Monday Musings--4 June 2012

 

Right now...it is 7-ish and everyone in the house is up.  Well, maybe Sebastian is still abed, as I haven't seen him yet this morning.  I have allergies and am sniffling and constantly on the verge of a sneeze.

This weekend was...exhausting and absolutely wonderful.  On Saturday we went to the ordination of two priests and one deacon at the Chapel of Divine Mercy.  We have seen quite a few ordinations over the years, but this one will stand out in memory.  The weather was perfect--sunny, cool, breezy--as we pulled into the parking lot.  Bret, surrounded by the boys and with Gemma on his back, said good morning to a priest who was getting out of his car and putting on his jacket, and exchanged a few pleasantries.  The priest greeted all the children.  "Are you visiting?" Bret asked him.  "Oh, yes, I am here for the ordinations," he replied, pulling a suitcase from the car.  "Let me help you with that, Father...Father...?"  "Archbishop Kurtz", the gentleman smiled a bit sheepishly, and Bret blushed.  "I'm sorry, I really had no idea what you looked like!"  The good archbishop laughed and walked with us toward the church until he was greeted by some of the priests, with whom we left him and his suitcase.

The three young men being ordained are all wonderful, joyful, humble men who love God above all and who are zealous for His Church.  One in particular made this a special ordination.  When I met him and he was a novice, I really felt that I was supposed to pray for him.  Now, I pray for all the seminarians, but for some reason, I felt called to "adopt" him in prayer.  Then he left The Fathers of Mercy at the end of the the novitiate--not for the seminary, mind you--and I was confused and devastated.  I felt that I had been given this "assignment" and had somehow failed him.  We stayed in touch, and it was obvious that he was still on a spiritual journey, but he had to take care of something before going on.

Then he came back, and went through the novitiate again!  And this time he went on to the seminary, and I was so delighted.  And so seeing him ordained was so incredibly special to me.  I fought tears at the Litany of the Saints, as he and the two other wonderful, young men lay there prostrate before the altar; I fought tears during the vesting; I fought tears afterward, seeing his family beaming as they took numerous photos; and finally I lost the battle and fell apart when he came over to greet me.  At the reception, when the priests were  giving first blessings, I received the most beautiful I have ever received (and I have received a few over the years!).  One of the most moving things I have ever witnessed was the newly ordained Fr. Andy Cravalho giving his own dad a blessing. In fact, I can't even describe it.  Everyone around me was in tears.

Leaving the reception, we had grocery shopping to do, so we went into Bowling Green for that.  We got home at about dinner time, I put a pizza in the oven, unloaded groceries and Sebastian went out to milk.  After dinner, we watched The Third Man from Netflix and I knit.

Of course, I had some protests the next morning when I roused everyone to go to Mass again!  This time it was for Fr. Ken Geraci's Mass of Thanksgiving.  I have never been to one before, as the new priest usually chooses his home parish as the location for it.  We were blessed to have it at the Chapel of Divine Mercy.  The Mass was lovely.  Again, the new priests were giving blessings, and I received one from Fr. Andy and managed to wrangle the whole family together to get a family blessing from Fr. Ken.

We went home to relax and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.  I am still sort of floating above ground on the beauty and joy of this weekend...

Plans for this week:  Alleluia, I made a two-week menu plan, mainly because Una and I will be at a Mother-Daughter retreat this coming weekend at Casa Maria, and I won't be grocery shopping for two weeks.  I need to come up with a cut list for the side of beef we are buying.  The big cleaning chores this week are windows and floors.  I don't have many plans other than school and getting ready to leave this weekend.

If I find time for myself, I would like to...write a couple of actual snail-mail letters...

I am grateful for...beautiful days; a well-stocked pantry; great conversations with my older kids and the silly antics of my younger ones; Holy Orders.

Some prayer intentions for this week:  For my sister and my nephew, Matthew; for a few hours of overtime for Bret to make up for some extra expenses this month (beef being one of them!); for a great retreat and a safe drive down to Alabama, with all things going smoothly for Bret as he takes over for the weekend; for all the intentions of my friend Cindy; for the new priests and deacon, and for wisdom and discernment in planning the next school year, Una's first of high school.

Something that makes me smile:  a very poor candid shot of FATHER Ken Geraci, CPM with Fr. David Wilton, CPM and Father--er--Archbishop Kurtz.

Have a blessed week!