A short under 10- mile round trip brought me to Padre Serra's third California mission. Like the others, I see them all in two unique phases of struggles: pre- and post-secularization (1834). At first, all of them struggled simply to survive and fulfill their mission. After secularization, each has its own path leading them to their status today. In 1928, the Franciscans were invited to take back the mission. And in 1939/40 Hearst, who had preciously bought much of the mission lands as his cattle ranch, sold the land around the mission to the US Army for training our troops for WWII. Then in 1948-52 the mission was reconstructed with support from the Hearst Foundation. What's different here, is that unlike most other missions, there was no town that grew around. That makes for a different evolution. My visit coincided with a 600+ teenage Diocesan Youth Day sponsored by the Monterey Diocese. What a wonderful opportunity to strengthen their faith. The staff was most gracious: they gave me breakfast and let me fill up on water! I'm now set for tomorrow! My last comment: it's said that this is the only mission Father Serra would recognize!
