I had the opportunity to visit San Francisco for the first time last week. I was blessed with wonderful weather and the company of a friend who was able to take me around sight-seeing one day. It's a beautifully vibrant city and the weather could not have been more perfect. My friend brought me to the Golden Gate Bridge and then outside the city to Muir Woods and Sauslito before seeing St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral and dinner, of course!
One place we didn't get to visit was Mision Dolores where the Mission Church of St. Francis is located. I woke up early the next day and walked for 40 minutes down Market Street to the little white church with the terracotta roof. It was founded by Blessed Junipero Serra on June 27, 1776. Its one of the 21 missions errected by the Franciscan Fathers that give the California 101 the echo of the Litany of the Saints from San Diego to San Francisco with Nuestra Signora de Los Angeles almost in the center.
Mission Dolores is one of the best preserved of the mission churches founded by the Franciscans. The adobe structure is over three feet thick. Ironically this church that predates our nation has withstood some exceptional earthquakes while the modern basilica that ajoins it has not faired as well. Mision Dolores is magnificent in it simplicity and I was excited to concelebrate the morning Mass with about 40 parishioners and then take the tour.
The nature of the Mission and its strength amist the earthquakes gave me pause for reflection. The Franciscans brought the Faith of Jesus Christ right up the West Coast settlement after settlement. Certainly it was a comfort to those who travelled up from Mexico with them but it also introduced the Gospel to the various native peoples of the land. My challenge and that of all Christians is to concretely bring the Faith to others I meet along the way. Father Serra and the others are very much patrons of the New Evangelization that can be emulated almost three centuries later. The solid structure of Mision Dolores is a reminder that my faith has to be firm against all rumblings of the world. These solid walls must always have Christ Jesus as foundation and capstone.
This visit to Mision Dolores foreshadows a greater journey as I look to the Camino Frances de Compostela. This will be measured not in minutes but in days. I hope to find Christ as the impetus, end and companion for the journey.
