LENT TO EASTER 2014

This is a look back at the last two weeks

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On April 6, John left for the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers School Leadership Meetings in Salinas, California at Palma High School where the Brothers have ministered since the 1950’s.  Br. Dennis Dunne, who joined the same time as John [1964] has been principal there for almost three decades and has done an outstanding job.  The participants, heads of schools and chairs of boards of directors,  stayed at the Monterey Plaza Hotel; it is a beautiful spot with broad plazas overlooking Monterey Bay and a welcoming staff, elegant accommodations and wonderful food.  The meetings arranged by the Office of Educational Services [Srs. Ona Bessette, CND and Grace D’Amico, SSND] were appropriate, interactive, and helpful with several excellent guest speakers and participants from Uruguay, Argentina, Canada and across the United States.  Technology permitted one guest speaker to address and interact with the group through SKYPE!

"But first they took a selfie"

While John was away, it was not all work and no play.  On Tuesday, before his departing dust settled, Erika and Lauren convinced Br. Bob and Br. Charles to leave the security of hearth and home and venture out to Oak Street and a place called “TruBurger.”  They were lured by the promise of a discount for Americorps volunteers which the girls got for them too.  The accompanying “selfie” was thought appropriate since even Pope Francis and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have endorsed the practice.  [What next?]

John returned on the 11^th, French Quarter Fest [a free festival on the streets of the Quarter] ensued, and  Lauren Zanfardino’s family arrived in New Orleans.  Lauren stayed with them, and while we did not see them, the reports are she had every minute planned and despite rain and storm, they saw everything on the list. 

 

On the 15^th of April, Bob celebrated the 53^rd anniversary of his 18^th birthday with Erika, John and Charles, [Lauren was at the airport—storms delayed her family’s departure.]  Bob insisted on cooking himself—it involve rib eye steak, 500 degree oven, black pans, searing, and a brief time in a hot oven—anyway, the baked potatoes were wonderful, the sautéed onions sweet and savory, and the steaks—perfection.   Charles is still sighing in contentment.  Bob’s birthday present was a gift card to Home Depot.  When Erika questioned the appropriateness of the gift, Bob assured her: “It’s a big boys toy store.”

The birthday was a brief departure during Holy Week—and as the Zanfardino’s left, Erika Enlunds parents arrived.  Erika stayed with her parents, Lauren was off with a friend, so the Brothers were ‘home alone’ during the Triduum.  It was a quiet, meditative time for them.

On Easter Sunday everyone came together for a lovely brunch at the House of Charity on Cambronne Street with Sr. Monica Gundler and Sr. Claire Regan hosting ourselves, the Enlunds, Holy Faith, Dominican and Presentation Sisters.  John came home with a new recipe for scones.  Easter Sunday dinner was a feast prepared by Erika’s parents, Erik and Joanne, and we were all home, joined by Lauren’s pal, Hillary, a librarian at Lauren’s school.

On the 21^st, John leaves for Pittsburgh for the NCEA convention for Catholic educators—wondering what will transpire at 4219 Constance while he is away this time.

REFLECTION:

We Brothers and our volunteer companions are much involved in charitable work and we tire ourselves out doing things, but we try to keep in mind why we do it.  It is about Jesus, and our relationship with him.  As Pope Francis said:

 “We can walk as much as we want, we can build many things, but if we do not profess Jesus Christ, things go wrong. We may become a charitable NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of the Lord.”

Pope Francis, in this address, before his election to the Chair of Peter, spoke of sacrifice to his brother priests but the words apply to us all.

“Walking, building-constructing, professing: the thing, however, is not so easy, because in walking, in building, in professing, there are sometimes shake-ups - there are movements that are not part of the path: there are movements that pull us back.

This Gospel continues with a special situation. The same Peter who confessed Jesus Christ, says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. I will follow you, but let us not speak of the Cross. This has nothing to do with it.” He says, “I’ll follow you on other ways that do not include the Cross.” When we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, and when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are worldly; we are bishops, priests, cardinals, Popes, but not disciples of the Lord.”

BLOG 04.21.14

FIRST WEEK OF APRIL 2014

Our front lawn at the beginning of the Fete for Ecole Bilingue on April 5, part of which was held on our grounds.

The week was a bit sketchy as to meal times; due to appointments, yoga classes and the occasional headache, we were only all together for dinner on Monday night for a wonderful Charles Avendano slow cooker meal—healthy and savory. 

Lauren left on Friday the 4^th for a weekend in Chicago at a board meeting for a group she has been working with.  She had an early flight on Friday but was quiet as a mouse leaving for the airport—she returns on Sunday the 6^th.

On Saturday the 5^th John went to a Lenten Morning of Reflection sponsored by the Marianite Sisters of the Holy Cross, led by Sr. Kathleen Nealon in reflection on how we might deepen our relationship to God, each other and all creation. While there he met Sr. Teresa Daly, DC who now lives in New Orleans; previously she was head of the Vincentian Volunteer Program.  There are no coincidences, only God incidences.  After 7 years, it is about time this volunteer program reviews our handbooks and practices; and who does John sit down next to?  “Say, Sister, we have a volunteer program . . .”

April 5^th was a busy day, all day, at 4219 Constance.  We had offered our neighbors, Ecole Bilingue, the use of our grounds for their annual Fete; it is a major fundraiser for them and our lawns could really be a help.  The weather all week was increasingly sunny and warm; but predictions for the weekend were dire—thunderstorms all day on Saturday.  The day dawned overcast and cool but luckily the rain did not come until 5 PM and it was grand to see the transformation that took place.  The parents at this French immersion school did a wonderful job setting up; and there was music, pony rides, clowns, more music, and great food.  Next year maybe we’ll convince them to give us some free tickets to sample the food!  “Let us eat crepes...!” 

It's an interpretation if the Eiffel Tower.

 

 VIEWS FROM OUR BALCONY--and that is only a half of it!  This was around Noon; it was packed later on!

 

And pony rides!

BLOG 04.04.14

APRIL 2014 BEGINS and a movie review

Br. Patrick Sopher, CSC, Executive Director for Planning for the Congregation of the Holy Cross, headquartered in Rome, stayed with the community from March 26 through the 28th while visiting Holy Cross High School here in New Orleans.  He is a close friend of Br. Charles Avendano and knows our Brothers well having served as school administrator and in province leadership for the Holy Cross Brothers before his current assignment in Rome. 

Br. Patrick Sopher, CSC and Br. Charles Avendano, CFC

On Wednesday, Erika was able to join us for dinner and on Thursday, Lauren was with us.  Brother Patrick left us Friday morning before a torrential downpour washed out a carefully planned fish fry that was to be a major fundraiser for Lantern Light Ministries, where Charles and Erika work.  It poured all day long; the local parish fish fry for Good Shepherd Parish held downstairs at our house, was also doused—only a third of the regular crowd showed up.

Saturday, March 29, dawned cool and overcast, by noon it was cloudless, sunny, and mild.  Br. Bob and John went out and spent the day digging and pruning respectively—we have only faint hopes that our hibiscus may come back.  Lauren and Erika volunteered to help a group starting up a Saturday arts market in an area called Mid-City.  The only drawback was that the location was a morass of mud.  But the crowd seemed to enjoy themselves.

Sunday was another lovely day.  John took the bus to Canal Street and saw the movie:  THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL.  Most of the reviews focus on the cinematic style of the writer/director Wes Anderson.  However, one always comes at something like this from one’s own frame of reference and John saw it as someone reflecting on the past 50 years as his Golden Jubilee approaches.  What moved him was that which moved the reviewer quoted on the website ‘Den of Geek’ who wrote: “The Grand Budapest Hotel intricately examines the prisms of nostalgia that deceptively bind all things together. By its definition, nostalgia imagines a world more perfect than the present due to forced perspective…”

You can't get there from here.

Many of the reviews talk about the wonderful actors and the intricate movement of plot and outrageous characterizations, but there is another aspect which is the reminiscence of the current hotel owner, Mr. Moustafa, as told to another, who retells it, probably shaped by his own illusions and delusions.  Central to the story is the relationship of Mr. Moustafa, beginning when he is a young lobby boy, and Monsieur Gustave, a ‘member of the international concierge elite” who eventually inherits the hotel and in turn leaves it to Mr. Moustafa.  In the beginning, Mr. Moustafa, tellingly named Zero, is a stateless, homeless, wide-eyed yet observant and eager lobby boy who becomes an apprentice to and later a friend and admirer of the outlandish Monsieur Gustave.  Through all the adventures Zero sees the noble and the earthly aspects of his formator, and chooses to accept the good and overlook much.  Of course, all these reminiscences are shaped by Zero Moustafa’s frame of reference, and then by those who retell the story.  But, as Glenn Kenny’s review in RogerEbert.com says: “As much as "The Grand Budapest Hotel" takes on the aspect of a cinematic confection, it does so to grapple with the very raw and, yes, real stuff of humanity from an unusual but highly illuminating angle. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is a movie about the masks we conjure to suit our aspirations, and the cost of keeping up appearances. "He certainly maintained the illusion with remarkable grace," one character remarks admiringly of another near the end of the movie. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" suggests that sometimes, as a species, that's the best we can do. Anderson the illusion-maker is more than graceful, he's dazzling, and with this movie he's created an art-refuge that consoles and commiserates. It's an illusion, but it's not a lie.”

At the end of the movie, Mr. Moustafa is asked, as the hotel, now faded and shabby, approaches its end, why he stays there.  He says something like: “I was happy here.  For a brief time I lived here with my wonderful wife and that makes it special.”  And in another point someone says: “Perhaps what we were doing was out of date even when we were living according to those standards of decency and elegance, but we did it well and we had fun and it was good.”

With Mr. Moustafa, there is recognition of nobility and courage even when it seems brutality and cruelty rage about, appreciation of  character, as when Monsieur Gustave apologizes for outrageous and rude behavior to Zero, fidelity to the good and a bit of style even in reduced circumstances, as in the meal Zero orders for himself and his interviewer at the beginning of the movie.  All these are central to Zero—they are the way he chooses to remember his mentor, his wife, his life—embroidered, of course, with his own interpretations of the characters and events that enliven the tapestry that is the backdrop of his life.  As Francine Stock said at the end of her March 8, 2014 review in the British Catholic magazine, THE TABLET, “The Grand Budapest Hotel is finally a film about courage and loyalty.”

And again, as Glenn Kenny noted:“ Anderson the illusion-maker is more than graceful, he's dazzling, and with this movie he's created an art-refuge that consoles and commiserates. It's an illusion, but it's not a lie.”  Is it not interesting to hear two people recount an event and find the perceptions, conclusions, attributions, even the words heard and definitely the interpretation given, are so different.  When we look back over events of our lives, our interpretations so often are framed by our references, or needs, or hopes. Perhaps illusions but not lies.  Hopefully, courage and loyalty have played a part even in our seemingly relativistic age.

FOR REFLECTION

God did not spare his only Son, and God is not going to be soft on his adopted ones either.

[The Hermitage Within, quoted in A LENTEN SOURCE BOOK, Liturgical Training Publications, 1990]

BLOG 04.01.14