One Photo: One Story; Jesus Meets Women

Summer 2016. Tongass National Forest 22 miles outside of Juneau, Alaska. The Shrine of St. Thérèse is a place of exceptional beauty and solitude. The church is nestled in a grove of pine forest over looking the Inside Passage of the Lynn Canal on it’s way to the Pacific Ocean. On a clear day you see the mountains they call Chilkat. At night stars twinkle and dance in the glow of the Northern Lights. I was in awe of the landscape, the lush greens of the forest and the gardens bursting with flowers on the path to the rustic church. St. Thérèse, the little flower, could have planted this garden herself. You can feel her presence. The journey of Christ’s final hours wind on the garden paths housed in structures built around 1940 protecting the sculptures of RD Robinson carved around 1989. I walked this path with my wife, Kelly, in awe of what I felt and saw. I thought of the many hours I spent as a child listening to the passion of our Lord and the Stations of the Cross. I also remembered my classmates and our daily hijinks of trying to make each other laugh and draw the ire of Sister Veronica trying to teach class. That’s when I wondered in front of the 8th Station of the Cross here at the Shrine: “Jesus Meets Women”. Suddenly, I’m 12 years old cackling like a lunatic snapping photos and waiting for the whip of the wooden yardstick to crack across my shoulders. Pray For Me, Happy Easter. Praise Jesus.