Another flashback from my Journals of 2004 - During one Friday in Lent, instead of the Stations of the Cross in the church, I organized something completely new, the Stations around town. Since it was a totally innovative idea, I was nervous about the people’s reaction, but those who attended were heart and soul into it. We had 30 people attend, which is always an encouraging number in a small parish, especially since many families are away during this spring break. The weather did not cooperate at all, because it was cloudy and cold, with an occasional slight drizzle, but we made it through without any major downpour. It was quite a historic event for our parish, and everything went very smoothly, visiting the first 7 landmarks by cars as we prayed the Stations and a specific prayer at each place, which I wrote appropriately for the occasion. The other 7 landmarks we visited on foot as we walked together following a beautiful lodge-pole cross that Jim Maple had crafted. The 14 places we visited were: 1. In front of our Church, 2. The Canyon Creek Nursing Home, 3. The Grant Union High School, 4. Humboldt Junior School, 5. The Courthouse, 6. The Grant County Museum, 7. The Blue Mountain Hospital, 8. Chester’s Thriftway Food store, 9. Gleason Pool and Park, 10. The Post Office, 11. The US Bank, 12. The True Value Hardware Store, 13. The Police Station, and lastly 14. Inside our Church, from where we started. We were finished at 6:40 PM, and people seemed to have enjoyed this new experience of Stations of the Cross around town. They were prayerful, quick to move from Station to Station by cars and also walked together following the Cross. I asked different people to hold the cross at each station and carry it during our last 7 stops, and of course I had plenty of volunteers.
I also organized a stations for children, going around the church property, the church, parish hall, sacristy, some neighboring streets and the Rectory, which of course the children enjoyed like the adults did. Everything was done in a prayerful mood, and for the adults stations I even had some members of the local Protestant churches.
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