Peacefulness...

Located on a busy downtown street is this beautiful old Catholic Cathedral.  It began as a chapel in 1776 that was part of a Spanish fort. The color of the outside has changed some over the years due to weathering and repainting and the structure itself changed from a simple chapel to a cathedral by 1866.  The structure again went through a 2 year restoration that began in 1966 and was completed in 1968.  The interior is beautiful and has the look and feel you would expect to find in the old cathedrals in Rome. There have also been changes on the inside as well over the decades, but none of these have changed the original feel you have when you walk through the front doors.  It immediately brings a sense of peace and a feeling of Christ walking beside you.  As is true of all of the older churches, this one has seen numerous and various ceremonies.  It has witnessed the beginning of life in the baptisms.  It has seen the joining of two lives into one in the many wedding ceremonies held there.  It has also heard the crying of God's children as we grieved with sadness at funerals.  

Thinking back through my family history, this beautiful cathedral has been a part of a child's growing faith as my mother, her sister and brother went to church there each week as children.  It is where my great grandfather's funeral services were held - long before I came along.  It has also seen the funerals of my grandfather, great grandmother, several great aunts and both of my parents.  Every time I attend church service in this cathedral I not only feel the presence of God, but I feel the presence of my family with me.  It is a very peaceful and blessed feeling.

"One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock."
Psalm 27:4-5