Yesterday marked a first. I took in Sunday Mass at Holy Trinity in Middletown, Ohio, the same place I visited about 13 months ago as part of my yearlong trip. It was my first, “trip back.”

Wonderfully, the reason I was there was back in action. The subject of my story from Middletown was Kara Jackson, a parishioner at Holy Trinity who answered her call to serve Mass in all 50 states several years earlier. She was, I like to say, the me before me.

Kara was again serving, mom Tina and father Rick in attendance as usual. I was there not for any book-related activities, but because the district meeting for St. Vincent de Paul was being held after Mass. Coincidentally, last year my wife and I relocated to Butler County, Ohio, so Holy Trinity and St. John (the other church in the Holy Family Parish and where the final two photos were shot), are just a short drive north.

It was great catching up again with the Jackson family.

Kara Jackson at work.

Holy Trinity in Middletown, Ohio

Holy Trinity before Mass. That’s Kara’s mom in red in the veil.

The other church in the Holy Family is St. John, located just a few blocks away.

St. John is a traditional Catholic worship space.

I spent yesterday afternoon at St. Bartholomew in Cincinnati, joining my wife to take in the St. Bart’s production of The Sound of Music. A few of her students and others connected with her school (St. Vivian) were in the production, and we were there to show our support.

Much to my wife’s surprise, I had never seen The Sound of Music before, either in stage or screen versions, largely owing to my general lack of interest in musicals. But, in this case, the showing held a special meaning for me.

During the course of my trip, I attended Mass at Blessed Sacrament in Stowe, Vermont, a marvelous church in the picturesque village. Its story is remarkable, in part because it owes its very existence to one Maria von Trapp, an early worshiper at the mission church that existed before Blessed Sacrament was founded.

I’ve included a closing shot from the production as well as some of the spectacular artwork that adorns the church, courtesy of famed French artist Andre Girard and, later, his student, Josephine Belloso. The latter is retired teacher who I had the immense privilege of interviewing.

If you’re ever in Vermont, don’t pass up the chance to visit Blessed Sacrament.

The sisters take a bow at the conclusion of The Sound of Music.

Andre Girard’s artwork behind the altar at Blessed Sacrament.

Before coming to Blessed Sacrament, Girard was initially supposed to only work on the Stations of the Cross at the church.

Girard’s artistry extended to the outside of the church.

Rather than stained glass, Blessed Sacrament features Girard’s signature painting on glass, with scenes from throughout the Gospels, including this one of the Wedding Feast at Cana.

One of the many blessings of my 52 Masses travels was the interest others have shown in my experiences. And this latest example is truly humbling.

I was invited by the Augustine Institute in Colorado to deliver their monthly talk for June. Each month, the institute which exists to serve the formation of Catholics for the New Evangelization, invites someone to do a 45-minute talk that it shared with parishes and Catholics on CD and mp3s.

My talk is currently available for order at the site, if you’re interested. You can also check out any of the Institute’s other inspiring programming, including books and videos.

The talk is available here.

My friend Matt Simone from Target Steel gave a brief review of the book on his Linked In Page. You can click here to read it.

The fine folks at ORTV in the Archdiocese of Hartford highlighted the book in its weekly video magazine, Crossroads. You can watch it here.

Finally, I spent some time with the wonderful people at Faith in Action in Indianapolis. You can download our conversation here.

I hope all of you are doing well. I thought I would share this video done by Jennifer Nadeau and Father John Gatzak with the Archdiocese of Hartford for ORTV’s Crossroads Magazine. Most of their stories are local, so they shoot video at the site. Fortunately, they were interested enough in my experience to invite me to converse by Zoom while using some of the photos I took along the way. Thanks so much to Jennifer and Father for their interest.

Blessings.

https://vimeo.com/showcase/7722218