St. Mary's offers a place for prayer during Sundance festival

Courtesy photo/Fr. Christopher Gray

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St. Mary of the Assumption Parish's Old Town Chapel is shown during a quiet moment of Taizé prayer on Jan. 30.

By Fr. Christopher Gray

Special to the Intermountain Catholic

(Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Feb. 10 St. Mary of the Assumption Parish bulletin.)

PARK CITY — When I began thinking about how to use my time during Sundance, I immediately thought of our Old Town Chapel. It’s ideal: in the midst of a town, easily accessible, open, charming and prayerful. In my idea of how a priest should minister, a good church is a huge benefit because it allows for connections to be made that might not be made otherwise. And this is exactly what we have.

During Sundance, a couple hundred people came by the Old Town church. Many stayed for a while to pray silently, some wanted to engage in conversation, some were surprised the church existed, some were surprised the church was open. Thanks be to God, our parish does exist, our parish is open, and our parish is welcoming.

Without any doubt, the hours I spent at the Old Town Church were the best use of my time. I walked around Old Town praying the rosary. I sang the Liturgy of the Hours in the church. Fr. Lukasz Misko, OP,  the St. Catherine of Siena Newman Center’s director of Campus Ministry, came to join me, and among other things we had a beautiful Taizé prayer service (with close to 100 candles lit!), and God was praised by lots of people, regardless of their faith background.

It was a tremendously grace-filled time, simply being the priest in his church. One of the fun things about our Catholic faith is that it isn’t a one-and-done weekend affair, and it’s not even about the daily schedule of this or that religious service. Our faith is full of devotion, and prayer, and opportunities to lift the mind and heart to God.

Pray the rosary, every day. Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Wear the brown scapular. Spend time with Sacred Scripture. Come to daily Mass if you can! By themselves, without charity or intention, these practices are unimportant - but if we engage them with devotion, they will bring our hearts and minds closer to God and closer to the saints.

And we will come closer to each other. Our faith does not exist in a vacuum, it must be shared – with friends and strangers alike. Sometimes people know on their own that they need to look for God’s help at certain times, but usually it’s the job of friends and family to help each other know when to turn to God. And He is waiting for us.

Fr. Christopher Gray is pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Park City.