Mass With Fr. Don

At Alvin Brooks Center

In partnership with Rockhurst University, we invite you to join Father Don Farnan for weekly Mass each Thursday at 12:15 p.m. at the Alvin Brooks Center Mabee Chapel (5401 Troost Avenue, Kansas City). All are welcome! Learn more about the Alvin Brooks Center.

This weekly gathering connects people from across parishes and the city to share in the Eucharist, strengthen community, and support ministries serving our urban-core neighbors. It's a simple but meaningful way to deepen faith and fellowship in the heart of Kansas City.

Make this part of your summer rhythm. Come as you are, bring a friend, and take a mid-day pause for prayer and community. Stay for conversation or step in for a quiet moment of prayer.

Chariots of Fire

“Bring me my bow of burning gold, bring me my arrows of desire. Bring me my spear! O clouds unfold. Bring me my chariot of fire!” Those words from William Blake’s 1804 poem, “Milton,” reference the famous biblical story in 2 Kings where the Prophet Elijah, instead of dying, was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.

“Chariots of Fire” has become a reference to divine blessings, heavenly protection, God’s special favor, or being enfolded by love so profound that it can frighten. In 1981, the Oscar-winning movie by the same title brought us another, perhaps more relevant or relatable, meaning of the phrase. The story is about two British runners in the 1924 Paris Olympics; one was a Jewish Englishman who raced to erase prejudice and the other a Scottish Christian missionary who ran to display God’s glory. The latter spoke about athletics as a calling: “I believe that God made me for a purpose. He also made me fast. When I run, I feel His pleasure!”

Read the Full Post.

Father Don and his sister, Barbie, drop a podcast about podcasts, particularly this podcast, Upon This Rock, as we pause operations to assess its impact and how the church can reach people in our twenty-first-century virtual society. They reminisce about messages from the hundred-plus conversations and how we can encourage people to talk with one another about matters of faith and faith that matters to us, our families and friends, our community, and our world.

Direct Link. Listen on Apple and Spotify. Download the MP3 file.

Listen to all the Upon This Rock episodes. #uponthisrockpodcast

Saint Thomas More (STM) Parish has a sister community relationship with San Andrés Itzapa, a rural parish in south-central Guatemala. STM Parishioners Phil Smith and Marla Byrne have visited frequently in recent decades, often leading groups on work retreats and pilgrimages of faith that support foreign friends. The STM group has escorted thousands of Kansas Citians, including over a thousand teenagers, to Central America to encounter brothers and sisters who struggle in ways that open their eyes and hearts.

Direct Link. Listen on Apple and Spotify. Download the MP3 file.

Listen to all the Upon This Rock episodes. #uponthisrockpodcast