I will lift up my eyes to the mountains...

This word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Rise up, be off to the potter's house; there I will give you my message."

I went down to the potter's house and there he was, working at the wheel. Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: "Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done?" says the LORD. "Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand..."

"Rehab. Sermon by John David Walt, Jr. given in Estes Chapel on the campus of Asbury Theological Seminary on February 14, 2008. Copyright. All Rights Reserved."

Read Matthew 4:1-11.

"She's only 24 with six Grammy nods, crashing headfirst into success and despair, with a codependent husband in jail, exhibitionist parents with questionable judgment, and the paparazzi documenting her emotional and physical distress. Meanwhile, a haute designer [Karl Lagerfeld] appropriates her disheveled style and eating issues to market to the elite while proclaiming her the new Bardot.[87]"

She could use our prayers. Listen to her own words, "I don't ever want to drink again. I just need a friend." She's a precious daughter of the most high God. Every day her Abba in Heaven stands at the end of the road scanning the horizon, watching for the first sight of her return ready to run into her embrace.

They try to make me go to rehab and I say No! No! No! The song is so unbelievably popular because it hits a nerve. I don't want to go to rehab. Do you? But I can promise you this. I need rehab and so do you. I am a man who needs to go to rehab and I live among a people who need to go to rehab. I'm not talking about Christianity as therapy. (Although it is interesting to note that our word therapy comes from a Greek word meaning to heal or to minister) I'm not talking about rehab in the 28 day sense. I'm talking about rehab in the 40 day sense and all the richness that this number implies. Take a look at how the word is defined. That's precisely what the desert of Lent is about. Take a look at how the word is defined. 40 days of intensive rehabilitation. We fast. We pray. We give. We covenant together as a people for an intensive period to "dry out," to renounce the impetuous indulgence of our insatiable appetites. Together, surrounded by sackcloth with ashes on our foreheads we enter the Spirit's treatment facility known as the desert. Jesus leads us into the Lenten theatre of the Holy War against sin in the power of the Holy Spirit. We enter in to face the tripartite enemies of the soul: the world, the flesh and the devil and to confront them in the full armor of God, in the Trinitarian energy of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We must come to grips that something deep inside of us still doesn't want to go to rehab. While we may listen to the song, we must stop singing it and learn the new song the Spirit is always teaching. And what, you may ask, is the song of the Spirit. Thank you. I'm convinced that the song of the Spirit is found in what we know as one of the earliest songs of the Church. Philippians 2:5-11.

5 Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

I want to encourage you to take a devotional risk in these 40 days. I'm going to offer you three desert practices this morning. Go into a room, close the door and sing this scripture back to God as a song. Make up the melody. Chant it. Dance it. Whatever can break it free from the confines of ink and paper. This is the Spirit's song about the Son to the glory of the Father. Even if you can't sing. Your heart can make melody.

Isn't that like the Spirit, to sing about the Son. Isn't it just like the Son to demonstrate and display what it looks like when the Spirit lives and works with perfection in a human being to the glory of the Father. Why did Jesus go into the Desert? He certainly didn't need to. This is not like Luke Sky Walker confronting Darth Vader. It's more like the New York Giants taking on West Jessamine High. Jesus enters the desert because he knows we human beings are slaves to sin and that we are prone to spend 40 years of our life lost and wandering craving anything that promises comfort and security. The rehabilitation of Lent, the treatment facility of the desert designs to wean us from the brokenness and laziness of our own spirit which incessantly attempts to turn stones into bread, which constantly puts God to the test and which will readily forfeit our own soul in order to live a secret life in Egypt and gain the whole world (i.e. worships Satan). The treatment facility of the desert designs to wean us from the indulgent immature laziness and brokenness of our own spirit and restore in us the very life and breath of God, remaking us in the strong, beautiful, loving, meek, merciful, pure hearted, peacemaking, persecuted and yet unquenchable image of Jesus Christ.

But there is a subtle deception waiting for us in the desert. We easily become deceived into making the world, the flesh and the devil our focus. We focus on what is wrong with us and Lent becomes a darkly introspective narcissistic quest to get fixed. Intensive introspection cunningly plays into the maintenance of what Dr. Mulholland in his writings calls the false self. Worse yet, we get tricked into making religion and religious practice and piety our focus. We are ever talking about what we are fasting from and how much we want it and how hard it is and how we can't wait for it to be over. Here's another way we miss it. We launch into a way of fasting and praying as though we were pushing and pulling the levers of heaven, putting God to some kind of test. Intensive religion plays into the hands of the flesh in perhaps the most deceptive way of all, feeding what Mulholland in his book calls the religious false self. Then there's the devil. Driving in the van somewhere a few weeks back, my 5 year old, Mary Kathryn proffered this analysis, "Daddy, you know God owns this world, but the devil tries to control it. And you know, Daddy, the devil will trick you." Perhaps the devil's greatest deception is to convince us that he is everywhere and behind everything that goes wrong. This deception has a way of blinding us to the unlikely places and unexpected ways that he does present himself. Matthew seems careful to point out that Satan shows up with his tricks only at the end of the 40 days. Maybe his most surprising strategy is proof texting scripture. Wouldn't it make a great bumper sticker: Satan Proof Texts. Those of you in Dr. Seamands Spiritual Warfare class will learn well that the focus of spiritual warfare is not on the devil but on the Spirit and the Word of God.

The proper focus of Lent, the Spirit's strategy for the treatment center of the desert is to cause us to behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world with every ounce of our personhood and every iota of our attention. We must get our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ. Every word he speaks, every move he makes, every encounter he engages, every person he touches, every step he takes, every prayer he utters --all filled and running over with the wisdom of God. Some weeks ago I preached on this text: Behold the Lamb of God. I repeat now what I said then. I think the entire paradigm of being and doing is worn out and tired. It sounds good, but what does it really mean. It's quite existentially bound in the human experience. I think it is a false dichotomy. I'm making a switch. I'm trading in the notion of being and doing for the movement of beholding and becoming. It takes the focus off of human initiative and activity and focuses us on God's initiative and activity. Beholding and becoming happen simultaneously as the fusion of contemplation and action, for what one beholds one becomes. Being and doing are two things. Beholding and becoming are one thing—one thing I ask of the Lord, one thing I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.

Philippians 2:5-11, the song of the Spirit, will always lead us to a place of beholding and becoming. Think of it visually.

Jesus meets us in the desert because the desert is a very deceptive place. We readily succumb to vertigo, thinking that through all our intensity, and focus and religiosity that we are actually going down when in fact, we are fueling our own pride and climbing the mountain to make our own name great. The mind of Adam is pervasive in us. This is the very form of pride. In the Garden of Eden we find Satan interpreting the Word of God and again distorting its meaning. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Adam (and Eve) consider equality with God something to be grasped. This continues in a deadly ascent all the way to Babel where we see ourselves building a tower that reaches to the heavens in order to make our name great.

God sent his Son to show us the way to "on earth as it is in heaven." In Jesus, Heaven comes down. Jesus shows us that the way is down. It is the way of life-laying-down-love-for-friends. This is the one who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing. This is the one who humbled himself and became obedient. This is the only one who can lead us to this place. God did not send his son in order that we would deconstruct his life into a set of principles or shape it into an ethic or create wrist lockets or any of the sort. Jesus is not a life application principle nor a life enhancing paradigm. He is not a purpose. He is a person. As we loose the controlling death grip we have on our self we will find his life welling up inside of us.

I love Julian of Norwich's quote from February 21 of our Spring Scripture & Saints
Reader: And after this our Lord showed himself more glorified, to my eyes, than I saw Him before. By this I was taught that our soul shall never have rest till it comes to Him, knowing that He is fullness of joy, friendly and courteous, blissful and very life. Our Lord Jesus said again and again, "It is I; it is I; it is I who am highest; it is I whom you love; it is I whom you delight in; it is I whom you serve; it is I whom you long for, whom you desire; it is I whom you mean; it is I who am all."
MIND OF CHRIST MIND OF ADAM
—St. Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love

When we follow Jesus to this place of abandon here's what begins to happen: "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. Isaiah 35. How's that for rehab? The very desert itself transforms into our Father's House, a veritable school house of prayer where the only tenured faculty are the Son and the Spirit. You see, by the power of the Spirit we are welcomed into the deep love shared between Father and Son where our own hearts cry out Abba! Here we feast on the Word of God as the Spirit teaches us to speak it as our heart language of prayer. Only then will we rise up into that house of prayer for all nations and as we lift our eyes to scan the horizons we will see nations coming to our Light. If you abide in me and my words abide in you may ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.

Now to the final two spiritual practices for the desert season of Lent.

In the desert we learn to hear the Spirit whispering this one word invitation: Abide. Abide in me and I will abide in you. We find this word covering the 15th chapter of John's Gospel. Jesus teaches us what it will be like to know and walk and work with him following his departure. He instructs us in the ways of the Holy Spirit. Interestingly though, this is not the first place we see the term. The Greek term is meinete. We see it first at the Jordan River. 40 days prior to his desert fasting, Jesus stood in the waters of the Jordan. He goes under the water in baptism. The voice of God speaks, "This is my Son, my beloved one. With him I am well pleased." We see the Spirit descending like a dove and "abiding" with him. The term meinete is used. Here we see the Word and the Spirit revealing themselves and working together in the Son both to announce and to prepare him for the mission ahead. What's fascinating is how these deeply life affirming words were spoken at the beginning of his public ministry, prior to any sermons or miracles or other demonstrations of his divine power. These words were spoken for him and yet they were also spoken for us.

I will never forget being part of a Lenten prayer and fasting group of students, staff and faculty a few years back. We were sharing about this temptation narrative and how Jesus responds to the first temptation to "turn these stones into bread," saying, "It is written, man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." One of the quieter students, Jason, raised his hand to offer a comment. He said, "You know, I think the word that Jesus was feasting on in the desert was the word that had days prior come from the mouth of God. 'This is my Son, my beloved. With him I am well pleased."

The desert place of fasting leads us to the Spirit's place of feasting where we eat this Word. Satan's test becomes the Spirit's triumph as we eat this Word. I am finding a way of eating this Word every day. It happens in the shower. As the water cascades over my head and down my body, I begin to say aloud these words, "My Abba. My Abba. My Abba. My Abba!" I say them until I am really saying them to God. Then I repeat his response in my own voice, aloud, "My Son. My Son. My Son. My Son!" Again, I say them until they register deep in my heart and spirit. I respond, "My Abba. My Abba. My Abba. My Abba!" He responds (again in my audible voice), "My Beloved. My Beloved. My Beloved. My Beloved!" I speak back, "My Abba. My Abba. My Abba. My Abba!" He responds, "With you, I am well pleased! With you, I am well pleased! With you, I am well pleased." It is like the scene of his baptism being played out in my shower day after day after day after day. This is how the Word of God becomes the mind of Christ in us. Because of the pervasive nature of the mind of Adam, it takes daily immersion in this extraordinary reality. Because of the deceptive temptation to prove oneself by turning stones into bread, it takes daily feasting on this extravagant word. Every other basis of identity is false. This is what I call a story immersion practice. I am learning to participate in the true story. It is changing me. I commend the practice to you.

Now to the final practice. You remember at the end of John's Gospel when Jesus, raised from the dead, meets with his disciples behind closed doors and breathes on them, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit." It was as though he wanted them to breathe in as he was breathing out. That's what abiding is like. It's like breathing. That's how near he longs to be to us. It's a practice of the spirit I want to commend to you today. As we walk out these desert days, try this: as you breathe in whisper these words: Abide in me. And as you breathe out, whisper these words: And I will abide in you. Try it now.

It is as though the Spirit craves the pure oxygen of the Word of God in order to condition the human heart to contain fire—to be like the bush burning yet not consumed. We've all seen lots of wildfire, where the spirit was surely at work, but the person was not ready and either burned up or flamed out. And we've all seen our share of religious piety, faking fire while being cold as ice. What we long to be and what we long to see are human persons on fire with the flame of Love, gloriously burning and yet not consumed. This is the work of the desert. This is the fruit of rehab.

I close with this wisdom story from one of the early desert fathers. After I tell the story I invite you to a few minutes of complete silence, after which we will find a way to depart.

One day Abbot Lot went to see his teacher, Abbot Joseph - and Abbot Lot said, "Abbot Joseph, the best that I am able, I keep my little fast, my little rule, my little devotions. To the best that I am able, I keep my meditation and my prayer, I try to cleanse my heart of earthly desires, but Abbot Joseph - it is not enough. I still haven't found what I seek."

Now Abbot Joseph listened closely to his student, and when Abbot Lot was done speaking Abbot Joseph got up out of his chair, and he reached his arms and his hands up into the air until he stretched out each of his ten fingers - and out of the tips of each of his fingers shot pure flame - ten burning candles there in the middle of the desert - and Abbot Joseph said to Abbot Lot - "Why not be completely changed into fire?"

"Why not be completely changed into fire?"

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It's maybe a little early yet, but Ash Wednesday is Wednesday and planning is good.

I know I need to take advantage of this season. I need to reevaluate and renew and refocus and re-energize. And receive. I declined to do music at any Holy Week / Easter Masses (at this point, anyway), so I can attend as a member of the congregation, rather than serving. Is that bad? I think it comes across a little selfishly to other people, but I don't think it's selfish in my heart. I don't have a lot to give right now. Sometimes we all need to receive. Oh, totally, because everyone needs the opportunity to give - within his or her gifts, talents, and strengths - and the only way that can happen is if everyone takes the opportunity to receive. If I am always giving and never receiving, then someone else (or lots of someone elses) around me is being limited / not given his or her opportunity. Sometimes I have to walk myself through this to remember that it is ok to say "no, thank you." (And - note to self - it's still better to say no politely than to say yes, whine and complain, and be miserably rude.)

So, Lent. I love the inherent challenge of Lent. It's multifaceted - the challenge to discern some solid "give ups" (by which I really mean the challenge to truly increase in prayer, sacrifice, and charity), the challenge to stick to them, and the challenge to take full value on them. I grew up wanting to give up things like smoking (not a smoker), lima beans (won't eat them anyway), basketball practice (lazy!), etc. When I got older, I wanted to give up things which would achieve an end - fast food (lose weight!), drinking (lose weight and save money!), shopping (save money!) - all of which were good things to give up, but they were lacking the right intent. This Lent, I want to truly strive to increase in prayer, to make real sacrifices, and to serve my proverbial neighbor in charity.

I want to make my dailies. I'm struggling with fully committing to daily Mass for Lent because 8am is my daily of choice, and I have to be at work at 8am. Daily Mass, this time 'round, won't be as easy as just rolling out of bed with plenty of time to Mass, breakfast, and go to work. It's going to require getting up really early... and finding another church to go to... and mostly just getting up really early... I know I should do it, especially because of the additional sacrifice in "inconvenience." I know I want to do it, because I love dailies and we are so blessed in this country to be able to receive in Mass as frequently as we are.

[Aside: I am worried (but also not really worried because "God is on the throne") about the priest shortage. Like with all of the ease and convenience in this country, I am convinced that the only way people will rediscover true value - of Eucharist, of consistent meals, of freedom of speech, of easy transportation, of shelter and heating and air conditioning, of fresh, hot, cold, or iced water, of education - is by not having. ...I refuse to be side-tracked by our secular nation right now. My worry about the priest shortage is that the way to fix it takes us through a greater shortage, with less frequent celebrations of the Mass, with the closing and combining of parishes, with larger crowds of uninterested/disaffected faithful, until - from the outside - the Church appears broken. At which time, a revival will come - I know - and it's already happening in so many ways and in so many places. I'm not really worried; I just have to walk through the process in my brain sometimes.]

Here are my options:

• the Mission - 7am or 5:30pm
• OLG - 5:30pm
• John of the Cross - 6:30am
• St. Therese - 6:20am
• B Sac - 6:15am

I am also going to give up Starbucks. I'm going to keep track of the times when I want to get it (and what I want to get), add all of that theoretically spent money up, and give it to ... I don't know whom as of yet. Some charity or other. I spend a lot of money at Starbucks...

There was something else I can't remember. Oh yeah, the internet. I'm going cold turkey on internet (except for whatever is necessary for work). I've tried and failed with that one in the past; we're going for it again.

This post is long; I'm going to read a book. 

Ash Wednesday

OK, here's the plan:

I'm going to write (a novel of) my adventures here with some pictures/video to add to the story. If you would like to see all pictures (or skip out on the reading because I did try to caption them), you can find my entire album (of over 1200 photos) here. On the off chance that I don't use all of my video, you can see them all here. Because this is a huge process and an actual novel is kind of a no-go, I'm going to be posting totally out of order so you can just scroll down through chronologically or click:

Day 1 - 2   Day 3   Day 4   Day 5   Day 6   Day 7   Day 8
Day 9    Day 10   Day 11   Day 12   Day 13   Day 14   Day 15

"May I have a big heart that is able to understand love and give itself,
that is not frightened either by evil nor by error,
that embraces courageously its brothers and sisters,
and works totally in Charity."
- Pope John Paul II

My darling mother (aka Amy O) drove me to the airport. We left about 10, because I was taking my sweet time getting the finals ready for leaving, and got to LAX about 1-130ish (we stopped for lunch). LAX is a miserable hole, and the international terminal - specifically the Lufthansa counters - was packed. I waited in line for long whiles. I was kind of impatient about it, because I wanted to be set and going already, but I managed to entertain myself by playing "spot the fellow traveler." I picked out four of the other people in my group while waiting in line. I checked in and asked the lady for an emergency row seat or somewhere with extra legroom, and she told me there weren't any. She also told me I was second to last to check in (as it turns out, Olivia was last, and she was moved to a legroom spot).

At the gate, I met Sylvia and Sandy, then Dan, Olivia, Al, Christina, Tracy, Millie & Bob, and Rena. There was lots of chit chat, and we actually boarded fairly soon after we all got to the gate. Our plane was humongous. Lufthansa is wonderful; fly them always. It was split-level, with bathrooms and kitchens downstairs (excellent for walking around and taking a stretch). There were 8 seats across (2 aisle 4 aisle 2), and I had two to myself, which was lovely. I popped a couple PMs as soon as we got on the plane, and shortly thereafter the flight attendants came around with free booze. (Fly Lufthansa! All you can drink for free! ... Lufthansa, call me: I'll do your marketing.) We took off over LA about 4pm west coast time (1am central Europe time) and into the sunset (v. dramatic).

I wiped out very quickly after snackage (see above - hooray for Coke Light and smiling crackers). I had intended to watch The Simpsons Movie, but I fell asleep. Magical! Actually, before I fell asleep, I got the Official Dan Musical Tour because I fail at knowing Christian rock. Dan was really kind of hilarious about making sure to share the music in his iPod Shuffle with everyone. No joke. It was awesome. But I did sleep. And I woke up - I don't know how many hours in... probably not very many. Early enough for sunrise, half of Mr. Bean's Holiday (which, I'm sure I don't need to tell you, was horrible), and plenty of flight time remaining. I busted out my iPod and started shuffling through tons of classical & gospel music with the sunrise. It was quite lovely.

We flew over Iceland, Ireland, and England before hitting major cloud cover over the mainland of Europe. I took a bunch of pictures so I could try to figure out where we were. The clouds lifted as we came in over Germany, which is a really beautiful country.

I decided this was Ireland, but it very well could be Iceland.

I think this is England. All those 'lands are hard to identify from 35,000+ feet.

I know this is Germany!

Flying in was beautiful. Germany (as you can see) has the lovely patchwork going with its farms, but it also has these dark, thick forests all over the wheres. We landed in Munich on Wednesday at about 12:30p central Europe time (3:30a PST). We wandered through the airport a bit - it was very empty seeming. I attribute that to the Germans' efficiency (we saw a lot of that - not always good). Tracy and I wandered through some of the shops. Everyone sat around a bit, chatting. We took off from Munich to Krakow around 2(?)... I don't know. The plane was packed. Thankfully, it wasn't a very long flight, but it was mightily uncomfortable. Poland from above looked surprisingly different from Germany. (I'm naive sometimes, it's ok.)

Krakow, especially, looked very industrial. Lots of huge buildings and factories. Probably a testament to the long-term Communist rule, which enslaved the Poles for years and years. Time out: let's research this good and properly because I know the Commies came in basically after the Nazis left, and I think they were around until the Solidarity movement in the early '80s. Ah, yes. 1952-1989. This is a pretty informative Wiki. Anyway. We landed in Krakow at about 4:30p CET (7:30a PST). We didn't do much in the way of customs or anything (didn't in Germany either), which was very interesting. I changed some US dollars into Polish Zloty (which was kind of fantastic, because 1zl is about $0.40), we met up with Fr. Stan, Maryland Mary, and Manchester Mary, and went out to load up into the van & drive to Czestochowa.

Ours is the front bus. It was cozy. Our driver's name is Mark (or Marek), he was from Oswiecim, he has a 16 year old son, he likes to drive fast (also, likes to interrupt when Fr. Stan is talking... hee). We went from JPII International Airport in Krakow straight out to Czestochowa, about a 2-2 1/2 hour drive. Tracy and I sat up front with Christina. My knees didn't fit, so they were helping me figure out how to best position myself. Christina was a genius and recommended a little wrap-around to the (emptyish) seat in front of me. I did get stuck at one point, with my left knee beneath that seat. Good times. Very pretty sunset though!

We stayed at the John Paul II Pilgrim House just outside of the Jasna Gora Monastery in Czestochowa. We arrived at nearly 7. It was quite large. Olivia and I were roommates for the entire trip, which was quite lovely, so we went and started to settle in before our dinner. We had to go for a bit of a trek to find the right dining facility - they had actually set us up at a restaurant between the pilgrim house and the monastery - but it was tasty! I don't remember what we ate exactly. Soup. Pickled veg. Some sort of meat. After dinner, Olivia and I walked through the big church and the Black Madonna chapel. It was very pretty and very crowded. I didn't go, but every night at 9 they have a big prayer service - probably why it was more crowded than I would have expected. We went back up and talked and read for a bit, and then we went to bed.

I woke up at like 5 in the morning (CET / 8p PST). Every morning they do an unveiling of the Black Madonna (though I'm not sure why she gets covered), so I decided to roll out and see it. I wandered around for a while, in shock again at the sheer number of people (primarily teen aged) who were pouring into the chapel. I actually missed the beginning of the unveiling, but what I caught was incredible. The chapel was packed, for one, and there was a huge fanfare of horns and organ, and the Poles all sang their Black Madonna song. It was beautiful, and then they started Mass (which was about when I remembered that I could take video with my little My First Digital Camera).

I skipped out on their Mass because we were going later and wandered around taking pictures of the sunrise before breakfast. I didn't take any breakfast pictures here, but breakfast in Krakow was the same, so no worries. After breakfast, we had Mass at the foot of the icon, toured the Basilica & monastery, and went into Czestochowa for lunch and adventures.

From Jasna Gora, looking across the meadow down to Czestochowa

Our 4th floor room

I'm redoing this since I'm awesome & lost the first round, so let me re-warn you: I was loving the changing leaves, and I took a lot of nature pics. Just work with me.

Stations of the Cross along a path around/under(?) the monastery - I'm standing on a bridge over the path

I think they were trying to tell us something.

This gives you an idea of how the Black Madonna chapel was laid out. There was this ante-chapel, with art and gifts and some pews. Through the arch is the main chapel, and - at center - the golden blob is the icon behind a grille.

Mass

If you can see the shadow at her crown... The actual painting - said to've been painted by St. Luke on the table from the Holy Family's house - is very simple (I will put a picture below). People have given the Black Madonna fancy outfits to wear, which are usually precious stones/jewels, including dress & crown, with space for faces and hands. This outfit is her commitment outfit, which is made of wedding rings given to the Madonna by people who want her intercession in their marriages (or by people who've lost a spouse).

Daylight view from Jasna Gora into Czestochowa

Looking back to Jasna Gora from Czestochowa

It was better than it looks - really. These are "pancakes" wrapped around bolognese (ground beef, tomato, onion, mushroom) on the left and spinach & cheese on the right. Yummy.

Our scary alley-way dungeon internet cafe in Czestochowa

Jasna Gora from the foot of the meadow (bookin' back, late)

Pretty sunset from our window

After breakfast, we hopped on the bus for Oswiecim, where we had a 10am tour appointment. I had the headphones in and the iPod going, and I was loving the scenery. I took video, not realizing Rena and Christina(?) were talking through the whole thing.

When we got to Oswiecim (in German: Auschwitz), we went to the State Museum.

Our tour guide was very informative. Auschwitz was a tough morning. I was very conflicted because there were really beautiful colors and buildings and trees, but there were also the exhibits of shoes and eyeglasses and luggage and baby clothes and hair. There are no words that I can use to help you envision the sheer magnitude of these exhibits. "A lot" doesn't do it justice. "Tons" doesn't even do it justice. And then, even if you could picture the amount of dead people things, there's no way to share with you the stale smell of 60 years of death.

ARBEIT MACHT FREI (Work will set you free) - the main entrance

Facts. Auschwitz was originally a Polish military camp. When the Nazis came through, they appreciated the ready-made space and kept it more or less as it was. The first prisoners in Auschwitz were Polish political, intellectual, and cultural leaders. The Nazis (and then the Communists) wanted to eradicate Polish culture - Poles being barely above Jews in the social hierarchy.

Auschwitz (Auschwitz 1) was a "work" camp, and Birkenau (Auschwitz 2) was a straight death camp. When the Jews arrived in Oswiecim, they were separated straight away. Able-bodied men (and maybe a few women) went to Auschwitz, where they generally survived 3-4 months doing extremely strenuous labor on minimal nourishment, with very little protection from the elements. Women, children, elderly, and less than able-bodied people went to Birkenau, packed their things in a neat little pile so they could find them later, stripped down for a shower, and crammed into a room where cyanide pellets were dropped from the ceiling. The gas chambers held something like 1500 people at a time, and it took about 45 seconds for them all to die. Then some of those able-bodied folk who were working carted the bodies out to the incinerator so the next 1500 people could "shower."

Cell Block 11 is the only building that still stands as it did 65 years ago. It was the "prison within the prison," and it's where St. Maximilian Kolbe was martyred. In the yard, outside the cells (and their windows) of Block 11, is the execution wall.

The Nazis had some serious propaganda happening. I know I remember learning in school about people trying to escape and being terrorized at the thought of going to the camps, but there were Jews from all over Europe who honestly believed that Auschwitz was a new beginning for them. They thought they were packing up all of their belongings to start over in an all-Jewish city, where there would be no more harassment. The Jews from Greece paid for their own passages to Poland, so they could move to Auschwitz.

We left Auschwitz and did a drive-by of Birkenau.

Coming up on the Birkenau train depot

After Birkenau, we made our way through the pretty, peaceful countryside to a Franciscan monastery not far away. It's all Maximilian-y / Sanctuary of Divine Love, and I think it's newer than WW2.

Inside chapel where we had Mass w/ a(nother) cute little Franciscan

Sketch of St. Maximilian Kolbe, just outside of the chapel

Fr. Stan saying Mass

Pretty red flowers around the monastery

We left Oswiecim for Krakow, where we stayed 5 nights at the Hotel Fortuna (no relation), in the heart of the Jagiellonian University (University of Krakow) and "Old" Krakow. It was grand. Staying there for so many nights was awesome, too, because we had the opportunity to explore the area and have some fun.

Dinner at the Hotel -- yum. Soup for starters, pickled carrots/cabbage/beets for salad, and roast pork (with some sort of pruney thing inside it) and potatoes

Fr. Stan has this bad habit of grabbing people's cameras and taking ridiculously close pictures of them. This is his second attempt (thank God because the first was just me and so not cute...), now including Dan, Sylvia and myself.

So Saturday morning, I woke up nice and early. Olivia was in the shower, I lazed about in bed for a bit, and then I decided to look out the window, to admire the view before getting ready for the day.

Oh yeah! It had snowed! It was very exciting and made for a lovely, lovely day. We got ready, had breakfast (which I will show you), and headed out for the day trip to Wadowice - where Karol Wojtyla grew up - and Kalwaria Zebrzydowska - where he would visit.

Breakfast usually consisted of: bread with (unidentifyable berry) jam, cheese, hard boiled egg, pickles, other cheese, kielbasa, hams/salamis. Honestly, this first breakfast was the "try everything (ish)" meal, and then I defaulted to the bread and jam for 4 days. All good in the 'hood.

Driving past Wawel Castle/Cathedral on the way to Wadowice

Wadowice was a very quaint little town, now famous for its "Pope cakes" (Kremulka? ... I don't know how to spell it). At the main square is the school where Karol Wojtyla was educated and the Basilica of the Presentation of Our Lady, where he was baptized / catechized / spiritualized. The Wojtyla family apartment is right next door to the Basilica, on the second floor; it is now a JP2 museum.

The school

JP Statue with tons and tons of youth, as we found all over Polish religious sites

Our group waiting to go into the apartment/musem (Clockwise: Fr. Stan, Mary Manchester, Olivia, Dan, Sandy, Sylvia, Christina, Millie, Bob, Rena's hair, begging gypsy. Not pictured: me, Marty (Tracy), Al, Maryland Mary)

Entrance to the building

Entrance to the Wojtyla Family's second floor apartment

Dan found a Polish wife! I was quite amused... this girl's mother was very enthusiastic about shipping her off to Almost Oklahoma, TX with Dan. My favorite part of the exchange was when Mom was saying, "oh, yeah, she's a very good cook," and the girl got this completely aghast look on her face and said, "Nie!!" ...I guess she doesn't cook.

Basilica of the Presentation of Our Lady

Our Lady of Perpetual Help (+Jesus) where KW/JP would pray every single day when he lived in Wadowice

The baptismal font (read this) - I could not get a clear shot of this if my life depended on it.

St. Therese altar

Pretty little side chapel...

..which turned out to be a reliquary with Padre Pio and St. Maximilian Kolbe (...and someone else. Polish is hard to read!)

We left Wadowice and went to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, which was the alternate pilgrimage spot (to Jerusalem) in the 1600s when Christians couldn't go to the Holy Land (Kalwaria = Calvary). My understanding is that JP would go there on retreat as a youth / young adult. It was so awesome, this big hilltop forest around a cute little monastery.

In the evening, we went back to Krakow for a night on the town. We walked through the Jagiellonian University (where KW/JP taught) to the "Old" Square and found a cute little restaurant to eat in. There were two Sephoras there, not even 1 mile apart, and I did not set foot in either, thank you very much!

University of Krakow

Entering the Square - bear with my fuzzy pictures... when I don't use a flash, my My First Digital Camera takes 4-7 seconds to take a picture & I have a pulse, which leads to shakiness

St. Mary's cathedral

Yummy... cheese pie. I promise this, too, was better than it looks. Pastry filled with Georgian(?) cheese, covered with roasted peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, and more cheese. Yummers.

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