Second grade is a big year for Catholic children.  Lorelei and her classmates will prepare all year for First Communion, and this Saturday they will participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time.  Lorelei has said the Act of Contrition about 10,000 times in the past month, making sure she has it memorized.
Each child had to do a project on the Commandment of their choice in preparation for this Saturday.  Lorelei chose the the third commandment, which was simplified as “I will keep Sunday holy.”  Here is a picture of the poster she and I made:

 
I had a whole gallery of images of our parish church (Immaculate Conception) because every Sunday I check in on Foursquare and take a new picture.   Our church was built over 120 years ago and is getting its first new roof right now (yes, slate really does last almost forever!).  It stands on Summit Hill in downtown Knoxville and before the tall buildings went up could be seen from all over downtown.  If you ever drive through Knoxville on the interstate you will get a great view of it!
My family has a long history with this church–my mother was a parishioner from her early childhood and attended the parish school.  My parents were married there and I was baptized there.  Other than my own house, there is nowhere else I feel so at home.
I thought I would share a few of my favorite pictures that I discovered when Lorelei and I were choosing the ones to use for the poster.











 
An instinctive taste teaches men to build their churches with spire steeples which point as with a silent finger to the sky and stars. 
                               — Samuel Taylor Coleridge