Church Rankings after 17 churches

Here are the top 5 ranked Churches after 17 churches of The Chow's Colorado Catholic Church Tour:  (new #1 this week)

1. St Daniel's Catholic Church - 614 5th St, Ouray, CO 81427 (Church 17; 297 miles)
2. Our Lady of the Pines - 9444 Eagle Cliff Road, Conifer, CO 80433 (Week 13; 26.2 miles)
3. Ten Thirty Catholic Community - 1100 Fillmore St, Denver, CO 80206 (Week 10; 22.8 miles)
4. St Elizabeth of Hungary Church - 1060 St Francis Way, Denver, CO 80204 (Week 7; 16.9 miles)
5. St Ignatius Loyola - 2301 York St, Denver, CO 80205 (Week 3; 17 miles)

Other rankings, metrics, etc:

• Farthest Church - St Daniel's Catholic Church, Ouray, CO - Church 17, 297 miles
• Nearest Church - St Mary's Catholic Church, Littleton, CO - Week 1, 5.3 miles
• Total distance to-date (one way, per Google Maps) -  766.7 miles
• Average distance to-date (one way) - 45.1 miles
• Earliest Mass - St Elizabeth of Hungary Church - Denver, CO - Week 7; 9:00AM Sunday Mass;
  St Daniel's Catholic Church - Ouray, CO - Church 17; 9:00AM Sunday mass
• Latest Mass - St Mary's Catholic Church, Littleton, CO - Week 1; 11:30AM Sunday Mass
• Best Homily - Ten Thirty Catholic Community - Denver, CO - Week 10; 11AM Sunday Mass
• Worst Homily - St Francis of Assisi - Castle Rock, CO - Week 11; 9:30AM Sunday Mass (displaces Denver Cathedral from Week 4)

Church #17 - St Daniel's Catholic Church - 614 5th St, Ouray, CO 81427

May 25, 2014
9:00AM Sunday Mass

Church #17 - St Daniel's Catholic Church - Ouray

Our new #1 church ... in the beautiful mountain town of Ouray.   We'd come up for the Memorial Day Weekend, ambitiously thinking that we'd be able to hit at least 2 churches ... especially since it's not too often that we're this neck of the woods.  In fact, after 15 years in Colorado, this was our first trip to Ouray ... and it certainly does justice to their moniker of "Little Switzerland of Colorado".

We initially thought we'd hit Saturday Mass and checked Mass times online (albeit not at St Daniel's site) ... only to find out they didn't have any Saturday Masses (in the off season?)   We got there bright and somewhat early this morning and were surprised to see the place packed full of people ... and from the way the congregants gave each other that familiar nod, it seemed like most of the attendees were regular parishoners.

The Homily was short, humorous and very Gospel appropriate ... and very Memorial Day appropriate.  The priest was to the point with interesting human interest type stories that didn't preach but laid out stories from which one can easily draw one's own conclusions in re various ways to do what's right.

Church Rankings after 16 churches

Here are the top 5 ranked Churches after 16 churches of The Chow's Colorado Catholic Church Tour:

1. Our Lady of the Pines - 9444 Eagle Cliff Road, Conifer, CO 80433 (Week 13; 26.2 miles)
2. Ten Thirty Catholic Community - 1100 Fillmore St, Denver, CO 80206 (Week 10; 22.8 miles)
3. St Elizabeth of Hungary Church - 1060 St Francis Way, Denver, CO 80204 (Week 7; 16.9 miles)
4. St Ignatius Loyola - 2301 York St, Denver, CO 80205 (Week 3; 17 miles)
5. St Joseph Catholic Parish - 969 Ulysses St, Golden, CO 80401 (Week 8; 21.5 miles)

Other rankings, metrics, etc:

• Farthest Church - Holy Family Parish, Ft Collins, CO - Week 9, 79.8 miles
• Nearest Church - St Mary's Catholic Church, Littleton, CO - Week 1, 5.3 miles
• Total distance to-date (one way, per Google Maps) -  469.7 miles
• Average distance to-date (one way) - 29.35 miles
• Earliest Mass - St Elizabeth of Hungary Church - Denver, CO - Week 7; 9:00AM Sunday Mass
• Latest Mass - St Mary's Catholic Church, Littleton, CO - Week 1; 11:30AM Sunday Mass
• Best Homily - Ten Thirty Catholic Community - Denver, CO - Week 10; 11AM Sunday Mass
• Worst Homily - St Francis of Assisi - Castle Rock, CO - Week 11; 9:30AM Sunday Mass (displaces Denver Cathedral from Week 4)

Church # 16 - St Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, 5450 S Lemay Ave, Ft Collins, CO 80525

May 18, 2014
9:30AM Sunday Mass

Church #16 - St Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Ft Collins

Pretty significant weekend for us and a lot to be thankful for.   MrK graduated from Colorado State University with a Creative Writing degree.   We drove up to Ft Collins mid-morning Saturday and spent a few hours with MrK walking around Old Town, lunching, drive bys Horsetooth Reservoir and the various parks in the city ... and later on in the evening, attended his graduation at Moby.   Huge milestone for us!

St Elizabeth Ann Seton was less than a mile from the Courtyard Marriott where we stayed the night before, so it was an easy, quick hop.  We couldn't have asked for more spectacular weather ... and the crisp cool air was so incredibly refreshing that the only thing that could have out done it was the scenery.  

The church has an interesting configuration, almost auditorium style.  There was quite a large congregation, lots of young families with several kids.  There was a relaxed, happy jive to the place.   A few rows to the side of us was a young family with little kids who sang their lungs out - and amazingly in tune!  

If not for the inane priest who's sermon consisted almost entirely of loop logic - "Jesus is the Way, He is the Way because He is the Way, you need to follow THE Way because it it the Way!", it would have been high in our list of favorites.   As it was, it was difficult sitting through such idiocy!   Saving grace is that we won't be back for another 7+ years at the earliest!

From the Church website - http://seas-parish.org/
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish celebrates over 25 yeas of service to Christ in the community here in Fort Collins, Colorado.  We have 2,300 registered families.  The first Mass for the parish was celebrated on April 5th, 1981 at Fort Collins High School by Rev. Kenneth Koehler, founding Pastor and the church building was dedicated on September 22, 1985.  Our new building which includes Seton Hall and our Religious Education Center were dedicated on January 13, 2005.

Church Rankings after 15 churches

Here are the top 5 ranked Churches after 15 churches of The Chow's Colorado Catholic Church Tour:

1. Our Lady of the Pines - 9444 Eagle Cliff Road, Conifer, CO 80433 (Week 13; 26.2 miles)
2. Ten Thirty Catholic Community - 1100 Fillmore St, Denver, CO 80206 (Week 10; 22.8 miles)
3. St Elizabeth of Hungary Church - 1060 St Francis Way, Denver, CO 80204 (Week 7; 16.9 miles)
4. St Ignatius Loyola - 2301 York St, Denver, CO 80205 (Week 3; 17 miles)
5. St Joseph Catholic Parish - 969 Ulysses St, Golden, CO 80401 (Week 8; 21.5 miles)

Other rankings, metrics, etc:

• Farthest Church - Holy Family Parish, Ft Collins, CO - Week 9, 79.8 miles
• Nearest Church - St Mary's Catholic Church, Littleton, CO - Week 1, 5.3 miles
• Total distance to-date (one way, per Google Maps) -  395.8 miles
• Average distance to-date (one way) - 26.38 miles
• Earliest Mass - St Elizabeth of Hungary Church - Denver, CO - Week 7; 9:00AM Sunday Mass
• Latest Mass - St Mary's Catholic Church, Littleton, CO - Week 1; 11:30AM Sunday Mass
• Best Homily - Ten Thirty Catholic Community - Denver, CO - Week 10; 11AM Sunday Mass
• Worst Homily - St Francis of Assisi - Castle Rock, CO - Week 11; 9:30AM Sunday Mass (displaces Denver Cathedral from Week 4)

Church #15- St Martin de Porres Catholic Church, 3300 Table Mesa Drive Boulder, CO 80305

May 04, 2014
10:30AM Sunday Mass

Church #15 - St Martin de Porres in Boulder

After several missed weekends, we chalked up Church #15.   The 10:30AM Mass was very sparsely attended, presided over Fr Tran, the young Vietnamese parish priest who obviously had a lot of passion for what he does ... and not it a fire and brimestone kind of way, rather instead with great humor (albeit corny) and high pitched laughter.

From the Church's website (http://www.stmartindeporreschurch.org/):

                             About Our Patron Saint, St. Martin de Porres

St. Martin was born in Lima, Peru in 1579, the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman, John de Porres, and a poor black woman, Anna Velasquez. At first his father refused to recognize him as his son, until the boy began to show signs of having a very alert mind. His father provided for his education at the best schools in Lima, and apprenticed him to a barber-surgeon for two years, where he learned the medicine of the time and became a skilled herbologist and surgeon. He became a Dominican brother at Rosary Monastery in Lima, where hundreds sought him for his healing ability. In addition to caring for the priests and brothers, he also reached out to the poor, establishing an orphanage and foundling hospital, and caring for black slaves.

He made his daily life a martyrdom of penances and prayer, and was given many supernatural gifts, including aerial flight and bilocation. In his job of distributing the monastery’s daily allotment of food to the poor, at times the amount of food was miraculously increased. He also loved and cared for animals. Martin remained the rest of his life a devoted servant of the poor, caring for their sick, treating them with dignity, reminding them of God’s love for people of every race and color. Those who knew him called him a “loving father, a father of the poor.” A close friend of St. Rose of Lima, Martin died at Rosary Monastery in Lima on November 3, 1639, was beatified in 1837, and canonized on May 6, 1962.