Out of the Ashes, A Phoenix Will Rise

This morning I awoke to a phone call from my mom. It seems the church in my hometown burned. For some this may not be a big deal, but to me a large part of my childhood rests in that church.

I come from a small town in southern Indiana. St. Anthony is a town with no stoplight, no McDonald's, no school, one gas station, and a great big Catholic church, which it seems the town is built around. The church itself is well over 100 years old and was built in the mid to late 1800s. It was currently undergoing its first renovation in more than 50 years, and my guess is that something went wrong with construction and started the fire. The fire was noticed at 3:30 in the morning, and six fire departments responded. I'm sure we'll know the exact cause in a few days.

I am no longer a practicing Catholic, but a lot of my growing up surrounded the Catholic faith and holds great memories for me. I was deeply affected when the Pope died, and when I face hard issues, I still revert back to my Catholic faith.

This church itself holds a lot of memories for me and my family. My parents were married there in 1969. My sister was married there in 1992. I was baptized there, had my First Penance, First Holy Communion, and Confirmation all in the church. My nieces were baptized there as well. I attended several funerals in this church including the funeral of my great-grandmother, who died when she was 105 years old, and my grandfather's funeral. I even worked there as a small child. My sisters and I would do odd jobs around the church, and I got paid in pennies :-). As long as I could count them, I could have them. During our high school years, my sister and I were lectors in the church. My, what memories that building holds!

I know one building shouldn't be the end all and be all, but for me it holds the memories of my childhood, my family, my hometown, and my faith. I never thought this incident would affect me so much, but in part, it is like a death in the family. However, "Out of the ashes, a phoenix will rise." I believe this, and I know the citizens of St. Anthony will push on. I pray for them and my thoughts will be with them.