Sunday, August 07, 2011

Church World Tour ~ Southern Methodist University ~ Dallas, Texas



We were blessed with an amazing priest at our home parish.  He was fairly young, former military, a convert to Catholicism (in his 30s! -- like me!) and entered the priesthood fairly late compared to his counterparts.  He's an accomplished pipe organist, speaks several languages, has a great sense of humor and is always smiling.  One of my favorite things about his homily, aside from his message, is that he ends it as if it were a prayer by saying "Amen". 

Relatively speaking, he did a quick swim-through our parish. I was sad to hear he was re-assigned, but his assignment left me very happy for him and for the community in which he will be serving.  He was appointed to Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas proper.  I believe it's fairly widely known that among SMU's faithful, the Catholics are the largest community attending college there (yes, even more than the Methodists!). I found this to be a perfect fit for Fr. Anthony.

We decided to pay him a visit this summer.  Off to SMU we went! 

The chapel at SMU is modest, and it converts easily to a Catholic Mass. It's intimate, white - a bit sterile, really - but highly functional. I would imagine any denomination (or non-denomination) could easily set up in that space. Make no mistake, thought, it is clearly a worship space.

Mass was quite lovely. I am reminded what a powerful messenger of God Fr. Anthony is. I will be going back, even if it's not Fr. Anthony celebrating. Hope to see you there.

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