With the sanctuary and chapel being unavailable due to long needed updates happening to the physical space, St. Benedict’s decided not to forgo the opportunity for multiple week day masses. Indeed, it would have been quite a bit easier to sit back and allow the circumstances to give us a few days off from liturgical exercises but there truly is something magical that happens when the mass is celebrated in austere conditions.
For two years, I served as the Priest-in-Charge of the Northern Colorado Mission Community. For two years, once a month, I would fly into Denver International Airport, rent a car and drive to a member of the community’s home. Early on, we often celebrated mass in a barn located at a parishioner’s home in Boulder, CO. Occasionally, we offered mass at makeshift altars pieced together with whatever was available. Towards the end of my time with the Northern Colorado Mission Community, we were able to rent space from a small Methodist Church in Erie, CO, which at least meant our altar typically resided in the same place from month to month.
Being able to participate in both masses offered at our temporary altar in the Parish Hall afforded me the opportunity to reminisce on those many months spent gallivanting about the Colorado countryside, providing the Eucharist to families seeking the same community that we now enjoy at St. Benedict’s. I ask that you please pray both for the continued growth of St. Benedict’s and for the wellbeing and growth of the Northern Colorado Mission Community.
