“Through the recreation and leisure made possible by travel, people are restored and renewed, body and spirit. They return home to family and work with a new perspective and enthusiasm for life.” –Pope St. John Paul II 

Grand Tetons: In the silence and the majesty, there you will find God. –Kevin Miltko ’91

A week of cleaning my grandmother’s house so she can move is punctuated by drawn out lunches and glasses of wine in the evening in her sunroom. Retrieving old photos, she fills in gaps in our understanding and knowledge of family history. After a morning in the garage organizing and sorting, it occurs to me that the days this week have taken shape around these moments of unhurried conversations about her life, and usually orbit an object (an old letter, tea pot, photograph, or clothing) and the information or story they possess. This is a photo of my grandmother playing with her family dog as a teenager.–Kelley Dawson ’16MDiv 

Slowly cruising through just a fraction of the 1,600 islands in Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay and appreciating the vastness and natural diversity of this beautiful world. –Colleen Bailey ’13

Sharing a glass of wine as we celebrate our 40th Anniversary, we thank God for the many blessings we continue to receive. Our four children, our sons-in-law, and our five grandchildren are the greatest gifts we could have hoped for. –Jim (’72) and Sherry Brady

Post-Easter pilgrimage/vacation to Qumran in Israel, doing my best imitation of a Desert Father! Drinking up the sun and absorbing the ascetical ethos. –Father Phil Krill ‘71

The front yard of the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi, with bushes trimmed into the shape of the Franciscan Tau cross and PAX, the Latin word for peace. –Father Ron Nuzzi, Senior Director, ACE RISE

It’s the little things on my walk to work that remind me of God here with us: sunlight playing through the trees, a bird’s song, a smile from a passerby. –Danielle Thomson ’07

Sharing conversations with old friends while enjoying the sunset calls me to find joy in being in the present while simultaneously taking me back in time. —Kayla Mravec, ’14MDiv

In my life one of the most profound moments of sensing the presence of God was when I was in my sophomore year at Notre Dame (1949-1950) during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament before the back altar in the Basilica. –John Moran ’52