June 30, 2009

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. What happened to summer? (It’s 56 degrees here right now at 10:15, as I write this.) I guess summer is supposed to be coming back by the weekend.

I went past the Community Gardens the other day. They are looking good.
The potatoes, corn, beans, peas are growing well. The recent rains and heat have helped a lot. And we all know that rain is so much better than water from a hose.

Last week we had 29 Girl Campers here from Tuesday morning until 6 p.m. on Thursday. What a nice group of girls. There were many activities planned to keep them busy. On Wednesday the girls joined the Sisters for our 11 a.m. Mass. The young lady who did the first reading did a superb job, as did the young lady who read the intercessions. They show good leadership qualities for their local parishes. They pitched their tents in Assisi Park—south of the Motherhouse. A couple showers didn’t seem to dampen any spirits. Nineteen Sisters assisted with the camp in various ways. I helped with registration. The west entrance was a very busy place when the girls arrived. It was good. God bless all the girls who came and all those who helped with the camp.

Then on Friday we had the funeral for Sister Clara Schroedl, age 76. She is the last member of her family to die. We were so pleased to see half the Chapel filled with her nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.

My weekend was busy. I was at Christ the King Retreat Center in Buffalo, MN, for the Regional Gathering of the Secular Franciscan Order (SFO). There were 59 of us from MN, IA, WI, NE, ND. There were 14 Spiritual Assistants present. I did a presentation to the Spiritual Assistants Friday afternoon. On Saturday, Sister Nancy Miller, Dubuque, IA, Franciscan Sister, gave wonderful presentations on “Living the Gospel in Your Own Home.” Saturday evening we had a Memorial Service commemorating those of our members who died since our meeting last June. Each Fraternity listed the names of those who had died in the past year. I read the names of our twelve Sisters and three Associates. At Saturday evening’s social hour we honored Tom, who will be moving to MD, after being with his local SFO Fraternity for the past 30 years. God bless you, Tom. In our closing prayer, Sunday, we had special prayers to close the Year of St. Paul. As we were leaving Sunday noon, we noticed the nest of baby barn swallows on the post of the overhang in front of the building. The mother bird came past with lunch for her young, but there were too many of us watching, so she did not stick around very long. It was so great to see those five little mouths wide open. (I was too slow with my camera to get that picture.)

Yesterday our two novices left to return to Mexico. Sister Isa has been living at our house the past three months. Sister Isa cooked some delicious Mexican meals for us.

Have a safe 4th of July. I am planning on going to the West Union 2 p.m. parade, on the 4th. All are welcome to come for the parade. After the parade there is a pot luck meal in the city park. Let us pray for good weather for the parade and meal.

As I am writing this, I am listening to Party Line on the radio. The guests on today’s program are talking about the St. Francis All School Reunion, July 18 and 19. It is a very interesting program. The reunion will be a BIG deal. There are over 500 registered so far. On the 17th there will be a reunion for the nurses who graduated from the Breckenridge School of Nursing.

God bless you.
Sister Mary Lou

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June 22, 3009

What a whirlwind of activity these past ten days. (I wonder how many meals were served. God bless the dietary staff. They outdid themselves each day.) There were hopes that things would quiet down a bit after our busy week of Community Days and Jubilee celebrations. Think again.

Yesterday we celebrated Jubilees for our two 75 and two 25 year members. The Mass was outstanding with the great singing and music of various instruments. We had about 500 quests here for the day. WOW!

This coming week we have the Girls Camp activities. We are expecting 29 girls (grades 6-8). They will be here Tuesday through Thursday. We are praying that the weather will cooperate. But plans B and C are ready in case of rainy and stormy weather. Today a big tent goes up as shelter from the sun and rain.

Then, also, this week the Bloodmobile will be here Wednesday through Friday. The hours the first two days are 1:30 – 7:30 p.m. And on Friday the hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. I hope we have a good turnout. Generally the numbers of donors are smaller in the summer drives. I hope this is wrong this year.

Now to some reflections on the past week.

Yesterday there were seven Brainerd Fioretti Fraternity Secular Franciscan members here to celebrate with Sister Nancy on her 25th Jubilee.

The entertainment last Thursday evening was the little operetta on Brother Juniper. The actors were marvelous and the singing was great. They had only one practice. We laughed a lot. It is believed that the play was first (and last) put on in about 1953-‘54. That would have been when I was in the novitiate, but I don’t remember it.

Last Friday was the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is the patronal feast of our Chapel. The Eucharistic Liturgy was special.
Here are a few pictures from the week.

Last evening and night we received about 9/10s inch of rain. Thank you, God. And thanks for protecting us from storms. Lord, send helpers to assist those who were in storm areas.

The rain the past couple days, didn’t seem to affect the city Dam Festival activities too much. The only thing I participated in was to watch the beautiful fireworks display on Saturday evening.

This afternoon six participants in the Saint John’s Youth in Theology and Ministry (YTM) program gave a presentation in what they’ve done in the past year. What marvelous projects these high school students did. Last summer they attended classes then during the school year picked and worked at a project in their parish. These students worked to help create youth groups in their parishes. I am so pleased to see the poise and confidence with which these youth spoke and presented the results of their work. The program seeks to develop youth leadership in parishes. It is working.

Pax et Bonum (Peace and all goodness.)
Sister Mary Lou

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