Blessed Kateri Shrine, Fonda, New York, Usa

Blessed Kateri Shrine, Fonda, New York, Usa

Last year one of the highlights of our family driving vacation to Boston was stopping at the the Shrine to Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine in Fonda NY when we did not know it existed. You can hear more about that visit onCatholic New Media Roundup Episode 2 from last July.

This year we are spending two of our family camping weeks at Catholic Family retreats, first at Catholic Familyand in Bloomingdale, Ohio and later at Cana Colony at Madonna House in northern Ontario. We are certainly not alone in taking vacation time out to recharge our spiritual batteries and renew our faith.

There were over 140 families at Familyland the week we attended. The week at Familyland was structured with daily mass in the morning, followed by sessions for all members of the family until lunchtime. The afternoons were dedicated to sports, relaxation, watersliding, swimming and visiting with other families. At 3 pm each day, everyone in the whole complex stopped wherever they were to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Dinner was served between 5 and 7 and there were family activities and rosary time in the evenings. During each afternoon a number of priests were available on the lawn outside the chapel to hear confessions. The whole week was a wonderful balance of spiritual renewal and family fun.

While we were there, we met the Kearns family; Deacon Pat, Liz, Makenzie and Sean, from northern California who dedicated their month long circuit of the United States as a pilgrimage with daily mass and times for family rosaries. They documented their journey on the Kearns Family Pilgrimage USA blog.

This notion of traveling to renew one’s faith is not new. In fact it is very old. For thousands of years, Catholics have been making pilgrimages to holy places seeking healing or to grow in their faith. We are privileged to live quite near to the Shrine of the Canadian Martyrs, which is one such place of pilgrimage.

Catholic Roundup Big Question

How about you? Have you ever been on a pilgrimage? Have your family ever gone on a vacation/retreat? Do you take time during your vacation to recharge and enrich your spiritual life? Tell us about it. Send your responses to (catholicroundup@gmail.com) catholicroundup (at) gmail (dot) com or leave a voicemail message at 206-337-0611.