FEBRUARY 2, 2015

Today is the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, and the official day of Prayer for Consecrated Life.  Nary a mention of it yesterday or today at Mass.  Must remember to meditate on the Hidden Life—the first 30 years!  

Introduction to the recent evening for Iona College students.

Menu for dinner announced!

Reflection with Iona College students

I got some pictures of Iona College’s recent visit to us off of Bob’s phone!  Folks seemed to be happy—or were they just hungry and being polite till dinner or dessert showed?

On Saturday, January 31^st, John spent the morning teamed with Sr. Maura O’Donovan, CHF in a presentation about the work of the Burning Bush group.  Burning Bush is a collaboration of  religious who, concerned about peace making in this violent time, share ideas and actions to build peace and support peace makers.

Sr. Maura and Br. John at the Holy Family Motherhouse

The presentation was to an assembly of Sisters of the Holy Family.  Their website notes:  “Twenty years before the Civil War of the United States, and before it was legal for such a Congregation to exist, the Sisters of the Holy Family were founded in New Orleans, Louisiana by Venerable Henriette Delille, a free woman of color.   Co-foundresses of this religious community of African-American women were Juliette Gaudin and Josephine Charles.”

Focus on the screen--you are not getting sleepy--I hope.

Was John taking lunch orders?

There are some smiles?

John worked with the Sisters last year at the Academy of Our Lady on the grounds of their Motherhouse.  That was with the Discovery Walks Program; John is a coach for school leaders seeing to improve the academic life of the school.  This visit was to share on a collaborative program among religious in the Archdiocese of New Orleans reaching out to all concerned about peacemaking.

Sr. Maura gave a series of brief presentations, and John facilitated the groups’ responses.  As in a classroom, ‘pair and share’ enabled all participants to be involved and John took notes on their insights to share with the Burning Bush committee.  The Sisters were an informed, involved group with insights and great wisdom to share.

That evening Bob, Charles [after an afternoon of Offenbach] and John had dinner with Sr. Vera Butler, PBVM and Sr. Enid Storey, PBVM at their home in the Lakeview area of New Orleans, west of City Park.  It was a wonderful evening.

FOR REFLECTION

Venerable Henriette Delille

Henriette applied to join religious life with the Ursuline and Carmelite Sisters, but was refused because she admitted to being of mixed race.

But as other women joined Henriette and her friends,  the community that evolved became known as the Sisters of the Holy Family. In addition to education, the Sisters worked in hospitals, in social work and with the sick elderly. This was at a time in history when educating black people could be punished by prison or even death.

Mother Henriette died in 1862, at the age of only 50. Her only recorded writing was penned in the inside cover of an 1836 prayer book: “I believe in God. I hope in God. I love God. I want to live and die for God.”

Today, her congregation’s more than 200 members operate schools for the poor and homes for the elderly in Louisiana and several other states, as well as in the Central American country of Belize.

Mother Henriette’s sainthood cause was opened in 1988, and the New Orleans archdiocesan investigation was completed in 2005. She is the first native-born Creole whose cause for sainthood has been officially recognized by the Church.  She was declared “venerable” by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

BLOG 02.02.15

JANUARY 2015: LATE AGAIN

I checked previous blogs and it seems much of December and January flash by every year before a new blog appears.  Here we go for 2015!

The Advent Season, as a time of waiting, was much in our hearts and prayer as we spent it this year without volunteers.  There was an emptiness that accompanied us.  As Christmas approached, we put up some decorations in the kitchen where we gather for meals, and the outdoor lights.

 

We did not put up a tree [no one even talked about it] or decorate the dining or living rooms since the volunteers did that, with their friends, in years past.  It served as a reminder to us to redouble our efforts to connect with other groups to let people know of the program.

During the Christmas season, either by telephone calls or cards, we heard from Caitlyn and Vincent, and had a newsy card [a rarity] from Kyle Fischler, now a homeowner in the Denver area.  Kyle finished an MSW in Social Work and is working at the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at National Jewish Health and St. Joseph’s Hospital there.

Catherine Drennan and Nick Roland keep in touch.  Ryan Danaher wed Erin Hodgson of Quincy, Illinois on May 2^nd.  While the wedding took place in Seattle the parties crossed state lines so they could also celebrate in the Midwest.  According to Erin, Ryan’s 30^th was celebrated listening to a group from New Orleans visiting the Pacific Northwest.

John Petrullo has kept in touch and is back from his teaching stint in Spain, and planning to come down and see what might be found in NOLA.  

Erika Enlund writes of a return to the New York area that was quite demanding.  She is pursuing an advanced degree at Parsons School of Design and wondered if she was really up to the demands.  Her 3.8 grade point average seems to indicate that her nervousness [shared with concerned Brothers and Sisters in NOLA] motivated her performance.  Her devoted feline companion, Chichi, passed on after 19 years, and Erika moved to a new place.  Sounds tiring.

For Christmas among the Brothers, John left on December 18 for province business, joining his family in New Jersey on the 23^rd and returning to NOLA on January 2^nd.  Bob left for Minnesota on the 21^st and returned on the 30^th.  [Get him to tell you about accidentally getting off at the first stop on a flight that he was to stay on till the next stop!]  Charles traveled via Atlanta to Jacksonville on Christmas Eve to visit a niece, returning on the 1^st.  During our time away the cat, Karen, was fed by our neighbors, Glenn and Randy, who took in our mail, too.

Our highlight in January has been the visit from Iona College students.  The dozen or so from Iona were joined by three Religious of the Sacred Heart who housed them at Duchesne House [and spoke highly of the group.]  The students talked about Erika and Lauren and their influence; they would not have known TJ Wain as well.  It was a lovely evening.

We also had Sr. Nancy Hale, CHF and Sr. Pauline O’Reilly, CHF for dinner on the 22^nd—we had Bob’s ‘sliders’ after a lovely salad, followed by pound cake with strawberries marinated in crème de cassis.  

No Brother ever starved.

BLOG 01.23.15

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT 2014

Roses in December

We are reviewing the process and procedures, expectations and experience of our Volunteer Program and our recruitment efforts.  Bob Koppes, the Director of the Volunteer Program has been working with John on some ideas.  Last week John met with Sr. Monica Gundler and Kristin Niedbala to discuss developing a survey for past volunteers about the program in New Orleans.  They also surfaced names of groups that might have members who would want to live in community while giving service.  An advisory group who would meet a few times each year is also envisaged.  John reviewed this with Bob on Thursday;  Bob talked about recruitment efforts thus far.

While Bob and Charles continued their work at St. Joseph’s Church and Lantern Light, John visited Pope John Paul II High School in Slidell, Louisiana on Wednesday for a ‘Discovery Walk.’

On Friday John met with Colleen Larocca to invite her and her husband to consider being companions to the Volunteer Program as part of the aforementioned advisory group.  They met at Café Reconcile where Br. Joe Fragala and John Petrullo volunteered at different times. 

 On Saturday we all voted in local elections; then Bob and John worked in the yard.  Bob salvaged an old iron gate and relocated it as a focal point where a path met a blank wall; then he transplanted a tree of unknown type next to it; the tree having outgrown its pot.  Nice effect!

On Sunday, the New Orleans Saints suffered what the newspaper called an ‘Epic Fail.’  An understatement. 

Cat and kumquats

FOR REFLECTION:

"They watch for Christ who are sensitive, eager, apprehensive in mind,
Who are awake, alive, quick-sighted, zealous in honoring him,
Who look for him in all that happens,
And who would not be surprised,
Who would not be over-agitated or overwhelmed,
If they found that he was coming at once.

"This then is to watch:

to be detached from what is present, and
to live in what is unseen;
to live in the thought of Christ as he came once,
and as he will come again;

to desire his second coming,
From our affectionate and grateful remembrance of his first."

                                               John Henry Cardinal Newman

BLOG 12.08.14

ADVENT 2014 BEGINS

"The better to see you with."

On Monday, the 24^th of November, having had so much fun with dermatology, John took on ophthalmology courtesy of Dr. Scott Lanoux and had cataract surgery on his left eye—the right one having been done a decade ago in Washington, DC.  Charles took John to the hospital and brought him home; the next day Bob got John to the doctor for the follow up visit.  The only nuisance is remembering to use the prescribed eye drops every day for weeks.

On Wednesday, Br. Sean Moffett flew in from Brownsville to celebrate Thanksgiving with us and our Brothers from Jackson, MS, Teddy Dausch and John Brennan.  Ted and John arrived on Thanksgiving Day shortly before others arrived.  We were joined by Sisters of the Holy Faith Maura O’Donovan, Nancy Hale and Pauline O’Reilly and Sisters of Charity Monica Gundler, Kelly O’Mahony, Claire Regan and Mary Lex Smith.  The Sisters brought a number of delicious appetizers, main dishes, wine, dessert and a glorious poinsettia.

Aperitif in the Map Room:  Sr. Mary Lex, John Brennan and Sr. Maura O'Donovan

 We work collaboratively and extensively with these women who share our concerns for mission and ministry.  Sisters Nancy and Pauline volunteer at Lantern Light, as does Br. Charles.  They have often helped us as well as being very supportive of volunteers like John Petrullo and Erika Enlund.  Br. John serves on the steering committee of Burning Bush with Sr. Maura O’Donovan and Sr. Claire Regan.  He serves on an Advisory Committee for the House of Charity; Sr. Monica Gundler is a frequent facilitator for our community retreats and reflections and has been a friend and counselor for volunteers.  For all these reasons it was natural to have our Thanksgiving celebration with those who share our vision and values.  The Sisters came for the same reason, and because, as one of them honestly stated: “I never had a man cook a Thanksgiving turkey for me.” 

Chef Bob at work.

  

Pauline, Nancy, Sean, Mary Lex [hidden], Ted, Maura, Charles, John, Kelly [hidden] John B, Claire

For our celebration, we first enjoyed an aperitif [Kir Royales prepared by Sr. Kelly] in the Map Room next to the kitchen where Bob prepared the turkey, dressing and gravy.  We then went to the dining room for prayer composed by Nancy and Pauline.  Serving ourselves from a buffet set out by Srs. Pauline and Monica we managed to consume many new takes on old favorites like cranberry compote made with craisins, and sweet potato casserole based on a recipe from Café Reconcile.  The delicious white wine was a Jubilee gift to John from Caitlyn DeCastro, one of our first volunteers.  After pausing for a few rounds of “Mad Libs” we had ‘Pavlova’ and apple pie, desserts prepared by Sr. Pauline O’Reilly.

Charles' view: Monica, John C, Kelly,John B, Claire [Hidden] Bob, Nancy, Sean, Mary Lex, Ted, Maura

Apple pie and "Pavlova"  -- a little bit of heaven.

On Friday, Sean, Ted and John Brennan were shown around town by Br. Charles, seeing the still sad effects from Katrina.  In the evening, Sean Moffett treated us to dinner at our favorite restaurant, ‘Ignatius’, named for the protagonist in the book CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES which was written by a man from St. Henry’s Parish.  After dinner it was on to ‘Sucré’ for gelato—though our visitor who lived in Rome for many years opted for espresso—gelato isn’t the same outside of Italy—somewhat like what New Orleanians think of Cajun  or Creole food preparation in other places.

On Saturday we bade farewell to our Brother visitors and on Sunday were happy to see a Saints victory and a game played like the team was getting things together.  A good lesson for all as we enter the Advent Season—urged to be awake and aware.

Pavlova--time for your close-up

For reflection:

“Canned food is a perversion,' Ignatius said. 'I suspect that it is ultimately very damaging to the soul.” 

―  John Kennedy Toole, A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES