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| John, Erika, Lauren, Bob [in the back] joined by Sisters of Charity, the Presentation, Holy Faith, Daughters of Charity after the Jubilee Mass at St. Rita's Church in New Orleans |
Easter Week began with a holiday
for most of us on Easter Monday; John traveled to Pittsburgh for the NCEA
Convention. Lauren’s school was closed
for the week, while Erika, Charles and Bob returned to regular pursuits.
At the convention, John
attended presentations by Br. Ray Vercruysse on boards and Br. Dennis Gunn’s Presentation: Critical
Catechesis: The Role of Critical Thinking in Adolescent Faith Development. Dennis
just received his doctorate from Fordham University and the presentation was based
on his thesis. It has applicability to faith
development at all stages of young adulthood and was presented with Dennis
typical erudition, and good humor. The
province sponsored an evening meal on Wednesday; an excellent chance to renew
acquaintance and exchange information.
On Thursday, Dr. Robert Marzano, an often quoted researcher and author
of the well respected book THE SCIENCE AND ART OF TEACHING and six other books
was the keynote speaker. Dr. Marzano,
unbeknownst to most, was a Christian Brother during his four college years,
joining the same year as John, in 1964.
John had breakfast with him Thursday morning and when Bob Marzano took
the stage, he announced that although most people did not know it, he was a
Christian Brother for a time and joined in
1964, with Br. John Casey and Br. Dennis Dunne, who were in the audience and
were celebrating their Golden Jubilees this year. Talk about letting the cat out of the
bag! Bob Marzano’s rock star status for
many in the world of education meant there was a big crowd even on that last
day of the convention—and they were paying attention.
John returned home on the 25th
on an unusually expensive flight since it was the beginning of Jazz Fest. The weather was beautiful for it and it was a
great success. No one here went; tickets
are quite expensive and folks had other interests.
The second week of Easter had
Lauren still struggling with some health issues; it turned out she has
mononucleosis and needs rest. The rest
were back to work, John making his last Discovery Walk visit to Pope John Paul
II High School in Slidell, LA—it happened to be a great experience for the
visitors and the administrators and teachers who made the walk—a nice
conclusion that verified the efforts of the faculty and staff at school
improvement in the last year.
The week of April 28th
found Charles awaiting a niece and her family traveling across country from the
Seattle area to their new home in Georgia nearer one of the niece’s
daughters. As it turned out, weather
delayed their drive till late in the week, but Charles got them to see where he
works and a bit of New Orleans. A young
candidate for the Vincentians visited us for dinner and a chat on Monday.
Wednesday, April 30th
was the feast of Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt, founder of the Sisters of
Christian Charity. This was her first
foundation in the United States and she visited and lived in this house on two
separate occasions. The morning Mass in
the parish was for the intentions of the Sisters, we used the Litany of Blessed
Pauline for prayer, and we had a special dinner to celebrate. We are looking forward to a visit from the
newly elected Superior General of this world-wide congregation in early June.
On Saturday, May 3rd
Charles left for Seattle to participate in a number of activities as we
withdraw our community from that place.
O’Dea High School is thriving and even as we are sad at having to leave,
we are glad that a new generation of Catholic faculty and administrators has
the commitment, zeal and vision to carry on the work of Catholic
education. Charles graduated from the
school more than 70 years ago and taught there also. Bob Koppes will be joining him later in the
month to be present as Brother in this transition time. He also spent many happy years there, and
returns annually to work in their major fundraiser.
That same Saturday, a dozen or
so Sisters and friends of the Congregation of Holy Faith celebrated a Mass here
in the Pauline Room for a recently departed Sister, Liz Curtis, who had taught
in New Orleans for a number of years.
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| John's Dad always said: "Enunciate clearly." Who knew? |
On Sunday, the Archdiocese of
New Orleans sponsored the Annual Jubilee Celebration of Priests, Sisters, Brothers
and Deacons. Archbishop Gregory Aymond
presided at St. Rita’s Church on Upperline Avenue near Notre Dame Seminary and
the Archbishop’s Residence. We
celebrated 75, 70, 65, 60, 50,40 and 25 years.
There were few present in the higher categories, and among the 25 year
Jubilarians, 10 of the 17 were deacons; 4 were priests, 2 sisters and one
Brother.
There were 24 Golden
Jubilarians; not all attended. John did
the first reading and after the Mass there was, as one would expect, a
wonderful reception with marvelous offerings that included lots of shrimp in
various guises, artichoke balls, mini-muffalettas, etc. When told that, in answer to a question by a
volunteer about what happens at a Jubilee ceremony, one of the Brothers said,
“A longer Mass, but the Archbishop has a knockout reception,” Archbishop Aymond
laughed and said, with some delight, “I’d rather be remembered for that than a
lot of other things.”
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| Erika, John, Lauren and Bob at the reception after the Jubilee Mass on May 4th. |
On a poignant note, it would
have been the 60th Jubilee of ordination to the priesthood for Msgr.
Ignatius M. Roppolo, a friend of the Brothers and of John’s. He also had Parkinson’s for many years; John
and he walked on many Saturday mornings and before he moved to Chateau de Notre
Dame they used to exercise from 5:30 to 6:30 AM at Touro Infirmary three days a
week. He died on Thursday, May 2 and was
buried on Monday the 5th.
John attended his funeral Mass.
Monday, May 5 was the Feastday
of Edmund Rice; we used the Litany of Edmund Rice for Evening Prayer. Then, in honor of Edmund Ignatius Rice, and Msgr. Ignatius
Roppolo, and because it is open on Monday and can provide a gluten free
meal for Lauren, we went to Ignatius
Restaurant on Magazine Street for dinner.
The restaurant is named after the title character in A Confederacy
of Dunces, a picaresque novel by American novelist John Kennedy Toole which appeared in 1980, eleven years after Toole's suicide. Its central character, Ignatius J. Reilly, is
an educated but slothful 30-year-old man living with his mother in the Uptown neighborhood of early-1960s New Orleans
who, in his quest for employment, has various adventures with colorful French
Quarter characters. The Uptown
neighborhood is of course St. Henry’s Parish where we live.
REFLECTIONS from Pope Francis
On Following Christ
"Ours is not a joy born of having many possessions, but from having encountered a Person, Jesus, in our midst; it is born from knowing that with him we are never alone, even at difficult moments, even when our life's journey comes up against problems and obstacles that seem insurmountable, and there are so many of them! And in this moment the enemy, the devil, comes, often disguised as an angel, and slyly speaks his word to us. Do not listen him! Let us follow Jesus!" – Homily, March 24
"Following and accompanying Christ, staying with him, demands 'coming out of ourselves' ... out of a dreary way of living faith that has become a habit, out of the temptation to withdraw into our own plans which end by shutting out God's creative action." – Audience, March 27
"Christ opened the path to us. He is like a roped guide climbing a mountain who, on reaching the summit, pulls us up to him and leads us to God. If we entrust our life to him, if we let ourselves be guided by him, we are certain to be in safe hands, in the hands of our Savior, of our advocate." – Audience, April 17
BLOG 05.11.14
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