My journey back to the safety of The Father's House began nearly 15 years ago when Our Mother took my hand in Hers and posed a gentle question to my broken and tattered soul: Am I not your Mother?

I didn't acknowledge it, or even realize it at the time, but Our Lady of Guadalupe was preparing to guide me on a great journey of mercy, a journey in the footsteps of the prodigal son, from the barren darkness of a languishing faith in self and the world, to the unfathomable light of Our Lord's infinite love, mercy and compassion.

It began simply enough on a hill in Tepeyac. This was not the Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City where Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego. This was Camp Tepeyac, located in Arizona's central mountains at an elevation of 6,700 feet.

I had recently started attending Mass on a spotty basis after a long absence of nearly a decade. Our parish was looking for volunteers to help with a confirmation retreat, so my wife suggested that we sign up. I was hesitant at first, but it seemed like a great excuse to escape the Phoenix heat for a few days and enjoy the cool alpine wilderness in northern Arizona. By the time we finally contacted the retreat coordinator, the cushy jobs were all filled and there were only two volunteer openings left: kitchen detail.

It was pretty clear from the start that the job was going to be demanding. After arriving at this beautiful wilderness camp, we were shown to a rustic little cabin where we dropped our baggage. Next, we got the grand tour of the mess facilities and kitchen where we would spend nearly all of our time with a short collapse for sleep at night. From about 5:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. we struggled to prep, cook and clean up after a day's worth of meals for over 200 ravenous teens and Church staff. So much for my relaxing getaway.

Neither of us ever had the time to participate in the confirmation retreat, but we still felt a strong connection to the gathering that went well beyond our fluffy pancakes and frozen lasagna. The work was tiring, but the setting was certainly peaceful, and there was no denying that the Holy Spirit was truly among us. In a surprising way, I even found the work quite rewarding. In the small interludes between sweating over a hot stove and mopping up the mess hall, our simple discussions always turned to our Faith.

They were tentative and clumsy steps after a long lapse, but Our Lady of Guadalupe was patiently guiding me on the first leg of the journey –– back to Our Father's House –– on the road past Tepeyac Hill.

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I was blessed to be raised in a large Catholic family with parents who felt that a Catholic education, regular Church attendance on Sunday, and the Sacraments were essential. I had the added benefit of growing up in the midwest, with Notre Dame atop Her glistening golden dome at the center of my hometown in northern Indiana. Behind my house, and a short walk through the woods, was Saint Mary's Convent, where I used to dart around exploring all the nooks and crannies including the amazing statues and prayer grottos. I'm sure it annoyed the nuns when they saw me, but I have no doubt that a good many of them prayed for me, a curious or mischievous little boy, disturbing the placid waters of their prayerful meditations.

I attended Catholic grade school, served as an altar boy at our Cathedral there, then attended Catholic high school through graduation. We had a young priest serving at our parish who also ran the religious department at my high school, which was another great blessing because he knew most of us all very well (our good traits and our bad). He put on some excellent retreats for our class and I was honored to make a retreat with him and a handful of friends at the Abbey of Gethsemane. It would seem like I was well immersed in the Faith, and for the most part that would be true. Of course we all know that our journey of faith is seldom easy as challenges come and go. Little challenges, bigger challenges, and sometimes enormous challenges pile on, until we finally realize at some point that there is a serious battle raging and we're fighting for the very life of our souls.

My soul was restless. John Paul II was three years into his Pontificate and Our Lady had just appeared to some youths in the obscure little village of Medjugorje. Meanwhile, I had decided to attend college in Arizona, a whopping 1800 miles from home. I've always been a bit impetuous, but this decision was the grandaddy of all impetuous decisions up to that point in my life. Suffice it to say it was a really tough road at times that took me very far from home, where my soul grew inceasingly restless and anxious in pursuit of the myriad distractions of the world. Distractions away from the Church, from prayer, from Jesus... everything. And for what? For the sorrows and emptiness that a huge part of the world, including myself, so easily falls for. Oh, dark times for me. When I have more time, I'll endeavor to share further witness about this period in my life and how our loving Lord washed and healed me in the infinite ocean of His mercy.

For now, I continue to thank God that I finally woke up one day, and I have no doubt that Our Mother played a critical role.

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My wife and I were sitting in the backyard under sunny Arizona skies last summer, playing with our three wonderful children. A few little misty clouds were wafting here and there, and I suddenly noticed that a little rainbow was forming near the sun. I pointed it out to my wife and asked if she could see it. She couldn't see it at first, but it quickly became more pronounced, forming a complete rainbow ring around the sun with a little matching crescent underneath. Remarkably, the clouds were positioned in such a way that we could look at the rainbows without hurting our eyes. I've seen something similar to this only one other time in my life.

The first time I saw something like this, I was spending time outdoors on the same day that they were holding the funeral ceremony for John Paul II. It was some time in the afternoon and I began to notice the sunlight oddly changing. When I looked up, I witnessed a full eclipse of the sun that lasted for quite some time. There was a faded dark area surrounding the eclipse, with a remarkable rainbow ring on the outer edges.

So there we were in the backyard and I was again seeing something very similar. Something that was tugging at me, so I decided to go inside and search the internet to see if anything significant was happening that day. My search almost proved fruitless. I was ready to let it go, then suddenly decided to do a search to see if the day was an important feast day in the Church. Nothing seemed to pop or resonate on that front either, until I finally noticed a banner at the top of the page that showed Our Lady of Guadalupe with a simple message that read: "Our Lady is calling. Will you answer?" Yes. I immediately clicked on the banner and it directed me to a site advertising the First International Marian Congress on Our Lady of Guadalupe, with a core theme that Her message is one that has as much importance and meaning today as it did nearly 500 years ago.

We ended up attending the festival with our children. Shortly after, my wife started saying the Rosary on a daily basis. It was another little signal grace that Our Lady of Guadalupe was still guiding me on the road home. Better still, She had the whole family in tow. You can visit the link for the Guadalupe Festival HERE for further background information on that event.

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I probably mentioned that we live in the desert. For many folks who just glance at the Sonoran Desert in passing, its sandy stretches and faded mountains can seem awfully barren. Over the many years I've lived in Arizona, I've always enjoyed getting outdoors, away from the confining walls and comfortable distractions. What I've discovered is a desert rich with life and beauty, and I've taken to long desert hikes and running trails to take the daily edge off.

Shortly after attending the Guadalupe Festival, I was out on one of those jogs, winding my way along a little desert path in the neighborhood. Deep into the run I decided to cut down a fork to the right, a new route I hadn't yet explored. I popped out into a little desert oasis, with a grassy meadow rife with desert flora and fauna and a handful of enormous trees. I stopped in front of one of those trees to rest and take in the rich details of the area. It was early in the morning, and I was noticing that the sun was coming up strongly behind the towering tree. I was shading my eyes from the sun's glare, when I noticed that there was a big recess up higher in the tree where a branch had obviously broken off some time ago. My first thought was, "Hey, that arched hole looks like it was custom made to fit a little statue." No sooner did I have that thought, then I noticed that there appeared to be an image on the bark in the hole that looked just like Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The very next day I took my wife down to the same spot and pointed up to the recess in the tree. Without giving her any indication of what I was getting at, I asked her if she could see anything odd there. A moment later there was a sharp intake of breath and she exclaimed, "Our Lady of Guadalupe!" Here again, was another signal grace from Our Lady, an encouraging reminder that She was still present, and guiding us home.

The tree with the image stands in a place called Sweetwater and I have posted some photos that I took HERE. I actually went back to the tree a couple of days ago to take some more shots and was surprised to see the one with the white glare and little circular rainbow pop up in the batch when I reviewed the shots. Well, you can make of it what you will, but this little image on the bark of the tree finally provided me the inspiration to launch this site.

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So, that's a little snapshot of my journey so far. In the future, I'd like to share some more stories about Jesus and His Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe. In the meantime, I think I finally discovered what Our Mother was really saying to me that day so long ago:

"Am I not your Mother?"

My dear little son, I love you.
I desire you to know who I am.
I am the ever-virgin Mary,
Mother of the true God who gives life
and maintains existence.
He created all things.
He is in all places.
He is Lord of Heaven and Earth.

Not surprisingly, that's what Our Lady of Guadalupe had to say to Juan Diego many centuries prior to my experience. I'm also certain that it's the same message that she gives to each of us today. May we all take it to heart. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.