#relictour

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“It is meant to be a place of genuine encounter with God that leads to a renewal of individuals, families, societies, and cultures," according to the shrine's official website, which calls it a place where God "heals and renews every dimension of human life." ❤️💛💙We visited this Shrine in our #RelicTour this last January. It is TRULY a place of “genuine Encounter” in the Spirit. Such a powerful and iconic visit for the President and First Lady to pray here on such a pivotal day for Persecuted Martyrs. It may have gone by in a whisper but it will make a profound impact, surely, in the days ahead. #GodBlessAmerica #POTUS @flotus @jp2shrine #saintjohnpaulii #religiousfreedom https://www.instagram.com/p/CA9jmM_ALO2/?igshid=1og3nzyii8nce

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#relictour #today at www.ktg.com

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Our #RelicTour is officially concluded, well, at least until we stumble upon some more 😃 This time we got to bring the Mr. and share this night of Heaven Touching Earth with a few friends who were excited to catch a taste of our trip without the 3,500 miles in a car. The experience of holding in one’s hands such things as pieces of the Veil of Mary, the Holy Lance that pierced our Savior’s side, and the Cloak of his foster father Joseph is priceless. But even more of a treasure is watching two young souls see that Heaven is full of saints who are rooting for them and offering their friendship to help them get there one day too. Friends like Saint Nicholas and Joan of Arc, Saint Claire and Saint Frances, the Little Flower and Bernadette, Maria Gorretti, Faustina, the 12 Apostles and even Saint Michael the Archangel and hundreds more! It’s so much easier to make Heaven real when surrounded by a room of friends you can touch and hold. Not only is Heaven for real but so is our sanctification. The Saints remind us there is a pathway to holiness. And they offer their friendship to all who will receive it and the grace from God which allows us to become saints ourselves with each measure of forgiveness we give to others in their footsteps. Not only is Heaven for Real but it’s much bigger than we suspected and it comes down to us in its entirety through the blood of Jesus and the blood of the martyrs and saints. We not only have a cloud of witnesses but a cloud of friends who are praying for us to be strengthened by God’s Grace. Every single one of them has prayed for you to be in Heaven with them one day. There are no non-saints in Heaven. Only Holy Saints. Put down your pride and sinfulness and pick up the cross of forgiveness and mercy. We need Grace to choose to be saints. Let nothing hinder you from being full of Grace. May the grace of our Lord and the wisdom of the saints guide you Home to meet them face to face. ❤️💛💙 These two made sure every single relic touched my belly. This baby is gonna be 🔥🔥🔥!!! #LoveTheOnesYourWith #ShowThemTheWaytoLife #ThankYouJesus #RaisingSaints (at Sacred Heart Catholic Church Lake Worth) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8IdnOqgcOc/?igshid=icr26y0ktadp

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#RelicTour #MariaStein ‘MARY THE ROCK’ and The Communion of Saints :: Standing in the #HallofSaints was like entering the #HolyofHolies. The #cloud was thick with witnesses, the #crowns of elders could be heard rolling across the glistening floors and everywhere #angels lifted up one voice in one accord. So great a cloud of witnesses... :: Compared to the churches we’d visited thus far with only a few #relics of their mission #Saints, Maria Stein was the Hall of Saints. Over 1,500 relics were saved during the Protestant persecution of Catholics in Europe. Reformation ignorance had Catholic Churches, Holy artifacts like the #TrueCross the #SashofMary and the #HolyVeil among many others, and #SacredArt being burned by the thousands. There was no regard for preserving #ChurchHistory when a new one was being written. Catholic priests who were responding to the call of the #NewWorld were given sacred relics by the trunk load to smuggle out of Europe and keep safe for posterity. The Sisters of the #PreciousBlood were one of the lucky convents to relocate first to answer the call of German Catholic immigrants who had settled in Ohio outside Cincinnati in the 1800s and were in need of the sacraments. The sisters answered the call and with them the second largest communion of Saint relics held outside the Vatican walls in over a century. What a treasure! What a site! And all here in our back yard, in the land of the Free and the Home of the Brave - What a New World it would be. :: I felt suddenly attune to the creative flow behind the recent #StarWars movie that leaves our hero calling out among the stars at her most desperate moment “Be With Me.” Here in this room, I sat surrounded by the call of the saints as I uttered my own words of hope under my breath. BE WITH ME. Mother Mary. Father Joseph. Saint Michael and all the Saints. BE WITH ME. Help Guide me home. :: May we draw on the wisdom of those who have passed on before us. Let us surround ourselves with the cloud and enter in as often as we remember. We don’t need their relics before us to hear their answer, the call has always been answered from within. BE WITH ME.... I Am, until the end of Ages. (at Maria Stein Shrine) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7KP9aZAgZ4/?igshid=hew7ulas5jeb

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DAY 7 #RelicTour “Signs I Never Thought I’d See Again” • All too long ago, I once stepped over the threshold into these parts, into a marriage to another man, and dreams of a life filled with things I long ago abandoned in order to follow the Lord with all my heart. I entered Ohio with hopes and dreams of mesmerized things and planted them in Columbus and Cincinnati, never knowing one day ahead they might sprout in Steubenville, a place I never heard of then. Today, I’m reminded the seeds of our past are never wasted or forgotten. Though I am certain I planted many along the wayward path, God in His infinite Mercy saw to it they would appear and bloom in due season along the crooked path He would one day make straight. Now today I stand here again, having crossed the bridge and entered by a New Way, into a New Place, and I plant the seeds of hope and the FULFILLMENT OF ALL DESIRE for my children here in a place that has brought vibrancy and renewal to the Catholic faith in America through people like Scott Hahn and the efforts of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and the Franciscan Friar Brotherhood that help to run this Catholic University in the New World. I think of all the sprouts of life that have come from the hallowed hills and I’m grateful that we even get to visit it today, even if only to enjoy the snow and take in the sites (we thought an Admissions Tour was a little “too soon” 😁) in a land I never thought I’d return to. • Today, I stand anew. A New Woman of Faith in a God who makes all things work for the good of those who follow His ways. • To say I am Humbled is an understatement. I’m GRATEFUL. I owe the Lord my life for turning me from sinful desires into a life of faith. For blessing my new marriage with the fruit of life and joy reflected in these faces. And I can hope with all certainty that He is making a New Way for me and for them, simply by letting us walk this different path, in places I’ve never been, hoping their future will look nothing like my past. And setting up new signs for us that tell us everything we’re looking for we’ll “Find it here.” • We’re TRUSTING Jesus to lead us to #EncounterHim in 2020 in ways unimaginable https://www.instagram.com/p/B60jOA4g0Yx/?igshid=1w33kpfimgx8t

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“The Seed is the Word of God.” By far our most AWE inspiring moment. Sitting under the dome for Mass celebrating the Holy Family. I get chills every time I step into a church this enormous. The feeling of smallness is for real! And yet the feeling of oneness is just as prevalent. It’s a church full of strangers and yet my spirit recognizes them immediately as family. I wondered if that’s how people felt when Joseph & Mary arrived in Egypt. The Jewish fellowship there would have welcomed them immediately as one of their own. And when they returned to Judea the same warm welcome awaited them in Nazareth. Haven’t you ever run across someone and thought, Wow, it’s like I’ve known you for years! Recognizing the fact we have a global church family just humbles me to tears at times. No matter where you go in all the world, basilica or rural parish, our language is the same when we commune together in the Mass. Our hearts are all united in one faith and our Father is the same. Just as Joseph & Mary took Jesus to Egypt we can see how this little babe from Heaven is still gathering all the flock today into one singular focus - family. The crypts, the icons, the relics, the Saints, the liturgy, and all the things we see inside the four walls of the building serve as living scrapbooks and memories of a holy family that was born that starry night. It’s been said that all the world needs to be reborn is for Catholics to example a holy marriage and holy family for one generation. Think about that 🧐 What would forty years of holy marriages like Joseph & Mary do to our world? What would forty years of Holy families look like to a world gone madd with hopelessness? Mother Teresa once said, “If you want peace, start with your family.” John Paul II once said, “As the family goes, so goes the world.” If there’s one thing I’m learning in this #RelicTour it’s that we ought to listen to our family. I mean REALLY listen to what our loved ones are saying to us about how they see the world, our faith, and our Father. We have a treasure trove of wisdom to uncover from the Saints. They are rooting for us just as you [KEEP READING IN COMMENTS] https://www.instagram.com/p/B6uK4kqggJS/?igshid=lchoxzoap52r

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The gothic looks of Savannah’s French colonial charm are certainly more vibrant juxtaposed against the Spanish colonial flavor of Saint Augustine but #OneThing remains - #TheRealPresence. The homily on the Feast Day of St. John the Evangelist “The Beloved Disciple” a sweet conformation this moment was brought by “the Johns.” I never realized just how many saints carry the name John, a name almost as celebrated as Jesus. #JohntheApostle #JohnTheBaptist #JohnVianney #JohnPaul #JohnFKennedy Okay the last one is a stretch but he was the first and last Catholic president and also named John so... The Spirit leads as He wills. We weren’t supposed to be in Savannah this #RelicTour but John carries a special meaning for us too in this Season. A stop over turned into a surprise invitation for Mass and encounter with the Global Faith of our Church when we ran into some Cursillistas from our hometown. What are the odds? Proof the Church can be as small or as large as you’ll let it be. No matter where we go, we have a global family always welcoming us to #ComeHome. In the Spirit of “the Johns” I felt that call. It’s here in the sacred spaces that I feel most close to our Lord. Sitting below the murals it’s not hard to imagine Heaven surrounding you. All the saints and angels and the Holy Family opening their arms wife. We Are Family. The Church is family. If you’ll let it be. Don’t be the prodigal for long. And if you’ve been the beloved big brother, don’t let your heart stay cross at your little brother too long. He was just working out his journey in the way he thought best. We each have a Father waiting confidently for the day we will all gather at Home together. We need only remember Our Father’s love and rest in His assurance that one day we’ll all be Home together for good. In the meantime, we must strive to answer that call from the Wilderness. That voice of John crying out - REPENT, COME HOME. :: :: Next stop on the #RelicTour another Jean-Baptiste- known for his special devotion for priests and his love for the Blessed Mother. We’ll be praying for a few we know and honoring her request from Medjugorje to “pray,pray,pray for the shepherds.” :: Can you guess who? https://www.instagram.com/p/B6oG_LhA_m3/?igshid=11f4j6irrd0wn

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Thoughts from Day 1 of our #RelicTour was majestic with a little impartation from the “Doctor of Grace” himself #StAugustineofHippo. Hoping to feel the encouragement as I follow in his footsteps of prolific writings of faith #CityofGod #Confessions. Teaching the kiddos about the tools of our faith to help empower them to be better saints = priceless #Sacramentals #Relics #Prayer #CommunionofSaints #HolyRosary #SpiritualBattleWeapons. Pondering the beauty of all the glory God deserves by human craftsmanship at its best - He deserves ALL the treasures of the earth for what He gave us #Gold #Incense #AnnointingOils. We ought to give Him everything good about us we have #OurBestVersionofOurselves. Only a Master Artist could totally understand true beauty #Perfection. Humanity has more to offer Him than rock bands and carpet stages #Cathedrals #Basilicas #Kingdoms #Nations #Poland. Excellence is godliness. The Nativity scenes are a beautiful reminder of the WONDER of this Season, which has only just begun for those who Believe #Epiphany and I’m just in awe of God’s love. Sitting in such a holy place you can just feel the portals of Heaven open around you. At any moment they could swallow you up - I want them to, but not yet #OpenHeaven #OpenGraves. This is the pull of the saints. A constant yearning for Heaven juxtaposed against Holy obedience for God’s perfect will #PursuitofHoliness #Sanctification. I don’t want to miss a step. I wish I could soak it all in but there’s more waiting for us. Our journey has only just begun... #FirstParish :: :: ❤️💛💙 RELIC TOUR: 12 days, the holiest places in the US Northeast and Midwest, an 8 yo, a 7 yo, a pregnant lady and her saintly mother “Nanny”, 3,700 miles of Grace. #MakingMemories #LovetheOnesYourWith :: “Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.” 📖 2 King 13:21 🙏🏼 Come, Holy Spirit 🔥 Kindle in us the fire of your love and we shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth! #PilgrimagetoEncounter2020 #WakingEve https://www.instagram.com/p/B6lisfcAgEC/?igshid=ts12nox0euct

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Relic Tour Memoirs: 12 days, the holiest places in the US Northeast and Midwest, an 8 yo, a 7 yo, a pregnant lady and her saintly mother “Nanny”, 3,700 miles of Grace

Relic Tour Memoirs: 12 days, the holiest places in the US Northeast and Midwest, an 8 yo, a 7 yo, a pregnant lady and her saintly mother “Nanny”, 3,700 miles of Grace

Day 1: Cathedral Basilica of St.Augustine December 27, 2019  · Saint Augustine, FL  Thoughts from Day 1 of our #RelicTour was majestic with a little impartation from the “Doctor of Grace” himself #StAugustineofHippo. Hoping to feel the encouragement as I follow in his footsteps of prolific writings of faith #CityofGod#Confessions. Teaching the kiddos about the tools of our faith to help empower…