El Cristo Rey Chapel -- Grand Canyon, Ariz.

Destination: A short walk away from the south rim of the Grand Canyon sits El Cristo Rey Chapel, a small wooden building that serves as the spiritual home of the Catholic families who work at the national park.
Winter Mass schedule starts on the first Sunday of December through March at El Cristo Rey. Masses are Sundays at 9 a.m. Summer Masses, April to October at El Cristo Rey, are Saturdays at 4:30 p.m. and Sundays, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.
Why to go: El Cristo Rey, a parish of the Phoenix Diocese, has 26 registered families, who are “always outnumbered by the tourists,” says Father Rafael Bercasio, pastor.

(CNS photos)

The chapel is located within the boundaries of Grand Canyon Village, a residential neighborhood of around 1,500 households that includes a school, a grocery store and a post office. Residents are employed as park rangers and naturalists, maintenance workers, and hotel, restaurant and retail staff. Some live there only six months out of the year, although the park is open year-round.
From his base at El Cristo Rey, Father Bercasio also ministers to a mostly Hispanic community founded five years ago about 30 miles outside the entrance to the park.
El Cristo Rey Chapel was officially established in 1960, although priests from the Diocese of Gallup, N.M., began coming to celebrate Mass for El Tovar’s workers around 1919-1920.Father Bercasio celebrates a daily Mass at 8 a.m., and most of the time, he said, he is the only one in attendance. He celebrates two Masses on Sundays, plus a vigil on Saturdays in summer.
“I always commend the tourists for fulfilling their obligation,” he said. “You are in the midst of your gallivanting and still you are here. It is a testimony that your faith does not take a vacation. It’s very inspiring.”
(Grand) Kid friendly: Everyone is welcome to attend Mass at the church.
Info: Address: El Cristo Rey Parish, 44 Albright Ave., PO Box 505,  Grand Canyon, AZ 86023    Phone — 928/351-7282   Website — http://www.elcristorey.org/
— CNS; Sharon Boehlefeld contributed to this story.
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