Holy Week 2026 (Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri)
For Holy Week this year, I felt called to go back to Iowa, where I was born and baptized, but left for NYC when I was 4 years old do to a variety of reasons. First and foremost I love to tell the story of how the Vietnam war brought my dad from Iowa, together with my mom from NYC. As the war was coming to an end, my dad had a friend that invited him to be his roommate in NYC. My father accepted and met my mother who was in the same circle of friends as this guy. Eventually they moved back to Iowa, where I was born and at 5 months old I was fortunate to be a foot away from St. John Paul II as he said mass in the middle of a cornfield just outside of Des Moines, IA. This was all because a a farmer had enough faith to write JP2 a letter of invitation.
From there another inspiration of my trip was to finally visit the tomb of Ven. Augustus Tolton, the first African American to be ordained a Catholic priest, and Ven Fulton Sheen, who coincidentally was elevated to beatification right before I printed his holy card. Augutus is very special for me though, because I anticipate him becoming the first African American Catholic saint, considering he served the people of Chicago, and our current pope is from Chicago. These moments have a providential way of expediting the process.
I arrived in Kansas City, April 1, which was Augutus Tolton’s birthday. Unfortunately due to a late arrival and bad rain I had to wait to visit his grave the next morning. It continued to rain the first 3 days of my trip, but it was Lent and Holy Week, and darkness only adds to the ambiance of the season’s end with the Crucifixion of Christ. It further adds to the appreciation of the light which follows in the Resurrection. After spending the night on the Mississippi in Quincy, Illinois I made my was to Peoria, Illinois to visit Fulton Sheen, America’s evangelist. Fulton was so popular that at one point he was the most watch television show, which was a Friday night, throughout the 50’s & 60’s, to the point he won an Emmy award. He never compromised the truth of the Church, however he was always articulate and captivating because nothing was scripted, always from the heart of his studies and faith.
After I left Sheen’s tomb I then took the indulgent side of this leg of my travels. I first stopped at the world’s largest truck stop, just out side Davenport. After crossing the Mississippi again, I couldn’t say no to this tourist trap. On principle I had to set foot inside and get some gas. Buc-ee’s definitely seemed like a small grocery store compared to this place. From here I went to University of Iowa to visit the “Hawk Shop” and grab a piece of merchandise. I settled on a new hat, although I would not have minded grabbing more. I just don’t wear this kind of stuff anymore so I resisted the urge. Just down the road was Kalona Creamery, which I actually get some of their dairy next door to my home at Sprouts in Virginia. I had to detour here on principle. I picked up chocolate milk, cottage cheese, cheese curds, a marbled pepper brick of cheese, fudge and ice cream of course.
The next part of this visit is where things got really interesting. I arrived thinking they closed at 4 pm and I needed to rush my visit. Upon arrival the woman said they were opened til 5pm as of that week, but she asked how long I was planning on being in town that day. I mentioned 10 minutes and her reply was “oh good, there’s a chance a tornado will be touching down in about 10 minutes and you want to seek shelter. As she said that, the emergency alert went off on my phone with a very ominous sky that was there upon my arrival. Thankfully I was driving the opposite direction and only experienced some heavy rain. The tornado ultimately never touched down, but videos online showed a funnel trying to develop.
I continued onto Ames, Iowa for Holy Thursday mass at campus church of Iowa State. There was a priest at this parish, who’s brother and father I previously met on my travels in Charlotte, NC and Maynardsville, TN and I wanted to complete meeting all 3 of them since they have a unique story. One of them goes around giving talks that he has a father who is a brother, and his brother is a father. Basically his dad is in a religious community living as a celibate brother, and his brother is an ordained priest who now has the spiritual title of father. Mass was packed and a beautiful experience as we celebrated the institution of the Eucharist, Catholic worship that Jesus gives us in what is more commonly called “The Last Supper”.
I was now on my way to my birthplace and in for a very providential weekend. To begin I decided to book a room at the motel I stay at when I visited 30+ years earlier. This was a nostalgic mistake, as it was maybe one of the worst overnights I ever experienced in my life. There was only 2 I could think of beyond this, but it was now the beginning of Good Friday, and I felt just as Christ began suffering in condemnation, I would share in some small part of that suffering, since the past 6 months, I have felt God calling me more into entering into the suffering with His people, rather than being in their presence stoically. My marriage has been a very special example of this calling, to love in the most challenging circumstances and let the rest go in trust there’s always new life in the Resurrection. If one truly loves, they lay their life down which then allows God’s will to manifest it’s mercy (love in action) and justice to the fullest.
Good Friday the blessings began to flow. My mom was encouraging me to get a new room, and I felt the same stir, but I also felt I needed to wait and not make a haste decision. If it was meant to be that I suffered for these 3 days in this challenging place, I was willing to accept it with humility. However that night when I visited with my mother’s friend, she handed me a room key to the local hotel so I would be staying in town and closer to everyone. It was a small miracle, in the mist of high season of the Church. By taking the low position as Jesus promises, I was lifted up to a better position. The blessings continued to flow. On Holy Saturday in the rain, and old friend of my family gave me a tour of some my roots, and we visited “The Shrine Grotto of the Redemption” in West Bend, IA.
This shrine was the perfect place to visit on this Holy weekend, but it’s even more special when you know it’s history. A Irish missionary priest settled in this area and began building it by hand, eventually people from around the world were sending him rocks and it’s now called the 8th wonder of the world. It was a beautiful place to reflect on the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. We finished the day visiting my grandparents graves and having lunch at “The Gridiron” which was know for it’s “Pork Tenderloin Sandwich". This is a family and local favorite of Iowa. I met a couple more of my family’s friends, which included great conversation and from there I had a good night rest from fatigue of all my driving, which by the end was easily 1500+ miles and I had throat challenges that I was trying to stay healthy with.
Holy Saturday I made my way into town for another leg of my tour, with a family cousin of mine I didn’t know. He took me to Kamrar, Iowa which was a blip on the map, but my family had origins there, in addition there’s a great story of the elephant at the Kamrar depot in the 1930’s that I read to my daughter from time to time. Upon completion of our travels, I had time to just soak in the town which not only was I born in, but it also inspired me to start my own business with Square, the payment processor who just happened to film something in my birthplace. I always enjoy visiting places I was raised, but had not seen since my return to the Church. I pray in all of these places, seeking reconciliation and healing from the past. It’s also fun to talk about the business that has blossomed from all of this.
After saying some prayers around my grandparents grave, my home and walking down main street I went to our friends 70th birthday and enjoyed an evening with the locals, as well as a beautiful sunset and a perfectly clear night sky that allowed me to see every start. I popped my head into Holy Saturday mass and finished off another busy day. Easter Sunday I would attend mass at both of the local parishes just to soak in this unique crowd that comes out for this holy day. I had one more cup of coffee with my mom’s friend and I was on my way to Nebraska to visit a family that I knew in Virginia, but was currently living out there.
Dinner was amazing and catching up with old friends was great on Easter. It was a beautiful reminder of the hope I have going into this Easter season that joy is here and to embrace these moments with people you enjoy. I would spend the night in St. Joseph, MO in honor of my consecration I am doing with St. Joseph currently. It was actually the second time I would be in a town called St. Joseph. We passed another on the way to the grotto days earlier. I visited St. Joseph’s cathedral for a quick prayer and I found a nice coffee shop as well. They had Guatemala which was the cup for me to drink that day considering I was on my way to visit UNBOUND, the non profit I went to Guatemala the last year with. Just before leaving though, I couldn’t say no to a quick stop at the “St. Joseph Boot Company”. On principle I had to get a t-shirt. In addition I ended up with a new pair of boots.
The final leg of my trip would be Kansas City BBQ at a place called Q39 which had great ratings, and a visit to UNBOUND’s headquarters where I had multiple great conversations and connections. In addition I was able to see and better understand their history. It was great to see some familiar faces as well on their wall of priests that represent them. One of them I have a relationship with and he is stationed near my parish currently. God willing he’ll come to my parish to speak about the good work of UNBOUND and maybe out connection to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. I made my way to the airport for one last mini miracle of my travels. As I sat waiting for my plane, I happened to notice a man with his kids. He lived in my neighborhood, ironically right next door to the other neighbor who I ran into in El Salvador last year at the airport. I thought the timing nearly to the day was interesting, in addition the fact these 2 people lived right next door to each other, but I met them at great distances from our homes. It was a small moment of synchronicity that reminded me I am right where I was supposed to.
5 months old with my parents at mass with 350,000 people in Iowa with Pope John Paul 2.