This week I decided to take a break from my computer and walk the church grounds… pretty soon it’ll be too cold to enjoy that pleasure! I found myself meandering to the newly finished “Good Shepherd Garden”. Fr. Bob’s been extremely influential and instrumental in making sure our parish has a “place” to memorialize Fr. Krizner. And it makes sense why it’s “this” place… the Resurrection was everything to him. As I walked through the grass to get to the statue, a conversation I had with a friend about the garden came back to me… regarding why the path leads from the Mary statue to the garden, and not directly from the parking lot. And then the whole of the inspiration behind this article was born: because both metaphorically and literally “the path to Mary always leads to Jesus.”
A little over a year ago Fr. Krizner, a few members of the parish staff, and I were sitting in a “meeting”… it was lunchtime 😊. We were discussing new name ideas for our outdoor shrine and ultimately decided on the name “Gate of Heaven Shrine”. One of the many appropriate titles of Mary is the “Gate of Heaven”, for she always leads the way to her Son. So it seemed fitting that this title would be given to a place that’s become not only a place to honor Mary, but a peaceful afternoon retreat of a walk through the outdoor Stations of the Cross, concluding with the beautiful Resurrection statue. How Fr. loved that statue, so much so he obtained two others for our church (one is behind the sanctuary and the other used during our Easter procession). Besides the pictures of Lily, Gracie and Annie, I don’t think he took more pictures of anyone or anything else more than that statue—in different times of day, with different lighting, in the different seasons… He’d use them in the bulletin from time to time, but I think the pictures, the statue, meant much more to him than good imagery.
Like a picture of a loved one we hold as a reminder, or show off proudly to others, statues serve similarly. Fr. loved, lived, and shared the image of the Resurrection. And to him, having the statue of the Resurrection on our grounds, and pictures of it with him served not as only a reminder of what he believed, but as a reminder of someone he was proud to have in his life… someone who was his friend…a friend that he wanted to share…a friend that he loved with all his heart.
With all of that said, however, if you count the number of Mary statues on our property, comparatively the number is at least triple to that of his beloved Resurrection! So what does that mean? It’s an answer as simple as Fr. Krizner’s faith: a solid friendship with Jesus is easier to have through the loving intercession of Mary. So after sixteen years in the making, here it is the lasting legacy of Fr. Krizner left in concrete on the grounds of St. Colette: the path to Mary always leads to Jesus. The initial walk of faith to Mary’s heart offers us the peace and comfort of a mother on life’s winding road. Sometimes this road is filled with the beautiful colors and sounds of nature, and other times it’s laden with the sufferings of a heavy cross. In the end, her tender love is the “Gate of Heaven” to the Good Shepherd, and the friendship with him we’re called to nurture on our journey. ~Sara
Do not look up at the sky
I am with you now and always.
Where I go you know the way.
I have taught you all I know
And I ask you now to go.
Your Good Shepherd leads the way.
Do not look up at the sky.
(Taken from Do Not Look Up At the Sky, 2023. Written in loving memory of Fr. Krizner)
