Our pastor, along with 100 other travelers, is leaving on a pilgrimage today to the Holy Land. I hope to visit there someday ... we'll see! But thinking about traveling made me remember the very first cruise that I went on. It was through Celebrity, and I had no idea what to expect. (Turns out that cruising is my very favorite way to vacation!) One day on the cruise, I noticed in the itinerary/schedule for the week that a Catholic Mass was being offered. I felt all excited and wondered how Mass could possibly take place on a cruise ship. It was held in an auditorium ... a very different feel from church pews! As you can see in the image, the crucifix had an anchor at the bottom. (I worried that we would hit some big waves and everything sitting on the altar would fall off, but that didn't happen!) Also, no real candles could be used on the ship, so all the candles were LEDs instead. The priest's vestments were gorgeous ... on his chasuble, he had an embroidered ship's wheel with a crucifix. Our cruise was in February, and I believe it was during Lent ... hence his purple vestments. What really struck me the most, though, is that the celebration of the Eucharist was taking place somewhere in the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight. How amazing is that? Mass can truly take place anywhere! And ... no matter where you are, the main liturgical elements of the Catholic Mass are the same. The word "catholic" translates to "universal". The people attending this Mass were from all over the world, yet we came together as one that day and were able to celebrate the Eucharist together as brothers and sisters in faith. Have you ever attended Mass at a different parish while on vacation? What was the experience like?