Let us be grateful for the many blessings that are ours every day

My eyes almost popped out of my head when I went past the rain gauge this morning. When I came past it last night after supper we had 2 inches of rain in it. This morning it had 4 inches. I am sure many plants are smiling in thanksgiving for this great gift from God. Lots of people were happy about the rain, also. I am thanking God for the rain. We needed it.

Tuesday noon several of us were invited to have lunch on a pontoon ride on the Mississippi River. What a peaceful, relaxing way to spend a couple hours on a perfect-weather day.

Last Wednesday was the Green Fair Folk Festival on the west parking lot of the Convent. Care of Creation is important to the Franciscan sisters, therefore, in 2007a Campus Green Committee was formed with a mission to educate on environmental issues and “green” the campus in every way possible. So, some interesting points to remember: We sold 550 slices of peanut butter and jelly bread. We used 30 pounds of popcorn, 200 gallons of water were given away and we used 6 pounds of peanut butter and 6 pounds of jelly, The campus tour on a horse-drawn wagon was VERY popular. There were 7 U-Rock bands (28 students participated.) There were more education vendors letting us know how to better care for the earth. The “face-painter” was outstanding. Designs were intricate and beautiful. I’m sure some kids didn’t want to wash their faces before going to bed! We had about 1,200 guests for the evening. The weather was perfect and the necessary clean-up was finished before 9:30 p.m. With lots of people helping, clean-up goes fast. Next year’s date is August 9, 2015.

Last Friday we had the Commissioning Mass for the new Franciscan Community Volunteers: Breanna Wegner is from Wells, MN and will be working at St. Benedict Sr. Center/STRIDE Academy, Kevin Trettel is from Jordan, MN and will be at Place of Hope Homeless Program, Kristen Wall from Rochester, MN and will be working at Casa Guadalupe, and Shaina Lawrence, from Tehachapi, CA., will be working at the Boys and Girl Club-Southside. We wish you well in your volunteer services and thank you for your service to these non-profit programs. Three pillars of the program are: Community, Spirituality and Service.

Sister Joel Bieniek celebrated her 97th Birthday on Sunday, the 10th, and Sister Bernarda Sanoski will celebrate her 98 Birthday on the 15th. Congratulations, Sisters. You’ve influenced a lot of people in those many years.

We celebrated the 25th and 50th Jubilarians on Sunday, the 10th: Sister Mary Hroscikoski, Sister Mary Dumonceaux, Sister Beatrice Eichten, Sister Sharon Fitzpatrick, Sister Carol Virnig. It was a wonderful celebration, congratulations to each of them.

On Sunday, August 24th, we will celebrate Sister Marie Theis’ 75th Anniversary as a Franciscan Sister and Sister Fabian Schneider’s, 80th Jubilee as a Franciscan Sister. Again, Congratulations.

We have a one-day blood drive scheduled for august 28th.

Peace and blessing. Let us be grateful for the many blessings that are ours every day.

Sister Mary Lou