This last week I was assigned to help out at the "Christian Life Camp" outside of Mandaree, ND, at Saint Anthony Church on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The reservation is home to the Three Affiliated Tribes: The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara.

I have called North Dakota home for my entire life, and I have been on the various reservations in our state many times. But this was my first experience interacting with Native American youth. As I visited with the long-time pastor at St Anthony Church, Fr Steven Kranz, OSB, it became clear that ministering to the Native Americans is very, very different from the work of a typical pastor outside the reservation. Mass attendance is very low and the people are difficult to stay in contact with because they move around frequently. This makes catechesis and the forming of an active parish community quite difficult. Despite a long presence of Catholic churches in these communities, it still feels very much like missionary territory. But I must say that some of the kids with whom I interacted became very interested and excited about their faith during the week. Please pray they find the opportunity to keep on the right path.

I should also say a few words about the "Christian Life Camp." It has been operating within the Bismarck Diocese, at Mandaree, for decades. Yet most people have never heard of the camp. That may be in part because it is run almost entirely by youth groups (and their adult directors) from White Bear Lake, MN, who come here every summer on mission trips.

All in all, my week at the Christian Life Camp was a good experience. Some of the kids became very interested in learning what I could teach them about the Bible and God. And even when I wasn't teaching I was helping with dishes or driving truckloads of kids to or from the day's activities. Working on the reservation, even for a very short time, was an educational experience for me. I walked away more aware of the diversity and spiritual needs that exist within our own state borders.

For your enjoyment, here some photos I took of the church and camp facilities, the camp activities, and the beautiful scenery around Mandaree:

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Here you see some of the main buildings of the complex, as seen from the driveway. From left to right you see the church, a bit of the rectory, and the old church building that is not currently in use.

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This is another view of the same buildings, but as viewed from the cemetery.

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This is a photo of the church exterior. Notice is obvious resemblance to an earth lodge. Landscapers were busy working during the week, hence the unfinished look to the sides of the "lodge."

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This is a view of the church's interior. It is quite a small church, but very comfortable. The crucifix is very prominent and beautiful and the space is very quiet, being located miles from town. It is a very nice place to pray.

Now, for a random technical sidenote: This photo was created by stitching together a dozen or so photos using Hugin, a free program for creating panoramas from multiple images. In my opinion, it works better than Photoshop Elements, but is still not perfect. You can see a few things that don't line up despite much effort on my part, but it's not too bad. I think my current troubles are the result of "parallax errors," resulting from how I took the pictures, but I'm not sure. Anyway, back on topic.

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Inside the church there is also a very nice, and very large (44" x 90") picture of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk Indian who lived in the New York area during the 1600s. The image was created by Roger Zarembinski, a parishioner of St Pius X church in White Bear Lake, MN, who has been involved with the camp over the years. Click here to learn more about the image.

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This is the old church building. It is located on the property, but no longer used.

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Here we see the parish rectory, which looks and feels like an old farmhouse but is comfortable enough.

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The facilities for the Christian Life Camp are substantial. They include a quonset building for indoor activities, sizeable dormitories for both the boys and the girls, and a well-appointed camp kitchen. There is much work that needs to be done to fix it up, but a great deal has already been accomplished by the groups that come from White Bear Lake each year.

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One of the camp's activities is to take all of the kids horseback riding at Little Missouri State Park, a park designed just for horseback riding. This was actually my first time, ever, on a horse. The scenery is amazing in this park, which includes horse trails through rough badlands-like terrain.

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This is a snapshot of the oil well named "Tekakwitha (pray for us)," which is on the parish land. The income from this oil well is now helping to fund landscaping, the paving of the road to the parish, and other much-needed improvements.

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And, finally, a view of the "skyline," dotted with haybales and towering clouds.

All in all, the week was an experience that made me fall even deeper in love with North Dakota.

I spent my 4th of July weekend hunting for geocaches, especially around Fort Stevenson State Park here in North Dakota. I also spent some time with friends looking around in the Bismarck area. We've had great weather, and geocaching is a great excuse to get outside.

Above is a video I put together in Adobe Premiere Elements. Unfortunately, I forgot my memory card, so all the pictures and video are from my cell phone's camera. But it's not too terrible. I have a lot to learn about the software, as you can see.

-Jason

During the last few days I attended the ordination and first Masses of Thanksgiving for our newest priests: Father Russ Kovash, Father Nick Schneider, and Father Josh Ehli. I had the privilege of serving as an acolyte during the ordination and one of the Masses. Being up in the sanctuary, I had an excellent view of the congregation and of the ceremonies. From that vantage point, two things stood out.

First, I could see the joy on the faces of the men as they definitively offered their lives to God. During the celebrations that followed, I had opportunities to visit with young priests from various dioceses, such as Father Mike Linnebur of Witchita, KS. He has been a priest for about one year now, and I know him from his time in the seminary. During my visit with him and others, I was encouraged to keep up the hard work of seminary because, as I have heard time and again, "It's worth it," and "it's a great life," despite all the hard work and difficulties that priests face. These men work hard to serve their people, to bring them to God and to strive for their own holiness.

Secondly, as I sat in the sanctuary looking out at the packed cathedral, the voice of the congregation repeatedly rang out. When we heard "The Lord be with you," and the people responded "And also with you," the voices boomed loud, with enthusiasm. It was so loud that, at one point, I spotted a young boy covering his ears in complaint at the volume. I loved it. The desire people have for God, their desire for holiness, was manifested in their love for the priesthood in a powerful way. That church was packed -- standing room only. People stood for more than two hours and out in the gathering space, peeking in through the doorways into the sanctuary, just to get a glimpse of what happened.

Later on during a reception at the Ramkota Hotel, we seminarians were asked to stand to be recognized. We were met with loud applause. Seminarian Kregg Hochhalter, standing next to me, whispered "It's all for Jesus," and he was right. These people hardly know us. They may admire the fact that we are trying to be open to God's will. But anything good they see in us is a reflection of God himself. That is the goal, after all: To know God and to share that relationship with others, for our own sanctification and the sanctification of the people.

It has been a powerful week, witnessing all of this. And during it all, the thought keeps coming up in prayer, of Jesus saying, "My people want me. They desire to know me. Bring me to them."

Please pray for me. My ordination to the transitional deaconate is now less than a year away.

Congratulations to Fathers Kovash, Ehli, and Schneider.

God Bless,

-Jason