MILLERSVILLE – When Daniel Markham joined the congregation Dec. 4 at Our Lady of the Fields in Millersville, he notched his 22nd parish on a yearlong quest to attend Mass in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
He says the Holy Spirit originally planted in his head the idea for his “52 Masses” project in 2018. He began by contacting every bishop and archbishop in the country, noting that he had the endorsement of his parish priest and the bishop at the time of his home Diocese of Gary, Ind.
He then sent emails to every parish in the country for which he could find an email address, introducing the project and asking if there was something especially interesting about the parish.
The response from Our Lady of the Fields attracted Markham’s attention, as it mentioned that Deacon Ed Stoops has for 30 years been going to St. Vincent de Paul Parish in downtown Baltimore every Friday evening for Breaking Bread with the Hungry, which serves a hot meal to the poor and those experiencing homelessness.
Markham started his weekend by joining the community at St. Vincent de Paul. “They provide food and other necessities to the people who are in need in the city. (Deacon Stoops) has been doing it for decades, and he really forms a connection with the men and women that they serve.
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“I was moved by his commitment and his compassion, and it was really a joy to see him last night and just you could see how much he means to the people he serves and how much they mean to him,” he said in an interview for Catholic Review Radio that will be broadcast in early January.
Markham, who now lives in Tinley Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, is an author and editor for a steel-industry trade magazine by day. His 52 Masses quest was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, but he visited his first parish in New Hampshire in June. He expects to finish his visits in August 2022, returning to what was his home parish when he originally got the idea.
Along the way, Markham will compile the stories of his experiences into a book, expected to be published in late 2022.
As a lay Catholic who did not attend Catholic schools growing up, he said he has learned a lot and deepened his spirituality. Hearing different priests break open the Gospel in their homilies “was probably the first thing I learned, but it’s a never-ending lesson as I go.”
With about 17,000 Catholic parishes in the country, he said anyone else attempting this might have chosen different churches to visit.
“The idea behind the book is just that what I want to do is tell as broad a picture as possible of who we are as a Catholic people,” he said.
The day after his visit to Millersville, he was on his way to a parish in the Diocese of Richmond, Va., on his way to completing his quest to attend 52 Masses.
For more information, visit 52Masses.com.
Email Christopher Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org
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