and one in Mollendo, Peru, as well as working for the diocesan Mission Office for 26 years.
Heading home
Mrs. Sharrow enjoyed seeing how the Tupper Lake church was decorated, noting that she always likes to get ideas to bring back to Schenectady.
Although all the women who posted photos of their "vacation parishes" enjoyed their time away, they also agreed that it's nice to go home to St. Kateri's.
"We enjoy our Masses," said Mrs. Turnbell.
Besides, she confessed, "it's not fair to the other priests" she meets on her travels. They never seem to measure up to Rev. Robert Longobucco, pastor: "I always compare everybody to Father Bob."[[In-content Ad]]
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