In 2015 Ellen and I went on a road trip. Over a period of 42 days we drove from Sacramento through the mid-west to West Virginia, up through Pennsylvania to Niagara Falls, on through Vermont and New Hampshire to Boston and through Massachusetts, down New York to Philadelphia, continuing on to Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and home.
We saw many historical sites as well as the fall colors in Vermont and New Hampshire which was one of our main purposes for the trip.
We also enjoyed seeing many churches along the way.
For those who have not traveled through the Plains States you might not realize just how flat they are. Before moving to Sacramento Ellen and I lived all of our lives within 30 miles north or south of San Francisco. We lived on or surrounded by what we called hills but technically are classified as the California Coastal Range of mountains.
Because Kansas is so flat you can see for many miles in all directions. Ellen was the first to see church spires far in the distance. We weren’t expecting to see anything sticking up into the sky as we were not anywhere near a city.
We eventually came to the Cathedral of the Plains. It isn’t a cathedral really. William Jennings Bryan coined the term in 1912. In 2014 it became a Minor Basilica, the first one in Kansas. The Basilica of St. Fidelis. It was a nice place to stop and pay a visit to our Lord.
Our favorite was The Basilica of St. Mary in Oldtown Alexandria, Virginia. Why? We went to Sunday Mass at this church. Not a really large church. The parish was founded in 1795. There were no extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. Just priests. The website currently lists a Rector, three Parochial Vicars and a young priest in residence. My parish is lucky to have one priest and a deacon at Mass.
We looked for a Catholic church wherever we stayed for the night. Many were open and we could go in. Some were not. Overall we enjoyed visiting the Lord when we could.
One church, which shall remain unnamed, was a real disappointment.
The image at the top of the page is a church we went to for Mass one Sunday.
This is the sanctuary and nave of this church. Do you see a crucifix? Do you see a tabernacle? Neither did we. When the priest processed in a server carried a crucifix which was placed in a stand during Mass. It left when the priest left. We never did see a tabernacle.
Ellen said she saw a crucifix on the back wall as we were walking out. She said it was not large. I never saw it. I found a crucifix on their website with the Stations of the Cross. Perhaps this is the one she saw. I’m not sure where it is located in the church as I did not see any stations in the nave.
For clarification, all of the parts of the parish, offices, hall, etc. are enclosed in the building shown in the photo at the top. Looking out from the baptismal font you see their gathering area which leads to the various areas of the parish within the one structure.
Why do I bring this up?
The immediate purpose was because of what the pastor said in his homily that Sunday. He informed the parish the bishop had formed a group to study the possible need to combine and close some parishes because of low attendance and collections. Anyone walking into that church would not be surprised attendance and contributions might be low. One does not need an opulent sanctuary to have a good Mass. However, there should at least be an attempt to provide a place that allows you to see who suffered for you and who has a place of honor in that location where the Mass is the representation of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Not as a re-enactment, but as a way to make that sacrifice present to the faithful.
When we moved to Sacramento our parish had a cross1 in the sanctuary with a corpus of the Risen Lord. There is another parish close to us that was built around the same time and also had a Risen Lord cross in the sanctuary. Shortly after we moved here our pastor had a crucifix1 installed. Why is this important?
Thirty years ago, I made a retreat using the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. There are four thematic weeks in an Ignatian retreat. The first week’s theme is that God is a loving God and we are sinful people. We sin. It is critical to have an understanding of our need for salvation if we are to gain anything during the retreat.
The second week the theme is to come to know Jesus and to fall in love with Him. Why? Because Jesus told his apostles that anyone who follows Him can expect to suffer and even die for Him. Who would want to die for someone they don’t love deeply? In order to love that deeply one also has to know the other very well.
The third week’s theme is the passion and death of Jesus. In the first week we come to know that we are sinners and we need salvation. In the third week we are living with Jesus as He is suffering for those sins we are aware of from the first week. However, we are seeing those sins in a new light. We see that Jesus isn’t just suffering for “sins”. He is suffering for MY SINS. Those sins that I have committed, confessed and never gave a second thought. And I have fallen in love with Him, the One who is suffering for me and my sins.
The fourth week’s theme is the Resurrection and Attaining the Love of God.
Certainly, we want to enjoy the idea of being saved. We want to live with the expectation of eternal life in Heaven. However, that doesn’t come in this life. We still live in a fallen world. We still commit sins which add to the suffering Christ has already suffered. We need to remember that.
The pastor at my parish before we moved to Sacramento once told me about a young woman who, during her wedding rehearsal, asked him if he could cover the crucifix on the wall in the sanctuary. She didn’t want to see it during her wedding.
We need to be reminded of our fallen nature. We need to remember Christ died for our sins. I need to remember He died for my sins.
Greg Gillen
1 I make a distinction between a cross with the corpus of the crucified Christ and one with the corpus of the risen Lord. I use crucifix only when it has the corpus of the crucified Christ.
This definition of the word crucifix states:
crucifix
noun
cru·ci·fix ˈkrü-sə-ˌfiks
: a cross with a figure of Jesus crucified on it
Etymology
Middle English crucifix “crucifix,” from Latin crucifixus (same meaning), derived from earlier Latin crucifigere “to crucify,” from cruc-, crux “cross” and figere “to fasten, fix” — related to cross, crucify, fix
Greg Gillen
July 9, 2025
© 2025 Greg Gillen
Image credits/www.ourladyofmercychurch.org
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_St._Fidelis
www.stfidelischurch.com/
stmaryoldtown.org/photo-gallery/
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crucifix?pronunciation&lang=en_us&dir=c&file=crucif03
