Your Question: Can I vist a church on my own time to reflect and pray in quiet? When and where may I do this? Do I have to be a confirmed Catholic?

YES!!! Stopping into a church on your own time is a wonderful way to spend time with the Lord in quiet and in prayer. Often in the midst of a busy day, stopping into the quiet of a church and spending some time in the Lord's presence can replenish us and fill our soul with peace! Anyone can do this--whether you are Catholic or not, all are welcome to spend time with the Lord in our churches.

Some churches cannot remain open all day because of security concerns. Other churches, however, are able to be open almost all day nearly every day. Two in Milwaukee are the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (812 N. Jackson St., Milwaukee) and Gesu parish lower church, accessed by the side doors (1145 W. Wisconsin Ave., on the Marquette University campus). There is also a chapel at St. Mary's hospital on lake drive that is open all day, as well as the Schoenstatt shrine chapel on 55th and Wisconsin Ave. (behind St. Vincent Pallotti East parish). These are just some of the many sanctuaries of prayer in the city.

There are also daily Masses all over the city that you can go to--also an amazing way to connect with the Lord in the midst of our everyday lives. To find a daily Mass near you, you can go to http://www.masstimes.org/ and enter your zip code. At our parish, Three Holy Women, our daily Mass schedule is as follows:
Monday, no Mass
Tuesday, 9 a.m.,Holy Rosary church, 2011 N. Oakland
Wednesday, 5:30 p.m., St. Hedwig church, 1702 N. Humboldt
Thursday, 9 a.m., St. Rita church, 1601 N. Cass St.
Friday, 9:00 a.m., St. Hedwig church, 1702 N. Humboldt

If you are concerned about time and fitting this into your day, daily Masses are generally shorter than Sunday Mass - about 30 minutes on average. A nice break time!

There are a number of daily Masses over the lunch hour in the city as well. A great downtown location for this is Old St. Mary parish, 836 N. Broadway.