Like on any true pilgrimage, a group of Floridians met strangers along the way and were greeted by local people as well as travelers doing things both secular and recreation on a sunny summer Saturday in the Florida Keys. They sang hymns, prayed part of the Divine Mercy, read a pilgrim prayer and recited the rosary. They prayed the Stations of the Cross, heard reflections from the nation's Founding Fathers, stopped to admire sacred artwork, stained-glass windows and historic grottos, and walk through an elaborate prayer garden. For the fourth year in a row and as part of the nationwide U.S. bishops' Fortnight for Freedom effort, a small group of South Florida Catholics embarked June 27 on a daylong pilgrimage to the five Catholic parishes in the Florida Keys. The fortnight event is a call to U.S. Catholics to defend their freedom of religion and monitor ongoing threats against religious liberties that impact church entities nationwide. Adding urgency to the Floridians' fortnight conversations this year was the fact that just one day earlier, on June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Constitution guarantees a nationwide right to same-sex marriages, prompting further concern that the federal government may interfere with long held religious beliefs and marriage traditions among faith communities such as the Catholic Church.
Kurt Hilgefort, is a Catholic father of six who publishes his thoughts on his blog Shadows of Augustine . He responded to my seven question survey with the following answers. Kurt is the first layperson to respond to the seven question survey and I think that his experience is extremely relevant to me personally and I hope that you are inspired by his thoughts as well. If you would like to respond, please send an email to fellmananthony@gmail.com with your thoughts and I will be happy to publish them as well. 1. What is the biggest challenge to your faith that you have faced so far? The biggest challenge for me has been the whole dying to self thing. On an intellectual level, there are no barriers. It comes down to a matter of accepting the authority of the Church that Christ founded upon Peter. My challenge is not in the intellect, but rather in the will. The challenge for me has always been to continually seek conversion. I want to be transformed, but I want it to be over all ...
