The first time I noticed the Holy Family Shrine, it was under construction. I figured it was just another barn overlooking Interstate 80 between Omaha and Lincoln, Neb.

Each time I drove by, however, I became increasingly intrigued. As the structure took shape, I realized it had no walls — only windows.

It wasn't until the following year, as my husband and I awaited the birth of our first child, that I discovered the “glass barn” was a Catholic pilgrimage site dedicated to the Nazareth trio whose feast the Church celebrates each Dec. 26. It was fitting, then, that the first time I visited the Holy Family Shrine I held my firstborn son in my arms.

My tour of the 23-acre site began on a limestone path leading to a hillside. Hoping to escape the muted roar of the highway below, I followed the path into the shrine's underground Visitor Center.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room and my ears to the silence, I noticed a spiral sculpture of stainless steel descending from a skylight in the ceiling and gently dripping water into a round pool below.

I took a brochure and quickly learned that the shrine's mission is to “create a place for travelers to pray and discover the Catholic faith.” Yet I noticed that there are few traditional Catholic images on display. The ones that are present — the tabernacle and crucifix — are particularly prominent, and I was further reassured to learn that a set of outdoor Stations of the Cross is in the works. But where were the statues, the candles, the stained glass? Where were all the things you expect to find in an orthodox Catholic shrine?

As I read further, I discovered that understanding the symbols — impressionistic, yet reverent — is the key to encountering the Gospel here. I learned that the underground room, for example, resembles Christ's tomb and that the trickling water mirrors the Holy Spirit: It comes from an apparently invisible source, fills a small pool and flows to the chapel. Thus is the visitor led from Christ's empty tomb to his Real Presence in the tabernacle.

Living Waters

I followed the small channel of water out of the Visitor Center, down another limestone walkway and through the chapel's heavy wooden doors. Once inside, the stream splits in two and flows beneath the edge of each pew. According to my handy brochure, I should recall my baptism — along with its promises and demands — each time I cross this tiny Jordan River to enter and exit the pew.

As I knelt to pray, I watched the stream increase in volume to the point at which it “culminates to its highest beneath the altar,” where the Eucharist is consecrated weekly and held in repose in the tabernacle.

I didn't recognize it at the time, but, as I later reflected on the brief walk from the tomb to the tabernacle, I realized that I had journeyed, if only symbolically, through key parts of Scripture and the Catechism:

“By virtue of the Holy Spirit, Christian life is already now on earth a participation in the death and Resurrection of Christ” (Catechism, No. 1002).

“Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4).

So it was that, like any worthwhile pilgrimage experience, my trip to the Holy Family Shrine had prompted me to delve deeper into God's word and the teachings of the Church.

After following the trickling water to its destination, my gaze was drawn upward. Directly above the tabernacle hangs a beautiful crucifix accompanied by life-size statues of the Blessed Mother and the beloved disciple.

Further up, I admired an image of the Holy Family etched into the glass. The picture comes to life when the light shines at just the right angle. Otherwise, the white outline of Jesus, Mary and Joseph almost blends in with the sky.

Overhead, gigantic wooden trusses, looking like stalks of wheat bending in the wind, support the structure. A matching pattern on the face of the tabernacle confirms that these symbolize the Eucharist, source and summit of the Christian life.

A Study in Contrasts

As I continued in prayer and contemplation, I was captured by the breathtaking view of the Platte River Valley through the chapel's glass walls. On the road below, the steady stream of traffic caught my attention; this time I noted the stark contrast between the rushing cars and the steady presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, always waiting for us to visit him.

According to the shrine brochure, the site's founders intend visitors to encounter Christ here as his apostles did at the Transfiguration. “Jesus took Peter, James and John away from their common place on a pilgrimage in order that God would reveal His Son,” the brochure explains. “Similarly, may we come from our common place to this place for Christ to be revealed.”

As I reflect once more on my pilgrimage to Nebraska's Holy Family Shrine, I realize the importance of such a contemporary but Christ-centered atmosphere. I think it is precisely this combination of uncompromising Gospel truth and modern style that makes the shrine such an effective witness to Jesus Christ and his Mystical Body, the Church.

Just as the beautiful stained-glass windows of many Gothic churches were created to teach the Gospel — boldly, yet beautifully — to those who could not read, so does the Holy Family Shrine present the truths of the faith to the spiritually illiterate of our day.

Likewise, few self-proclaimed “modern” men and women would pick up a Catechism, but many will be attracted to the lively simplicity of the Holy Family Shrine. It may be the only Catechism they ever read.

Kimberly Jansen writes from

Lincoln, Nebraska.