SEATTLE – After attending Mass at Christ Our Hope Church last spring, Daniel Markham spent time walking downtown streets with the parish’s Sacred Encounters ministry members. Each week, they hand out sandwiches, water and hope as they build relationships with people experiencing homelessness.

“From the moment they walk out the door they are darting to serve,” Markham said. “The patience that they demonstrated. The way they were using their gifts to serve. It was very inspirational to me,” he added.

“Once they find out you’re armed with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, you’re not threatening,” volunteer Mike McKasy, who remembers Markham’s visit, told Northwest Catholic. Often, those in need say “bless you” to the volunteers. “It’s a real positive experience,” he said.

McKasy, Jillian Jacobson, Barbara Ivester and several other Christ Our Hope parishioners are highlighted in Markham’s recently released “52 Masses: A Journey to Experience Catholicism Across America.”

(Courtesy Daniel Markham)

The book describes Markham’s travels and experiences attending Mass in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico during 2021-22. It highlights the diversity and vibrancy of the Catholic Church and the ways Catholics are using their gifts to answer God’s call.

At Christ Our Hope, “each Wednesday at lunchtime, the ministers from Sacred Encounters set out with bags full of sandwiches, bottles of water, snacks, and whatever else can be carried by hand,” Markham wrote in the chapter about the parish. “Their mission is to share those goods with the destitute in Seattle, a city with one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country. Finding people in need is not difficult.”

Markham, a writer and lifelong Catholic, sent introduction letters to parishes and dioceses to help him plot his course, which was mostly covered by car. He said a response from Christ Our Hope piqued his interest, because the parish is the heart of a former hotel that now serves as a Catholic Housing Service residence for low-income people.

Christ Our Hope Church is located at the corner of Stewart Street and Second Avenue in downtown Seattle, in the former New Washington Hotel. (Courtesy Daniel Markham)

“It has a real storied past,” McKasy said of the former New Washington Hotel. Elvis once stayed there, and somewhere on the premises there’s a photo of Babe Ruth on the building’s steps.

Like Christ Our Hope, Markham said every parish has a story to tell. Every day, he said, Catholics are doing amazing things, putting their faith into action.

“I wanted to show all the different ways we are living our faith as Catholics,” Markham said.

Those are the stories readers will find in his book, and he hopes sharing them inspires others, Markham said. Though the stories may vary, they are united by faith.

“No matter where you are in the world, you know this is Mass and the Eucharist is at the center of it,” he said.

After completing his journey, Markham said he feels more at peace.

“I feel closer to Christ. I’m definitely not the person I was when I left.”

Learn more

Learn more about “52 Masses: A Journey to Experience Catholicism Across America” at Daniel Markham’s website, 52masses.com, which includes a blog from his travels. Watch a video interview with Markham.