Well I cannot believe its almost a month since the last post - so here goes.
After we recovered from Hurricane Sandy I had a few weeks without Ginni while she worked at Hospice to earn us a few dollars. I cranked out two weeks of CCD for our grade 7-8 and 9-12 classes. These are by far the most challenging and this year 9-12 has been difficult. For them, this would be the first of a two year program to prep for Confirmation. Well to say attendance is poor is an understatement and we eventually had a parents/student meeting. Well, while the parents can't help teach they sure can discipline! They were all unaware the kids were skipping and I think the hammer came down pretty heavy.
With that said, beating the children so they will come to religion classes is not the goal I wanted. I have mentioned before in this blog that beating the children is acceptable in the Bahamas. I have actually been told I should be beating them when they act up - tempting but no.
Anyway, we put together a Confirmation Contract. Children that don't want to be there shouldn't. Confirmation is, after all, the 'adult' decision of the child to live the baptismal promises made for them as children. If they don't want to live as a Catholic Christian that is their choice. On the other hand, there are some real issues about the maturity of these kids. Another option is to just delay a year for this crowd. Time will tell how this shakes out.
Mid November was Pastoral Day. A monthly event when all Bahamian clergy meets together in Nassau for a teaching, community, prayer, and share a meal. This month the speaker was the Prison Chaplain sharing about his ministry. Prison life in the Bahamas is a very hard life. US Prisons are a resort compared to life in a Bahamian Prison. He was very informative and entertaining at the same time - lots of anecdotes that helped us see challenges of his ministry and things to be cautious of when visiting. Fortunately for me, I have only had one or two parishioners get arrested and held in the prison in Nassau. Visiting was 'interesting' when compared to the Minimum Security Prison at Pondville in MA where I would do Saturday night liturgies and provide Spiritual Direction for prisoners. You really don't want to be incarcerated in Nassau.
After lunch Ginni and I ran errands all over Nassau - she is a great navigator with a map on her lap. She really doesn't deal with the traffic and narrow roads too well so having a map to distract her is a good thing. Later in the afternoon we met the Archbishop for our annual review. We covered alot, much more than I could type here but suffice it to say he seems pleased with us and we are here for another year (at least).
With our building a new church in North Andros it really does feel like we are here for several years more to establish a community there and grow it. Speaking of construction - we actually have 3 projects all going at the same time. In North Andros is the new church dedicated to Our Lady of Hope. Its a 30x30 chapel, just four walls and a roof, but even that is $30,000. I have begged for just over half and will borrow the balance from an old savings account of the parish. It really isn't borrowing but I want to replace whatever we take over time. This past week I delivered the plans to the Dept of Public Works and hope to hear about them scheduling a planning meeting in a week or two. Once we have permits we can break ground.
The second project is in Behring Point. This is an abandoned church that was actually the very first Catholic Church built on the family islands. This property has 3 buildings, the church, the rectory and the bakery. The first missionary here, Fr. Gabriel Roerig, OSB (a saint in my mind) built all from scratch. The rectory is a 2 story building with the 2nd floor now collapsed into the 1st. The church is structurally sound, but termites have eaten the roof, opening a hole on one side. I have eliminated the termites but the damage is done and a new roof is more than I can afford. The bakery, however, has a tin roof that is rusted out, and no windows and doors. For about $5000 I can tear down the old roof and put up a new one, reframe the windows and doors, and viola I have a small school house. Right now the kids sit in the other church on that end of the island and then kneel on the floor and use the pews as desks to do their classwork. Restoring the building will give us a place with tables and chairs, and preserve the church as the sacred space it is. Right now we still can't afford electricity or a toilet but this will do for a start. On the toilet issue I am looking at 'composting toilets' that need no water or electric. They are designed for mountain cabins or RV's. The separate liquid waste from solid, with the solid being converted into usable compost over a month or so. One of the engineers at the AUTEC Navy base is looking into their feasibility. An $800 composting toilet would beat a $2000 septic system hands down (especially since we don't have $2000).
The third project is the church windows here in Fresh Creek. They are those crank-out style windows and the salt air just eats the mechanisms that work them. Right now I can't open the windows that are closed and close the windows frozen open. We were able to get a good price on vinyl double hung windows and, if all goes well, they should be installed by Christmas. It is not a problem now, but we will need to open the windows next summer. Last summer was brutal - we have no AC and on those 100 degree days its tough. Having services at 8:30 AM is what got us through.
So - facilities and CCD are keeping me jumping. BUT it doesn't end there. One of the priests on Abaco, another family island, has asked me to do a parish mission during Advent. Right now I am knee deep in pulling three talks together for that one in mid-DEC. With the Pope declaring this the Year of Faith I am using the movie THE NATIVITY to explore Advent Faith. The movie came out a few years ago but Bahamians have no opportunity to go to the movies so this will be a treat. Using the movie to explore the faith of Herod, the Magi, Mary and Joseph, et. al. is my challenge - keep that one in your prayers.
Oh - here's one more - while we were in Nassau someone broke into the church van and stole my Leatherman (a multi-tool tool with pliers, knife, screw drivers, etc.) and a tire pressure gauge I use. Our road here are so bad my tires take a beating (I've changed 6 flats since we've been here and bought an air pump that runs off the cigarette lighter). Anyway - I am having a day when the kids are giving me grief at CCD, donations are down as people start buying for Christmas, and then we discover the break in. I was not a happy camper having my own pity party. So I come inside the house after doing morning prayer in the church and Ginni says, "God is so good"! It turns out that while I was in the church a man from Georgia calls. He has been reading the blog and will be visiting Andros in December and wanted to know if there was anything he could bring to help us out. Amazing how God works. So he is bringing me a new Leatherman, another tire pressure gauge, and maybe even some blankets to help our Haitian community up north. (Jan and Feb can get down to 50's at night, a killer for the folks in the shanty town). So, once again, when I get blinded by the darkness of all the 'stuff' that gets thrown at us - God opens a window and lets the light shine just a little brighter.
Oh - and one more - a man from Germany emailed me. He is reading the blog and learned about the Saturday morning AA meeting at that other church we renovated a year or so ago. He is in AA and doesn't trust himself to go on vacation to a place without AA and he wanted to confirm it is still going (which it is). So, he is coming on vacation in 2013 to enjoy our world class bonefishing. So this blog is doing more than I ever imaged - Praise God.
Till next time
Friday, November 30, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
Hamptons to a Hurricane
Hello again my friends
Well, if you follow this blog you know that we took a few weeks off to fly home and celebrate our son Mike's wedding to a wonderful woman (Catherine) in the Hamptons. Suffice it to say it was a glorious event. The wedding was at Holy Trinity parish in East Hampton and from the rehearsal, to the rehearsal dinner, the wedding itself and the reception everything was perfect. It was great to see all the extended family once again and to have time with old friends once more.
I was able to share a little about our experiences here in the homily, and when I shared privately with some folks that we are trying to rebuild a church in North Andros that has been closed for 50 years several folks offered to donate! The cost for Our Lady of Hope will be a bit over $30,000 when all is done and in other trips home to the US I have already brought back a little over $15,000 so, once I return, we can actually break ground and start construction. I will be meeting the Archbishop the 3rd week of November and I should confirm with him our ability to borrow the balance. Anyone reading this that wants to donate can send checks payable to THE ARCHDIOCESE OF NASSAU FOUNDATION and mail them to:
Deacon Frank Tremblay
St John Chrysostom
Fresh Creek
Andros Bahamas
-or if you ADD A NOTE that its for our ministry on Andros you can mail checks directly to the Archdiocese of Nassau at-
Archdiocese of Nassau
PO Box N8187
Nassau
Bahamas
For tax purposes the Tax ID # is 11-379-8061 (what a great way to get that year-end deduction)
Anyway - back to the wedding.
After a wonderful celebration Ginni and I had settled in at our son Joe's home in Sag Harbor. I was checking my Facebook account when I saw a friend (from Hawaii) commenting on a pending storm in the Bahamas. Well I jump onto weather.com and there is hurricane Sandy with Andros right in the middle of its projected track. I was scheduled to fly back on Friday and the storm was projected to hit on Friday. Well, we are a hurricane shelter and I knew I needed to get back early. We called Jet Blue and had a rather funny conversation with the reservation clerk as we changed my flight from Friday to Wednesday. You see, all the Bahamian islands beyond Nassau are called the family islands. During the conversation Ginni was having a friendly conversation with the reservation lady and talked about having to fly into Nassau early afternoon to catch the small plane that leaves at 4PM for Andros. She said, 'to get to the family islands you have to go through Nassau' and the Jet Blue lady says 'Gee, if you have your own family island in the Bahamas why are you flying Jet Blue'. We got a chuckle out of that one.
Anyway - I did get back on Wednesday and the wind was blowing pretty bad but I had time to put the hurricane shutters up on the sea side of the church (our church building is on a 10' cliff right on the sea). With that done I loaded up the van with our empty water bottles and headed off to AUTEC to get drinking water for the duration of the storm. (Our tap water is not drinkable so we go to the US NAVY AUTEC Base where there is a public faucet to get drinking water. Just when I had filled the last of my bottles the sky opens up and the rain is blowing sideways. I get into the van, totally drenched, and it wouldn't start.
All I could get was a buzz when I turned the key so I knew I had a problem with the starter but what a time to have it!
I was able to get to the guard at the front gate of AUTEC who let me use a phone to call for a ride. One of my parishioners came and I grabbed one 5 gallon bottle of water and he took me back to the church. Now the van is pretty much going to have to stay at AUTEC throughout the storm while I honker down at the church. Social Services came by with hurricane supplies for us, as a shelter, and the Clinic sent over medical supplies, so I was set for the night.
Well it blew and blew and the rain was fierce, but being located on the cliff we get a much more severe beating than the people in town. Ultimately the storm track was East of us. While we took a hit nobody had to come to the shelter and Andros was spared. Cat Island and Long Island took it on the chin.
Once it passed I called a parishioner who is a mechanic who worked on the van for 2 days and figured out that the starter was OK but the battery was bad and wouldn't even hold a charge. Now I need a battery. Can you believe I could not find a battery anywhere on the island? A saying on the island is, if you don't have it and you can't find it, you don't need it. That sums up island life pretty well.
Well with that said, I did need it - with the passing of the storm came the weekend and there are a number of people who count on the van to get to church. The solution came from an unlikely source. The owner of the grocery store told me she just bought a new battery for her truck, but her truck needs brakes, so if I wanted, I could use that battery for a week. So I plug her battery into the van - the garage orders a battery from Nassau - and a week later I put that new battery into the van and return the one I borrowed (whew).
Meanwhile -
In addition to the new church in North Andros, another project here is to restore an abandoned church in Behring Point. This is the southern most part of the island and, coincidentally, it is the very first Catholic Church built in the family islands. While I cannot afford to restore the church building I can afford to restore a small building that had been a bakery. Before I left I had hired someone to clear the lot that had been reclaimed by the bush and they did a great job. This small building will work out just fine as a school house to teach the children religious ed classes. Right now, at this end of the island the kids hear the lesson then, kneel on the floor and use the benches as desks to do their papers. Restoring this building will give them a place with tables and chairs and a much better learning environment.
While the landscaping went well, the construction was impacted by the storm, and now the builder is pointing out a few things I didn't include in his work order. (Since we only meet an hour a day I had not include a toilet and, since we meet during the day, I had not included lights) Well, putting 10 kids anywhere and you will eventually need a toilet so we are haggling around how to deal with this. I should point out that this site has no running water or electricity. Originally, they used a latrine, or a pit, as a toilet. It is still there but not the best (or legal) solution by today's standards. A toilet, a septic system, etc. adds $2,000 I don't have so I am looking at alternatives (possibly a waterless composting toilet like you would see in an RV or on a boat). The jury is still out on this one.
So 3 weeks after I return, I am joined by my lovely wife who dealt with Sandy while in Massachusetts. Gin put in some time as a nurse to earn a few bucks to keep our head above water. I am hoping that with her return (and the return of our camera) I will be able get some pics for you of the wedding and the renovations in Behring Point.
I should mention that, while at the wedding I did receive $2500 from friends at the wedding. With that I can now start the new church in North Andros. Hopefully we will break ground in a week or so and I will share those pics too.
Well enough for now, much to do to get ready for weekend services and an all morning session on Saturday with our Primary School kids. Keep us in your prayers.
Well, if you follow this blog you know that we took a few weeks off to fly home and celebrate our son Mike's wedding to a wonderful woman (Catherine) in the Hamptons. Suffice it to say it was a glorious event. The wedding was at Holy Trinity parish in East Hampton and from the rehearsal, to the rehearsal dinner, the wedding itself and the reception everything was perfect. It was great to see all the extended family once again and to have time with old friends once more.
I was able to share a little about our experiences here in the homily, and when I shared privately with some folks that we are trying to rebuild a church in North Andros that has been closed for 50 years several folks offered to donate! The cost for Our Lady of Hope will be a bit over $30,000 when all is done and in other trips home to the US I have already brought back a little over $15,000 so, once I return, we can actually break ground and start construction. I will be meeting the Archbishop the 3rd week of November and I should confirm with him our ability to borrow the balance. Anyone reading this that wants to donate can send checks payable to THE ARCHDIOCESE OF NASSAU FOUNDATION and mail them to:
Deacon Frank Tremblay
St John Chrysostom
Fresh Creek
Andros Bahamas
-or if you ADD A NOTE that its for our ministry on Andros you can mail checks directly to the Archdiocese of Nassau at-
Archdiocese of Nassau
PO Box N8187
Nassau
Bahamas
For tax purposes the Tax ID # is 11-379-8061 (what a great way to get that year-end deduction)
Anyway - back to the wedding.
After a wonderful celebration Ginni and I had settled in at our son Joe's home in Sag Harbor. I was checking my Facebook account when I saw a friend (from Hawaii) commenting on a pending storm in the Bahamas. Well I jump onto weather.com and there is hurricane Sandy with Andros right in the middle of its projected track. I was scheduled to fly back on Friday and the storm was projected to hit on Friday. Well, we are a hurricane shelter and I knew I needed to get back early. We called Jet Blue and had a rather funny conversation with the reservation clerk as we changed my flight from Friday to Wednesday. You see, all the Bahamian islands beyond Nassau are called the family islands. During the conversation Ginni was having a friendly conversation with the reservation lady and talked about having to fly into Nassau early afternoon to catch the small plane that leaves at 4PM for Andros. She said, 'to get to the family islands you have to go through Nassau' and the Jet Blue lady says 'Gee, if you have your own family island in the Bahamas why are you flying Jet Blue'. We got a chuckle out of that one.
Anyway - I did get back on Wednesday and the wind was blowing pretty bad but I had time to put the hurricane shutters up on the sea side of the church (our church building is on a 10' cliff right on the sea). With that done I loaded up the van with our empty water bottles and headed off to AUTEC to get drinking water for the duration of the storm. (Our tap water is not drinkable so we go to the US NAVY AUTEC Base where there is a public faucet to get drinking water. Just when I had filled the last of my bottles the sky opens up and the rain is blowing sideways. I get into the van, totally drenched, and it wouldn't start.
All I could get was a buzz when I turned the key so I knew I had a problem with the starter but what a time to have it!
I was able to get to the guard at the front gate of AUTEC who let me use a phone to call for a ride. One of my parishioners came and I grabbed one 5 gallon bottle of water and he took me back to the church. Now the van is pretty much going to have to stay at AUTEC throughout the storm while I honker down at the church. Social Services came by with hurricane supplies for us, as a shelter, and the Clinic sent over medical supplies, so I was set for the night.
Well it blew and blew and the rain was fierce, but being located on the cliff we get a much more severe beating than the people in town. Ultimately the storm track was East of us. While we took a hit nobody had to come to the shelter and Andros was spared. Cat Island and Long Island took it on the chin.
Once it passed I called a parishioner who is a mechanic who worked on the van for 2 days and figured out that the starter was OK but the battery was bad and wouldn't even hold a charge. Now I need a battery. Can you believe I could not find a battery anywhere on the island? A saying on the island is, if you don't have it and you can't find it, you don't need it. That sums up island life pretty well.
Well with that said, I did need it - with the passing of the storm came the weekend and there are a number of people who count on the van to get to church. The solution came from an unlikely source. The owner of the grocery store told me she just bought a new battery for her truck, but her truck needs brakes, so if I wanted, I could use that battery for a week. So I plug her battery into the van - the garage orders a battery from Nassau - and a week later I put that new battery into the van and return the one I borrowed (whew).
Meanwhile -
In addition to the new church in North Andros, another project here is to restore an abandoned church in Behring Point. This is the southern most part of the island and, coincidentally, it is the very first Catholic Church built in the family islands. While I cannot afford to restore the church building I can afford to restore a small building that had been a bakery. Before I left I had hired someone to clear the lot that had been reclaimed by the bush and they did a great job. This small building will work out just fine as a school house to teach the children religious ed classes. Right now, at this end of the island the kids hear the lesson then, kneel on the floor and use the benches as desks to do their papers. Restoring this building will give them a place with tables and chairs and a much better learning environment.
While the landscaping went well, the construction was impacted by the storm, and now the builder is pointing out a few things I didn't include in his work order. (Since we only meet an hour a day I had not include a toilet and, since we meet during the day, I had not included lights) Well, putting 10 kids anywhere and you will eventually need a toilet so we are haggling around how to deal with this. I should point out that this site has no running water or electricity. Originally, they used a latrine, or a pit, as a toilet. It is still there but not the best (or legal) solution by today's standards. A toilet, a septic system, etc. adds $2,000 I don't have so I am looking at alternatives (possibly a waterless composting toilet like you would see in an RV or on a boat). The jury is still out on this one.
So 3 weeks after I return, I am joined by my lovely wife who dealt with Sandy while in Massachusetts. Gin put in some time as a nurse to earn a few bucks to keep our head above water. I am hoping that with her return (and the return of our camera) I will be able get some pics for you of the wedding and the renovations in Behring Point.
I should mention that, while at the wedding I did receive $2500 from friends at the wedding. With that I can now start the new church in North Andros. Hopefully we will break ground in a week or so and I will share those pics too.
Well enough for now, much to do to get ready for weekend services and an all morning session on Saturday with our Primary School kids. Keep us in your prayers.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
We're up and running
Well its been awhile so I thought I should try to catch you up on what's happening here.
Ginni has returned in good health and we have hi hopes the gall bladder surgery will correct all the health issues she had been having.
In SEP we had our monthly trip to Nassau and the Archbishop has arranged a wonderful presentation on the Year of Faith that Pope Benedict will initiate in OCT. It turns out that the video they presented to us as an example of something that could be shown to parishioners is one I already have and am in the process of evaluating. The Military Archdiocese had sent it to the AUTEC Navy Base - so I am a bit ahead of everyone else here. If you have seen the Fr. Barron series on CATHOLICISM shown on EWTN - that is it.
The other item of note is the Archbishop gave us the final go-ahead for construction projects we wanted to do and an imaginative way of funding them I had suggested. The big one is the construction of a new church in N.Andros. This is a $30K job and I have begged and pleaded to reach $15K. I can borrow the balance from a parish account the Archdiocese manages. I also need to replace the church windows the the sea air has now made inoperable (that's another 5K), and I want to restore another abandoned building to have a class room in the southern end of the island. This is another $5-7K but what is exciting is that this is part of what used to be St. Mary's parish. This is the first Catholic church in the outer family islands. The Rectory is a total loss, the church is termite infested and the roof is unstable, but a side building (the Bakery), is something we can restore and use for CCD classes and parish meetings. So, with the Archbishops approval we will begin.
Just before the trip to Nassau I began to have a toothache. I had visited a dentist in Nassau about it and she said that since it already had a cap I would be better served to see and Endodontist (but there are none in the Bahamas). I'm traveling to the US for my son Mike's wedding OCT 20 so the question was, could I hold out until then. As the pain grew, a priest from RI serving down here recommended another dentist.
Coincidentally, the Benedictine Sisters were celebrating 75 years of serving here and there was a special liturgy planned that I was going to attend. So - prior to the service we visited the new dentist. He thought he could do the root canal so he shot me up with the pain killers, ripped off the cap, and drilled away. After drilling out both roots he said he didn't like how it looked and took 3 more xrays until he found a crack in the tooth. Even with the root canal the crack with be a source of pain and the tooth had to go - so, more shots, and out come the pliers. Suffice it to say I was in no shape to attend the sister's celebration. Bahamian dentistry is a bit behind US dentistry but the pain is gone.
With Ginni back with me, the first two weeks of OCT saw us kick off CCD once again. It is the one task that takes the most of our time and this year will be no different. It was complicated by a school bus accident the first week of school. The school bus to Cargill Creek had a blowout and drive lost control, with the bus going off the road and into the bush. It was a total loss, some kids were hurt and had to be flown to Nassau for hospital treatment, but in the end all injuries were minor. So the High School is down one bus, complicating everyone's life. To help, rather than waiting for the bus to drop our kids off for CCD, we have started going to the school to pick them up. The caos when the school bell rings is unreal. I end up standing by the main gate, directing our kids to the van, while Ginni stays at the van, separating our kids from all the others - a bit of crazy time but it works.
The most recent activity of ours is the parish picnic. Both Fresh Creek and Cargill Creek parishes came together at the Mt. Pleasant fishing lodge for a BBQ and fun day. One of our members works at the Dept of Tourism and was a god-send coordinating who would bring what. It was an all afternoon event with food galore and good people. I should share about the BBQ and the Creek.
Gas grills never die - they retire to the Bahamas. Picture a gas grill with no propane, no interior gas works, nothing but the pedestal, grill, and cover. That is a Bahamian grill - open the cover, fill the interior with drift wood, sticks, whatever else you can gather, light it up and you're ready to cook. The kids were great at gathering firewood, and once we got it cranked up we actually had to drop some ice onto the coals to cool it down so we could cook - and cook we did. Ribs, Chicken, Burgers, Dogs - nonstop all afternoon.
The Creek is another story - this resort has a wonderful waterfront but its too rocky and shallow to swim, but our teens found a small sandy beach at the mouth of a creek that feeds the mangrove swamp behind the resort. Well, the sand was great, but the tide was coming in and, with tropical storm Patty just 200 miles away the current and wind were fierce. At first it was a great time - you could float and the current would take you on a wonderful ride inland. Eventually, however, came the realization that the mangrove were so thick you couldn't get out of the creek and had to swim or wade all the way back. The problem was the creek was to deep to wade and to rapid to swim. So all our teens - and Ginni and I, basically had to pull ourselves back by going from branch to branch of the mangrove roots and branches. It took us over a half out to get back - after only a 2-3 minute ride on the tide to get where we were. This was a bit scary with so many kids in the same boat but eventually we made it.
Today my job is to prepare for the weekend liturgy, then to fly out on Monday to attend my son's wedding on Saturday. We are looking forward to this big time!
Till next time
Ginni has returned in good health and we have hi hopes the gall bladder surgery will correct all the health issues she had been having.
In SEP we had our monthly trip to Nassau and the Archbishop has arranged a wonderful presentation on the Year of Faith that Pope Benedict will initiate in OCT. It turns out that the video they presented to us as an example of something that could be shown to parishioners is one I already have and am in the process of evaluating. The Military Archdiocese had sent it to the AUTEC Navy Base - so I am a bit ahead of everyone else here. If you have seen the Fr. Barron series on CATHOLICISM shown on EWTN - that is it.
The other item of note is the Archbishop gave us the final go-ahead for construction projects we wanted to do and an imaginative way of funding them I had suggested. The big one is the construction of a new church in N.Andros. This is a $30K job and I have begged and pleaded to reach $15K. I can borrow the balance from a parish account the Archdiocese manages. I also need to replace the church windows the the sea air has now made inoperable (that's another 5K), and I want to restore another abandoned building to have a class room in the southern end of the island. This is another $5-7K but what is exciting is that this is part of what used to be St. Mary's parish. This is the first Catholic church in the outer family islands. The Rectory is a total loss, the church is termite infested and the roof is unstable, but a side building (the Bakery), is something we can restore and use for CCD classes and parish meetings. So, with the Archbishops approval we will begin.
Just before the trip to Nassau I began to have a toothache. I had visited a dentist in Nassau about it and she said that since it already had a cap I would be better served to see and Endodontist (but there are none in the Bahamas). I'm traveling to the US for my son Mike's wedding OCT 20 so the question was, could I hold out until then. As the pain grew, a priest from RI serving down here recommended another dentist.
Coincidentally, the Benedictine Sisters were celebrating 75 years of serving here and there was a special liturgy planned that I was going to attend. So - prior to the service we visited the new dentist. He thought he could do the root canal so he shot me up with the pain killers, ripped off the cap, and drilled away. After drilling out both roots he said he didn't like how it looked and took 3 more xrays until he found a crack in the tooth. Even with the root canal the crack with be a source of pain and the tooth had to go - so, more shots, and out come the pliers. Suffice it to say I was in no shape to attend the sister's celebration. Bahamian dentistry is a bit behind US dentistry but the pain is gone.
With Ginni back with me, the first two weeks of OCT saw us kick off CCD once again. It is the one task that takes the most of our time and this year will be no different. It was complicated by a school bus accident the first week of school. The school bus to Cargill Creek had a blowout and drive lost control, with the bus going off the road and into the bush. It was a total loss, some kids were hurt and had to be flown to Nassau for hospital treatment, but in the end all injuries were minor. So the High School is down one bus, complicating everyone's life. To help, rather than waiting for the bus to drop our kids off for CCD, we have started going to the school to pick them up. The caos when the school bell rings is unreal. I end up standing by the main gate, directing our kids to the van, while Ginni stays at the van, separating our kids from all the others - a bit of crazy time but it works.
The most recent activity of ours is the parish picnic. Both Fresh Creek and Cargill Creek parishes came together at the Mt. Pleasant fishing lodge for a BBQ and fun day. One of our members works at the Dept of Tourism and was a god-send coordinating who would bring what. It was an all afternoon event with food galore and good people. I should share about the BBQ and the Creek.
Gas grills never die - they retire to the Bahamas. Picture a gas grill with no propane, no interior gas works, nothing but the pedestal, grill, and cover. That is a Bahamian grill - open the cover, fill the interior with drift wood, sticks, whatever else you can gather, light it up and you're ready to cook. The kids were great at gathering firewood, and once we got it cranked up we actually had to drop some ice onto the coals to cool it down so we could cook - and cook we did. Ribs, Chicken, Burgers, Dogs - nonstop all afternoon.
The Creek is another story - this resort has a wonderful waterfront but its too rocky and shallow to swim, but our teens found a small sandy beach at the mouth of a creek that feeds the mangrove swamp behind the resort. Well, the sand was great, but the tide was coming in and, with tropical storm Patty just 200 miles away the current and wind were fierce. At first it was a great time - you could float and the current would take you on a wonderful ride inland. Eventually, however, came the realization that the mangrove were so thick you couldn't get out of the creek and had to swim or wade all the way back. The problem was the creek was to deep to wade and to rapid to swim. So all our teens - and Ginni and I, basically had to pull ourselves back by going from branch to branch of the mangrove roots and branches. It took us over a half out to get back - after only a 2-3 minute ride on the tide to get where we were. This was a bit scary with so many kids in the same boat but eventually we made it.
Today my job is to prepare for the weekend liturgy, then to fly out on Monday to attend my son's wedding on Saturday. We are looking forward to this big time!
Till next time
Monday, September 3, 2012
Easter Bahama Catholic
Just a quick note:
I just discovered that the website for the Archdiocese of Nassau has begun posting the Bahama Catholic - the Archdiocesan Newspaper for the Archdiocese of Nassau
Here is a link to the Easter edition
http://archdioceseofnassau.org/pdf/Bahamacatholic/BC%20april%20may%202012.pdf
You might want to notice that, on the front page is a collection of pics from the Easter season throughout the Archdiocese and (upper left corner) in includes a white bearded deacon offering a pitcher of oil to the Archbishop during the Chrism Mass. This was blessed to be the Oil of the Sick, used throughout the parishes of the Archdiocese.
If you scan your way through this edition of the paper you will also find a pic of Ginni and I with our Confirmation Class on page 8.
I can't believe they have the entire paper online now - what a treat
Till next time
I just discovered that the website for the Archdiocese of Nassau has begun posting the Bahama Catholic - the Archdiocesan Newspaper for the Archdiocese of Nassau
Here is a link to the Easter edition
http://archdioceseofnassau.org/pdf/Bahamacatholic/BC%20april%20may%202012.pdf
You might want to notice that, on the front page is a collection of pics from the Easter season throughout the Archdiocese and (upper left corner) in includes a white bearded deacon offering a pitcher of oil to the Archbishop during the Chrism Mass. This was blessed to be the Oil of the Sick, used throughout the parishes of the Archdiocese.
If you scan your way through this edition of the paper you will also find a pic of Ginni and I with our Confirmation Class on page 8.
I can't believe they have the entire paper online now - what a treat
Till next time
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Our trip back to MA
Well, as I write this I am at our home in Canton, MA - over the last several months Ginni has been having some health issues and the concensus is her gall bladder needs to come out. Gin has been having acid reflux issues whenever she eats, sensations of nausea, and a list of other symptoms I won't mention. After getting clearance from our Bahamas-based health insurance plan, we have discovered golf ball sized gall stones that will not pass, and the only solution is to have the gall bladder removed.
Initially, we planned for her to come back to the US to get this done. It is day surgery and we've been assured its not a major operation, so I had planned on remaining on Andros. (We haven't had a priest since May and it didn't feel like we were going to get one).
Summer is the worst time to get a priest. The summer heat forces many of our parishioners to go on vacation to cooler climates where there may actually be activities for the kids to do. One family goes to TN, another to UT, most to FL or even Nassau. Our island has very little summer activities for the kids so to visit places where there may be a cinema or a mall (with AC) is a joy.
So - when we got a phone call saying a visiting priest from Italy was coming to Andros we were thrilled. God's "coincidences" are truely amazing. So, after spending the first weekend with our guest and showing him around the island, we left him to cover the next 2 weekends. I will return on 7SEP after he has left.
So, confident that Andros is in good hands, we flew back to Boston. I was going to be here for 2 weekends so I tried to line up 2 parishes to do mission appeal talks on the weekend and drum up some more donations to build a chapel in North Andros where there has been no Catholic presence in 40 years. (Our last trip home in June generated $8,000 of the $30,000 we need) The wonderful support of Fr. Culloty at St. Timothy's in Norwood and Deacon Paul Rooney and his pastor Fr. Mulvehill of St. Anthony's in Cohasset went a long way in our being able to beg at those two churches. On this trip it was too short notice to get a parish for the first weekend so I helped out at St. Timothy's in Norwood. Even though I had just been there in June and didn't ask for money I was given almost $500 by people at the door on their way out - and others took a flyer I had with me on how to donate via the mail. Next weekend I will speak at Immaculate Conception in Weymouth, thanks to the support of Deacon Fran Corbett and his pastor Fr. Salmon. Pray it is a fruitful appeal.
Well, back to Ginni - she has been able to get into work and put in a few days of nursing prior to shutting it down to prep for the surgery. It will be at a facility in Kenmore Square in Boston and we have already been there twice for pre-op meetings. This afternoon it will be to meet the anesthsiologist (how do you spell that?). She also has been having meetings with a physical therapist for her back pain issues - we are getting old (sigh).
So anyway - 4SEP is the date of the surgery and she should feel much better once this is resolved. Her inability to eat and enjoy food is impacting quality of life and she keeps losing weight as a result (Maybe we could implant that gall stone in me so I could lose a few).
On a lighter note - after preaching the 11 this past weekend at St. Timothy's, while Ginni was working, I found out that Faith and Light was having a picnic at Houghton's Pond. Faith and Light is a group of mentally challenged adults that meets at St. Timothy's and I used to be the chaplain for that group. I am trying to get a group like this off the ground on Andros. Here is a pic of one of my friends on Andros who would really benefit from Faith and Light
Dayshawn has a severe case of Cerebal Palsey and he and his mom would greatly benefit from the support of a Faith and Light chapter - we are in the early phases but it looks like it may become a thriving community over the next year.
Faith and Light is an Intl organization serving the needs of the disabled in our communities and it does great work with these special people of God. I knew they usually met the last Sunday of the month and I wanted to drop in and visit with my old friends - but a picnic at the Pond was a great gift.
So I run home after the 11, change clothes, put on my Androsia bathing suit and grab a towel and run back to St. Tim's to try to be part of the caravan going off to Houghton's Pond. I should explain that Houghton's Pond is a wonderful park with BBQ grills, swimming, bath houses with changing rooms, et. al. - a really wonderful facility. It is also so big if I didn't connect with them at St. Tim's it would be a major deal to try to find what part of the Pond they set themselves up. So, I literally ran into the house, changed clothes, and ran out - then drove like a crazy person to get there. Even though I was late, they were still there (tardiness is a Faith and Light trademark).
So we get there and Theresa and Jean had done a ton of leg-work to get everything organized. Jean's hubby was already cooking burgers and dogs, a few helpers from group homes were there with their crews and all in all we had about 15-20 people with lots of food and companionship. Seeing my old friends was super and my being there was a huge surprise. I really had a great time and there was much laughter and "do you remember when" conversations.
If I can get any of the pics Theresa took I will post them in the next blog.
Well enough for now - its off to Kenmore Sq to meet the next Dr.
Till next time
F.
Initially, we planned for her to come back to the US to get this done. It is day surgery and we've been assured its not a major operation, so I had planned on remaining on Andros. (We haven't had a priest since May and it didn't feel like we were going to get one).
Summer is the worst time to get a priest. The summer heat forces many of our parishioners to go on vacation to cooler climates where there may actually be activities for the kids to do. One family goes to TN, another to UT, most to FL or even Nassau. Our island has very little summer activities for the kids so to visit places where there may be a cinema or a mall (with AC) is a joy.
So - when we got a phone call saying a visiting priest from Italy was coming to Andros we were thrilled. God's "coincidences" are truely amazing. So, after spending the first weekend with our guest and showing him around the island, we left him to cover the next 2 weekends. I will return on 7SEP after he has left.
So, confident that Andros is in good hands, we flew back to Boston. I was going to be here for 2 weekends so I tried to line up 2 parishes to do mission appeal talks on the weekend and drum up some more donations to build a chapel in North Andros where there has been no Catholic presence in 40 years. (Our last trip home in June generated $8,000 of the $30,000 we need) The wonderful support of Fr. Culloty at St. Timothy's in Norwood and Deacon Paul Rooney and his pastor Fr. Mulvehill of St. Anthony's in Cohasset went a long way in our being able to beg at those two churches. On this trip it was too short notice to get a parish for the first weekend so I helped out at St. Timothy's in Norwood. Even though I had just been there in June and didn't ask for money I was given almost $500 by people at the door on their way out - and others took a flyer I had with me on how to donate via the mail. Next weekend I will speak at Immaculate Conception in Weymouth, thanks to the support of Deacon Fran Corbett and his pastor Fr. Salmon. Pray it is a fruitful appeal.
Well, back to Ginni - she has been able to get into work and put in a few days of nursing prior to shutting it down to prep for the surgery. It will be at a facility in Kenmore Square in Boston and we have already been there twice for pre-op meetings. This afternoon it will be to meet the anesthsiologist (how do you spell that?). She also has been having meetings with a physical therapist for her back pain issues - we are getting old (sigh).
So anyway - 4SEP is the date of the surgery and she should feel much better once this is resolved. Her inability to eat and enjoy food is impacting quality of life and she keeps losing weight as a result (Maybe we could implant that gall stone in me so I could lose a few).
On a lighter note - after preaching the 11 this past weekend at St. Timothy's, while Ginni was working, I found out that Faith and Light was having a picnic at Houghton's Pond. Faith and Light is a group of mentally challenged adults that meets at St. Timothy's and I used to be the chaplain for that group. I am trying to get a group like this off the ground on Andros. Here is a pic of one of my friends on Andros who would really benefit from Faith and Light
Dayshawn has a severe case of Cerebal Palsey and he and his mom would greatly benefit from the support of a Faith and Light chapter - we are in the early phases but it looks like it may become a thriving community over the next year.
Faith and Light is an Intl organization serving the needs of the disabled in our communities and it does great work with these special people of God. I knew they usually met the last Sunday of the month and I wanted to drop in and visit with my old friends - but a picnic at the Pond was a great gift.
So I run home after the 11, change clothes, put on my Androsia bathing suit and grab a towel and run back to St. Tim's to try to be part of the caravan going off to Houghton's Pond. I should explain that Houghton's Pond is a wonderful park with BBQ grills, swimming, bath houses with changing rooms, et. al. - a really wonderful facility. It is also so big if I didn't connect with them at St. Tim's it would be a major deal to try to find what part of the Pond they set themselves up. So, I literally ran into the house, changed clothes, and ran out - then drove like a crazy person to get there. Even though I was late, they were still there (tardiness is a Faith and Light trademark).
So we get there and Theresa and Jean had done a ton of leg-work to get everything organized. Jean's hubby was already cooking burgers and dogs, a few helpers from group homes were there with their crews and all in all we had about 15-20 people with lots of food and companionship. Seeing my old friends was super and my being there was a huge surprise. I really had a great time and there was much laughter and "do you remember when" conversations.
If I can get any of the pics Theresa took I will post them in the next blog.
Well enough for now - its off to Kenmore Sq to meet the next Dr.
Till next time
F.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
The Blue Holes of Andros
I was looking over past posts and realized I had not really ever posted something about the Blue Holes here on Andros. Blue holes are a natural geological phenomenon where a perfect circle of rock is filled with water. Some of these are in the ocean, some on land. Some have caves off the walls that go for miles and National Geographic actually did a whole issue on Blue Holes of the Bahamas and found wall caves that, in some case connect to the sea, that go for miles.
Well we have one about 10-20 minutes drive from here that we go to from time to time. I like it because it is so remote and, usually, there is nobody there but me - a great prayer place. To get to it you must get off the beaten path. After leaving the main road there are two miles of roads like this one
Then after driving as far as you can, you are met by a boardwalk the Bahama National Trust maintains. This is a conservation group that does great work here.
At the end of the boardwalk is a gazeebo that is perched on top of a 20' cliff.
You can then take the stairs down to the water where there is a little dock to jump off of,
or jump off the 20' drop - right through the gate from inside the gazeboo.
But it is the Blue Hole itself I come to see.
One of the most serine spots on Andros, if you ask me.
Till next time
F.
Well we have one about 10-20 minutes drive from here that we go to from time to time. I like it because it is so remote and, usually, there is nobody there but me - a great prayer place. To get to it you must get off the beaten path. After leaving the main road there are two miles of roads like this one
At the end of the boardwalk is a gazeebo that is perched on top of a 20' cliff.
You can then take the stairs down to the water where there is a little dock to jump off of,
or jump off the 20' drop - right through the gate from inside the gazeboo.
But it is the Blue Hole itself I come to see.
One of the most serine spots on Andros, if you ask me.
Till next time
F.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Thunder, Lightning - and JANE
Well my friends - things have been jumping!
Last weekend started with an incredible period of thunder and lightning and monsoon rain. We have seen the power of hurricanes - and they are fierce - but a quick gale or the arrival of a strong weather front can let you know the power of Mother Nature just as well.
From Friday night to Sunday morning we must have lost power 5 or 6 times with lightning strikes that actually made the window panes shudder. Saturday morning at 6AM there was a crack of lightning that must have been directly over the church!
Our problem when we lose power is that we also lose water. The water system in our township uses electric pumps to pump the water throughout the town and (in our case) uphill. The end result is that every now and then our shower is more like a birdbath in the sink. We have about 8 gallons of water in gallon bottles under the bathroom sink for this purpose (and to flush the toilet).
During the day on Saturday it was a typical Bahamian summer day - hot and humid! Ginni really feels the heat and planted herself in front of our bedroom air conditioner (the only air conditioner). We finally headed out to the US NAVY AUTEC Navy Base for Saturday evening service, the first of the weekend.
When we got home, after having spent so many hours in the air conditioned Navy Chapel, the house felt particularly hot. Ginni washed up as best she could with no water, and as I peeled off my sweat-dampened clothes, the phone rang. It was the family of one of our home-bound parishioners. Jane has been going downhill for months and they felt this was the end. She had been carried to the clinic and they asked if we could meet them there. Gin and I ot dressed again and by 8:30 we were with her at the clinic.
Jane is really the matriarch of our parish in Fresh Creek. In her early 90s she is the oldest person in the parish and, over the last year, has suffered a series of small strokes. The last month has been particularly difficult, her family is financially challenged and her living conditions were very hard, especially with the power outages. We were able to bring a battery-operated fan to give her some relief and, with Ginni's nursing experience, she was able to give advice to help them care for her. On this night, however, it was clear that the end was near.
When we arrived at the clinic the waiting room was packed with Jane's adult grandchildren, as well as the great and great-great grandchildren. Ginni and I were able to get by her side and I knelt next to the bed, caressed her head, and prayed with her, and the immediate family that was in the room. There were many tears and, from the waiting room, we could hear the wailing of otheres grieving for Momma.
The Doc asked if we could clear the room so he could attach leads to monitor her condition and, when we did, it gave us a chance to explain to the family her condition and what the Doc was doing. A bit later we were invited back in and we set up a system where 3-4 at a time, the entire crowd could come in and pray with Momma and see her.
After a few hours everyone seemed calmer, Jane was clearly fading, but there was not much more we could do so we said our goodbyes and left to try to get some sleep before we started our Sunday services.
Sunday morning at 7, the phone rang to tell us Jane had passed at 6. Our first liturgy is at 830 so I had time to run over and pray with the family, comfort them, and let them know that the Church would do whatever we could to help them. Then I jumped back into the van and got back just in time for the 830. Then it was off to Cargill Creek for the 1130, then back to Fresh Creek, doing a few communion calls of other sick parishioners on the way. On the porch of one of those sick parishioners a car pulled up - it was Jane's grandson who would be making arrangements. We talked a bit and he headed off to meet with the family.
Planning a funeral here has its challenges - first, we have no mortician on the island so all the bodies are shipped to Nassau. Then, depending upon the finances of the family, the body is either buried in Nassau or shipped back to Andros on the ferry for the funeral here. Shipping the body back is not cheap. You have to pay for the hearse, the funeral director's staff, et. al. AND for their trip back to Nassau. Many families simply bury the body in Nassau and I am more than happy to take the short flight to Nassau to participate in the funeral liturgy and internment. We should hear shortly what the family decides to do in Jane's case.
Today is Monday, a holiday in the Bahamas - Emancipation Day - the day the British Empire outlawed slavery - a big deal if you know the history of the Bahamas.
Tomorrow the Royal Bahamas Police Force will be starting a week-long day camp for Bahamian children on Andros. I have been asked to do the opening 'Devotional' - about a 30 minute time slot with song, bible readings and a refletion (for 6-16 year olds). I've been thinking about what I'll do and I'm planning on starting with a little Simon Says - then making the connection that you have to do was Simon says to win, but in life we have to do was God says. We'll see, I still have tonight to put the finishing touches on whatever I'll do. No clue on how many kids will be there, which makes planning what to do difficult. Simon says for 50 kids I can handle - for 150 kids is a different story.
Till next time.
F.
Last weekend started with an incredible period of thunder and lightning and monsoon rain. We have seen the power of hurricanes - and they are fierce - but a quick gale or the arrival of a strong weather front can let you know the power of Mother Nature just as well.
From Friday night to Sunday morning we must have lost power 5 or 6 times with lightning strikes that actually made the window panes shudder. Saturday morning at 6AM there was a crack of lightning that must have been directly over the church!
Our problem when we lose power is that we also lose water. The water system in our township uses electric pumps to pump the water throughout the town and (in our case) uphill. The end result is that every now and then our shower is more like a birdbath in the sink. We have about 8 gallons of water in gallon bottles under the bathroom sink for this purpose (and to flush the toilet).
During the day on Saturday it was a typical Bahamian summer day - hot and humid! Ginni really feels the heat and planted herself in front of our bedroom air conditioner (the only air conditioner). We finally headed out to the US NAVY AUTEC Navy Base for Saturday evening service, the first of the weekend.
When we got home, after having spent so many hours in the air conditioned Navy Chapel, the house felt particularly hot. Ginni washed up as best she could with no water, and as I peeled off my sweat-dampened clothes, the phone rang. It was the family of one of our home-bound parishioners. Jane has been going downhill for months and they felt this was the end. She had been carried to the clinic and they asked if we could meet them there. Gin and I ot dressed again and by 8:30 we were with her at the clinic.
Jane is really the matriarch of our parish in Fresh Creek. In her early 90s she is the oldest person in the parish and, over the last year, has suffered a series of small strokes. The last month has been particularly difficult, her family is financially challenged and her living conditions were very hard, especially with the power outages. We were able to bring a battery-operated fan to give her some relief and, with Ginni's nursing experience, she was able to give advice to help them care for her. On this night, however, it was clear that the end was near.
When we arrived at the clinic the waiting room was packed with Jane's adult grandchildren, as well as the great and great-great grandchildren. Ginni and I were able to get by her side and I knelt next to the bed, caressed her head, and prayed with her, and the immediate family that was in the room. There were many tears and, from the waiting room, we could hear the wailing of otheres grieving for Momma.
The Doc asked if we could clear the room so he could attach leads to monitor her condition and, when we did, it gave us a chance to explain to the family her condition and what the Doc was doing. A bit later we were invited back in and we set up a system where 3-4 at a time, the entire crowd could come in and pray with Momma and see her.
After a few hours everyone seemed calmer, Jane was clearly fading, but there was not much more we could do so we said our goodbyes and left to try to get some sleep before we started our Sunday services.
Sunday morning at 7, the phone rang to tell us Jane had passed at 6. Our first liturgy is at 830 so I had time to run over and pray with the family, comfort them, and let them know that the Church would do whatever we could to help them. Then I jumped back into the van and got back just in time for the 830. Then it was off to Cargill Creek for the 1130, then back to Fresh Creek, doing a few communion calls of other sick parishioners on the way. On the porch of one of those sick parishioners a car pulled up - it was Jane's grandson who would be making arrangements. We talked a bit and he headed off to meet with the family.
Planning a funeral here has its challenges - first, we have no mortician on the island so all the bodies are shipped to Nassau. Then, depending upon the finances of the family, the body is either buried in Nassau or shipped back to Andros on the ferry for the funeral here. Shipping the body back is not cheap. You have to pay for the hearse, the funeral director's staff, et. al. AND for their trip back to Nassau. Many families simply bury the body in Nassau and I am more than happy to take the short flight to Nassau to participate in the funeral liturgy and internment. We should hear shortly what the family decides to do in Jane's case.
Today is Monday, a holiday in the Bahamas - Emancipation Day - the day the British Empire outlawed slavery - a big deal if you know the history of the Bahamas.
Tomorrow the Royal Bahamas Police Force will be starting a week-long day camp for Bahamian children on Andros. I have been asked to do the opening 'Devotional' - about a 30 minute time slot with song, bible readings and a refletion (for 6-16 year olds). I've been thinking about what I'll do and I'm planning on starting with a little Simon Says - then making the connection that you have to do was Simon says to win, but in life we have to do was God says. We'll see, I still have tonight to put the finishing touches on whatever I'll do. No clue on how many kids will be there, which makes planning what to do difficult. Simon says for 50 kids I can handle - for 150 kids is a different story.
Till next time.
F.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
We're Back
Well my friends its been awhile -
As you saw in my last post, blogspot has been upgraded and as a result, my computer had issues posting pics, et.al.
Well in June I went back to the US and - God provides. A friend of mine there said that my computer was so old it would make a good boat anchor so - here's a new one.
The generosity of people wanting to help us was astounding. During my trip to the US I was blessed to be able to preach at all the weekend masses at St. Anthony in Cohasset, then at the prayer meeting at Holy Trinity in Harwich, then the prayer meeting at St. Timothy in Norwood, and finally, at all the weekend masses at St. Timothy. Suffice it to say it was a working vacation.
We came home with a new computer and a little over $8000 in donations to help build a new church in North Andros, where there hasn't been a Catholic Church in over 40 years. Additionally, many people promised that additional checks would be sent to us here - so it was a great trip.
Coincidentally, when I got back a letter was waiting for me asking me to submit the budget for the next year. So in addition to our regualar operational expenses and plate offering income, I added all the finances for building the new chapel, as well as some other building-related expenses in Fresh Creek and Cargill Creek. I then took a few days to put together a formal financial proposal for all those new capital expenses as budgetary backup and sent them off to the Archbishop. I expect to hear something in a few weeks.
Clearly the support from the US and my local Bahamian parishioners does show we have a need and there is support for it, but right now we only have about half of the projected $30,000 needed for the new church so we will need help from the Archdiocese to get us to the finish line. Keep this one in your prayers.
Summer here fluctuates from being incredibly hot, to monsoon season. Fortunately for us, most of the rain fell while we were in the US, however we have had 2-3 day stretches of just incredibly lightning and monsoon-like rain. The roads here now are horrible. Potholes have emerged that can really damage your car and I have had to become quite good and swerving around them, making Ginni's ride more like a roller coaster ride than it has ever been.
One issue with our van is we seem to have lost a gasket between the exhaust pipe between the engine and the muffler. Fixing this means putting the van on the ferry to Nassau, which is an expense I am trying to avoid. The problem is that this is what kept that pipe level and, without it there is an incredible rattle. So, living the island life, I have jury-rigged a fix by taking a metal coat hanger and tying up the pipe to part of the chasis. Just pulling it up 1/4" makes all the difference. The problem is, over time, the coathangers break. So once a month or so I crawl under the van and redo my little fix. It works fine, but it is a pain. The current state of the roads, however, is shortening the life span of my coathangers. I am afraid that unless I find another solution one day soon I will have to ship the van to Nassau and simply take the financial hit on the chin. For now, after I finish this, I'll crawl back under the van to fix it once again.
Speaking of fixing things - it should be noted that missionaries are not restricted to preaching and teaching and evangelizing. This past week I stripped the peeling paint off the huge church bell and repainted it (something Ginni was worried about since it was over 100 that day). It took about 2 days to strip the old peeling paint, then another to do the painting. Looks much better to me.
On that same front - the church in Cargill Creek has needed work on the foyer of the church and we were finally able to finish the job. The foyer of this church was so bad a lady in the church took it upon herself to hold a fish fry, then gave me the $1,000 she earned. This was for new floor tile, paint and stain - but wouldn't be enough for the masonary work to reframe the door and lay the tile. She told me her husband would do it for free - 'Don't worry Deac, he lives with me, it will get done'. Enough said.
This week we have local parishioners who offer their own summer camp for about 10-15 kids and I am their bus driver to get them from one place to another. As conservationalists, they teach the kids about the local environment and really do a great job. This year they had a friend from FL who works for the 'Turtle Conservancy' take a trip to Andros and teach the kids about sea turtles. Then they had a local fisherman who works as a tour guide ferry the kids out to where he knew wild turtles live. The kids were actually able to jump out of the boat and snorkle with the wild turtles.
This is about half the kids that I could corral to pose before we headed out. For most Bahamian kids on Andros summer is a time to get off the island and go to either Nassau or family in the US. There is just nothing to do here during the summer and the kids left here are those who don't have the money to make a trip off Andros. Peter and Gabrielle's summer camp is a God-send for these kids and making our bus available to get them from one place to another is the least we can do to help out.
(Actually, posting that pic was also my test of the new blogspot and my new computer's ability to work together - so I'll try posting more in the future).
Summer is also our time to prepare for the next year of CCD. Ginni has already been pulling together ideas and we'll have to adjust what we did last year since most of our little cherubs have moved on to the HighSchool (grade 7-12), leaving just a few in Primary School. In the past we had this huge group of Primary School kids with only a few High Schoolers - over the last 4 years it has shifted so we will have to adapt how we do what we do. It will be interesting.
One last item I should share is that one of our elderly parishioners, who we bring communion to, seems to be getting more and more neglected by her family. If it persists we will have to work with social services to have them intervene and see what we can do to help. Please pray for us on this one, it will be a stressful situation for the family. It may also be another situation where poverty has made a bad situation worse. If they have no food, we can help, but we need to find out if they have propane or electricity to cook it too. A few years ago we brought someone pasta, chicken and rice - only to find out they didn't have water and no way to cook it. Pasta and rice without water isn't much of a help. The 70 year old grandmother went into the bush, gathered sticks, and made a fire in the backyard to cook the chicken, but we found out later that the rice and pasta had to wait until someone lugged a few gallons of water to her. We're learning.
Coming from this, to make a mission appeal back in the US was a bit of a culture shock. I can remember the first night home I was brushing me teeth and I went to get a bottle of water to use - only to realize that using the water from the tap was safe in Massachusetts - that is not our daily reality here.
Well enough for now - keep us in your prayers
- Deacon Frank
As you saw in my last post, blogspot has been upgraded and as a result, my computer had issues posting pics, et.al.
Well in June I went back to the US and - God provides. A friend of mine there said that my computer was so old it would make a good boat anchor so - here's a new one.
The generosity of people wanting to help us was astounding. During my trip to the US I was blessed to be able to preach at all the weekend masses at St. Anthony in Cohasset, then at the prayer meeting at Holy Trinity in Harwich, then the prayer meeting at St. Timothy in Norwood, and finally, at all the weekend masses at St. Timothy. Suffice it to say it was a working vacation.
We came home with a new computer and a little over $8000 in donations to help build a new church in North Andros, where there hasn't been a Catholic Church in over 40 years. Additionally, many people promised that additional checks would be sent to us here - so it was a great trip.
Coincidentally, when I got back a letter was waiting for me asking me to submit the budget for the next year. So in addition to our regualar operational expenses and plate offering income, I added all the finances for building the new chapel, as well as some other building-related expenses in Fresh Creek and Cargill Creek. I then took a few days to put together a formal financial proposal for all those new capital expenses as budgetary backup and sent them off to the Archbishop. I expect to hear something in a few weeks.
Clearly the support from the US and my local Bahamian parishioners does show we have a need and there is support for it, but right now we only have about half of the projected $30,000 needed for the new church so we will need help from the Archdiocese to get us to the finish line. Keep this one in your prayers.
Summer here fluctuates from being incredibly hot, to monsoon season. Fortunately for us, most of the rain fell while we were in the US, however we have had 2-3 day stretches of just incredibly lightning and monsoon-like rain. The roads here now are horrible. Potholes have emerged that can really damage your car and I have had to become quite good and swerving around them, making Ginni's ride more like a roller coaster ride than it has ever been.
One issue with our van is we seem to have lost a gasket between the exhaust pipe between the engine and the muffler. Fixing this means putting the van on the ferry to Nassau, which is an expense I am trying to avoid. The problem is that this is what kept that pipe level and, without it there is an incredible rattle. So, living the island life, I have jury-rigged a fix by taking a metal coat hanger and tying up the pipe to part of the chasis. Just pulling it up 1/4" makes all the difference. The problem is, over time, the coathangers break. So once a month or so I crawl under the van and redo my little fix. It works fine, but it is a pain. The current state of the roads, however, is shortening the life span of my coathangers. I am afraid that unless I find another solution one day soon I will have to ship the van to Nassau and simply take the financial hit on the chin. For now, after I finish this, I'll crawl back under the van to fix it once again.
Speaking of fixing things - it should be noted that missionaries are not restricted to preaching and teaching and evangelizing. This past week I stripped the peeling paint off the huge church bell and repainted it (something Ginni was worried about since it was over 100 that day). It took about 2 days to strip the old peeling paint, then another to do the painting. Looks much better to me.
On that same front - the church in Cargill Creek has needed work on the foyer of the church and we were finally able to finish the job. The foyer of this church was so bad a lady in the church took it upon herself to hold a fish fry, then gave me the $1,000 she earned. This was for new floor tile, paint and stain - but wouldn't be enough for the masonary work to reframe the door and lay the tile. She told me her husband would do it for free - 'Don't worry Deac, he lives with me, it will get done'. Enough said.
This week we have local parishioners who offer their own summer camp for about 10-15 kids and I am their bus driver to get them from one place to another. As conservationalists, they teach the kids about the local environment and really do a great job. This year they had a friend from FL who works for the 'Turtle Conservancy' take a trip to Andros and teach the kids about sea turtles. Then they had a local fisherman who works as a tour guide ferry the kids out to where he knew wild turtles live. The kids were actually able to jump out of the boat and snorkle with the wild turtles.
This is about half the kids that I could corral to pose before we headed out. For most Bahamian kids on Andros summer is a time to get off the island and go to either Nassau or family in the US. There is just nothing to do here during the summer and the kids left here are those who don't have the money to make a trip off Andros. Peter and Gabrielle's summer camp is a God-send for these kids and making our bus available to get them from one place to another is the least we can do to help out.
(Actually, posting that pic was also my test of the new blogspot and my new computer's ability to work together - so I'll try posting more in the future).
Summer is also our time to prepare for the next year of CCD. Ginni has already been pulling together ideas and we'll have to adjust what we did last year since most of our little cherubs have moved on to the HighSchool (grade 7-12), leaving just a few in Primary School. In the past we had this huge group of Primary School kids with only a few High Schoolers - over the last 4 years it has shifted so we will have to adapt how we do what we do. It will be interesting.
One last item I should share is that one of our elderly parishioners, who we bring communion to, seems to be getting more and more neglected by her family. If it persists we will have to work with social services to have them intervene and see what we can do to help. Please pray for us on this one, it will be a stressful situation for the family. It may also be another situation where poverty has made a bad situation worse. If they have no food, we can help, but we need to find out if they have propane or electricity to cook it too. A few years ago we brought someone pasta, chicken and rice - only to find out they didn't have water and no way to cook it. Pasta and rice without water isn't much of a help. The 70 year old grandmother went into the bush, gathered sticks, and made a fire in the backyard to cook the chicken, but we found out later that the rice and pasta had to wait until someone lugged a few gallons of water to her. We're learning.
Coming from this, to make a mission appeal back in the US was a bit of a culture shock. I can remember the first night home I was brushing me teeth and I went to get a bottle of water to use - only to realize that using the water from the tap was safe in Massachusetts - that is not our daily reality here.
Well enough for now - keep us in your prayers
- Deacon Frank
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Promised Pics
Well I promised pics and now after spending a half hour uploading and commenting on each pic blogspot will not let me do this on my old laptop - so I just may move on to facebook. Sorry folks
Monday, June 4, 2012
Well hello again
It has been non stop since my last post but things should slow down a bit now.
Since our last post the big event was confirmation.
Archbishop Pinder flew in on Saturday and we did our regularly scheduled Saturday evening service at the AUTEC Navy base. Sunday, we had planned for all of our parishes to come together for one combined service - and we pulled it off.
People came from the northern end of the island (where we are trying to build a new church), they came from the southern end of the island, they came from AUTEC, it was wonderful. The church was packed, the Archbishop was great, and the reception afterwards was fantastic as, people brought tons of food and everyone celebrated together. It was a wonderful sense of community. Now if I can get the pics and movies out of Ginni's camera into this 'upgraded' blogspot we will be in business.
Ever since Confirmation, it has pretty much rained at some point every day. To say that May and June are the rainy season was hard to believe last year, but this year it is totally living up to its name. When it rains here an interesting consequence is crabs. Yes crabs. Andros is the home to a species of land crabs that pretty much live underground most of the time, but in the rainy season of early summer the crabs 'walk' and catching crab is a major source of financial income for local Bahamians.
Driving from one end of the island to the other as we do, we see crabs trying to cross the road all the time, as well as car upon car pulled over as people fill burlap bags with these tasty delights. In fact, next week our fair village hosts CRABFEST - a huge festival that will see people from the US and just about every Bahamian island on a pilgrimage to Andros for the event. If you have followed this blog for awhile you will know that this is the only time we have traffic - yes, actual traffic with police from Nassau imported to direct it. It is incredible and, while we usually try to drop in at least once, the crowds are a real turn off.
One of the consequences of the crab migration is that attendance at church drops off because everyone is up all night beating the bush with their burlap bags and flashlights looking for crab. I do wish their priorities were a bit difference, but the money people can get selling crab is a very real way to augment their income. Unemployment here is huge, gas is well over $6/gallon and costs for just about everything is way above US prices. (Ice cream, for example is $10 for a half gallon).
Another event that we just lived through for the first tiime was a national election. The Bahamas has a Parliamentary form of governmnet and every 5 years they have an election. The ruling party was voted out of office this year and we saw the transition from one government to another. FYI whichever party wins the most seats in Parliament becomes the ruling party and the Prime Minister comes from that party. The election was monitored by several Caribbean election monitoring groups - all went smoothly and the transition was a grand event with all the pomp you can imagine.
Getting back to ministry. With the celebration of Confirmation over, and the start of June, we concluded our CCD and RCIA classes. This gives us time - or so we thought. We plan on returning to the US for 2 weeks in June. Our son Mike is getting married in Oct and Ginni has planned a shower for his bride and I need to meet with them to prepare for the wedding (Yes I have been asked to witness their wedding, Praise God). So I will finally be able tosit down with them to plan the wedding. Also - I hope to speak at a few MA parishes doing a mission appeal to generate funds so we can build that new chapel in North Andros - keep that in your prayers. It looks like one parish will have me speak at 5 Masses!
Well I gotta run - till next time
It has been non stop since my last post but things should slow down a bit now.
Since our last post the big event was confirmation.
Archbishop Pinder flew in on Saturday and we did our regularly scheduled Saturday evening service at the AUTEC Navy base. Sunday, we had planned for all of our parishes to come together for one combined service - and we pulled it off.
People came from the northern end of the island (where we are trying to build a new church), they came from the southern end of the island, they came from AUTEC, it was wonderful. The church was packed, the Archbishop was great, and the reception afterwards was fantastic as, people brought tons of food and everyone celebrated together. It was a wonderful sense of community. Now if I can get the pics and movies out of Ginni's camera into this 'upgraded' blogspot we will be in business.
Ever since Confirmation, it has pretty much rained at some point every day. To say that May and June are the rainy season was hard to believe last year, but this year it is totally living up to its name. When it rains here an interesting consequence is crabs. Yes crabs. Andros is the home to a species of land crabs that pretty much live underground most of the time, but in the rainy season of early summer the crabs 'walk' and catching crab is a major source of financial income for local Bahamians.
Driving from one end of the island to the other as we do, we see crabs trying to cross the road all the time, as well as car upon car pulled over as people fill burlap bags with these tasty delights. In fact, next week our fair village hosts CRABFEST - a huge festival that will see people from the US and just about every Bahamian island on a pilgrimage to Andros for the event. If you have followed this blog for awhile you will know that this is the only time we have traffic - yes, actual traffic with police from Nassau imported to direct it. It is incredible and, while we usually try to drop in at least once, the crowds are a real turn off.
One of the consequences of the crab migration is that attendance at church drops off because everyone is up all night beating the bush with their burlap bags and flashlights looking for crab. I do wish their priorities were a bit difference, but the money people can get selling crab is a very real way to augment their income. Unemployment here is huge, gas is well over $6/gallon and costs for just about everything is way above US prices. (Ice cream, for example is $10 for a half gallon).
Another event that we just lived through for the first tiime was a national election. The Bahamas has a Parliamentary form of governmnet and every 5 years they have an election. The ruling party was voted out of office this year and we saw the transition from one government to another. FYI whichever party wins the most seats in Parliament becomes the ruling party and the Prime Minister comes from that party. The election was monitored by several Caribbean election monitoring groups - all went smoothly and the transition was a grand event with all the pomp you can imagine.
Getting back to ministry. With the celebration of Confirmation over, and the start of June, we concluded our CCD and RCIA classes. This gives us time - or so we thought. We plan on returning to the US for 2 weeks in June. Our son Mike is getting married in Oct and Ginni has planned a shower for his bride and I need to meet with them to prepare for the wedding (Yes I have been asked to witness their wedding, Praise God). So I will finally be able tosit down with them to plan the wedding. Also - I hope to speak at a few MA parishes doing a mission appeal to generate funds so we can build that new chapel in North Andros - keep that in your prayers. It looks like one parish will have me speak at 5 Masses!
Well I gotta run - till next time
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Mea Culpa
Mea Culpa (Through my fault) my blog is not getting the attention it deserves BY ME.
My last entry was Palm Sunday and here we are at the 6th Sunday of Easter
Suffice it to say that with Ginni leaving for a month after Easter, my time is limited and the blog has suffered, sorry about that. On top of that Blogger tells me my browser is no longer supported so we will see if this gets published.
Easter was great - we accepted 4 people into the Church on the Vigil and I sang the new updated Exultet that the new edition of the Roman Missal provides - I will get no awards for my singing but I was pleased with it.
Since Easter my energies have been focused on CCD, and getting ready for Confirmation (THIS Sunday). I actually just picked up the Archbishop and it looks like we are in good shape. Sunday we will host our first combined service, where all four churches will come together for Confirmation (each church has a candidate for Confirmation). We will still do Saturday evening at the Navy Base for those military personnel that can not come off the base, but then SUN we will only have the 1 service here in Fresh Creek. We have never tried this before so it will be interesting to see who makes the trek here.
Hopefully we will have pictures to post in my next entry (if I can do that with an unsupported Browser).
As I reflect on what has been happening here, I guess the most exciting thing I could share was the knife fight. Picture this, I am doing communion calls to the sick of the parish and, after I walk in, two brothers, grandchildren of the sick woman, get into a fight. An older grand daughter tries to break it up, the sick woman is yelling, 'Out, out of my house, Deac's here to pray', smash, crash, yelling - all from the kitchen where I go to try to break it up, only to find its spilled out of the kitchen into the back yard. When I get there one of them, upon leaving the kitchen, has grabbed a knife, the other has picked up a 2x4 that was on the ground. The grand daughter is screaming, the grand mother is calling the boys father, yelling into' the phone, "out, I want dem out a my house', then to me 'Deac, come, leave dem, let's pray'. Meanwhile one is swinging the 2x4, cracking the other on the arm, while the other is swinging the knife, trying to strike a more leathal blow.
Well they finally separate, I get the knife and pull that kid into the house while the other, still clutching the 2x4 backs away and hides in the bush across the street. I help clean the dirt and blood off of the one I had, calm him down, and we have a chat about the repercusions of him actually murdering his brother. Lots of sobbing, crying, and eventually the situation calmed down and he and I could take a deep breath and say a prayer together. Then the grand daughter takes him into the bathroom to clean him up and I return to grandma. So we too pray for peace, then have our communion service. With relative calm restored I eventually leave. All week I worry about what would happen when the other brother returned.
I called during the week to have grandma say it was all OK. The father came to pick them up and beat dem with a hose. WHAT? Oh yes Deac, they learned to behave, everything is OK now.
Till next time.
My last entry was Palm Sunday and here we are at the 6th Sunday of Easter
Suffice it to say that with Ginni leaving for a month after Easter, my time is limited and the blog has suffered, sorry about that. On top of that Blogger tells me my browser is no longer supported so we will see if this gets published.
Easter was great - we accepted 4 people into the Church on the Vigil and I sang the new updated Exultet that the new edition of the Roman Missal provides - I will get no awards for my singing but I was pleased with it.
Since Easter my energies have been focused on CCD, and getting ready for Confirmation (THIS Sunday). I actually just picked up the Archbishop and it looks like we are in good shape. Sunday we will host our first combined service, where all four churches will come together for Confirmation (each church has a candidate for Confirmation). We will still do Saturday evening at the Navy Base for those military personnel that can not come off the base, but then SUN we will only have the 1 service here in Fresh Creek. We have never tried this before so it will be interesting to see who makes the trek here.
Hopefully we will have pictures to post in my next entry (if I can do that with an unsupported Browser).
As I reflect on what has been happening here, I guess the most exciting thing I could share was the knife fight. Picture this, I am doing communion calls to the sick of the parish and, after I walk in, two brothers, grandchildren of the sick woman, get into a fight. An older grand daughter tries to break it up, the sick woman is yelling, 'Out, out of my house, Deac's here to pray', smash, crash, yelling - all from the kitchen where I go to try to break it up, only to find its spilled out of the kitchen into the back yard. When I get there one of them, upon leaving the kitchen, has grabbed a knife, the other has picked up a 2x4 that was on the ground. The grand daughter is screaming, the grand mother is calling the boys father, yelling into' the phone, "out, I want dem out a my house', then to me 'Deac, come, leave dem, let's pray'. Meanwhile one is swinging the 2x4, cracking the other on the arm, while the other is swinging the knife, trying to strike a more leathal blow.
Well they finally separate, I get the knife and pull that kid into the house while the other, still clutching the 2x4 backs away and hides in the bush across the street. I help clean the dirt and blood off of the one I had, calm him down, and we have a chat about the repercusions of him actually murdering his brother. Lots of sobbing, crying, and eventually the situation calmed down and he and I could take a deep breath and say a prayer together. Then the grand daughter takes him into the bathroom to clean him up and I return to grandma. So we too pray for peace, then have our communion service. With relative calm restored I eventually leave. All week I worry about what would happen when the other brother returned.
I called during the week to have grandma say it was all OK. The father came to pick them up and beat dem with a hose. WHAT? Oh yes Deac, they learned to behave, everything is OK now.
Till next time.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Heading into Palm Sunday
Hello my friends - well it looks like this blog is becoming a monthly blog - but blog I will.
In my last entry I mentioned we have a visiting priest who had been creating issue after issue. Well, over the last five weeks he has stopped using the laptop computer on the altar and has transcribed what he had on the computer into a notebook. This eliminates the computer blocking everyone's view of the altar, defusing what was a major crisis for awhile. So he still has the Sacramentary, and now his private notebook, but we're muddling through. I do find it amazing that a priest finds the new Roman Missal 'too difficult to navigate'. I thought using the Sacramentary was part of Liturgy 101 - but enough said.
Our Lent here is a busy one. In addition to the CCD and RCIA classes that fill up our week, having a priest lets us do penance services - so we are doing THREE, one for each parish. We have also added Teen Movie Nights on Friday's. This priest worked in campus ministry and brought audio visual equipment to show movies for the teens. To pull this off we go to our Parish Center Friday afternoon and re-arrange the furniture, cover up the windows with blankets and set up his equipment. When the kids get off the bus from the high school we are ready for them and start the movie around 4. Around 6 we slip out and go over to the Navy Base and pick up 3 or 4 pizzas and get back just as the movie ends for a short discussion. It is a challenge to add these extra activities to our already rather full schedule but we've been able to get it done.
Meanwhile - our work to grow the Church in North Andros continues. The Archbishop has given permission to build and the locals have given about $7000 so far towards a total of $30,000 for a 30x30 building. We already own land there and, with the Archbishops approval, we've cleared the land to get ready for putting in the foundation. The rest will have to wait until we get more funds.
This is a pic of the site after the dozer has done its work, the old building in the background is what is left of the original church building. On the other side of the road the land slopes down toward the sea. With the site cleared we're only a few thousand dollars away from being able to begin work on the foundation and septic.
One interesting development with this community is that there is a large Haitian community here but the numbers of our little faith community fluctuates in direct proportion to the raids on the Haitian shanty-town by Bahamian immigration. Right now they have been raided twice in the same week and we haven't seen anyone dare to come out of the bush to go to church. It really is scary, one week we'll have a half dozen Haitian men, the next week they're gone - poof!
The past few weeks have been stressful on a few other fronts as well - two flat tires in two weeks, for example; followed by a bathroom sink that decided this would be the time to have the drain pipe rust out. We lived for a few days with a bucket under the sink that, after using the sink, we would pour into the toilet. I was able to get parts and replace the plumbing with only one small drip remaining. I know how to fix that but it requires a part not on this island so it'll wait a week.
Next week, by the way, we go to Nassau for the Chrism Mass to recieve the holy oils for the next year (and parts for the bathroom sink). This is always a special liturgy for me because, unlike Boston, Deacons are invited to join the priests for the renewal of their vows. After the priest and deacon clergy, the women religious are also invited to do the same. How inclusive is that! It really is a powerful moment.
Well, between CCD, RCIA, Penance Services and Teen Movie Night I am a bit bushed so I am going to sign off. This Lent is certainly living up to what Lent should be. I just can't wait for Easter!
Till next time
In my last entry I mentioned we have a visiting priest who had been creating issue after issue. Well, over the last five weeks he has stopped using the laptop computer on the altar and has transcribed what he had on the computer into a notebook. This eliminates the computer blocking everyone's view of the altar, defusing what was a major crisis for awhile. So he still has the Sacramentary, and now his private notebook, but we're muddling through. I do find it amazing that a priest finds the new Roman Missal 'too difficult to navigate'. I thought using the Sacramentary was part of Liturgy 101 - but enough said.
Our Lent here is a busy one. In addition to the CCD and RCIA classes that fill up our week, having a priest lets us do penance services - so we are doing THREE, one for each parish. We have also added Teen Movie Nights on Friday's. This priest worked in campus ministry and brought audio visual equipment to show movies for the teens. To pull this off we go to our Parish Center Friday afternoon and re-arrange the furniture, cover up the windows with blankets and set up his equipment. When the kids get off the bus from the high school we are ready for them and start the movie around 4. Around 6 we slip out and go over to the Navy Base and pick up 3 or 4 pizzas and get back just as the movie ends for a short discussion. It is a challenge to add these extra activities to our already rather full schedule but we've been able to get it done.
Meanwhile - our work to grow the Church in North Andros continues. The Archbishop has given permission to build and the locals have given about $7000 so far towards a total of $30,000 for a 30x30 building. We already own land there and, with the Archbishops approval, we've cleared the land to get ready for putting in the foundation. The rest will have to wait until we get more funds.
One interesting development with this community is that there is a large Haitian community here but the numbers of our little faith community fluctuates in direct proportion to the raids on the Haitian shanty-town by Bahamian immigration. Right now they have been raided twice in the same week and we haven't seen anyone dare to come out of the bush to go to church. It really is scary, one week we'll have a half dozen Haitian men, the next week they're gone - poof!
The past few weeks have been stressful on a few other fronts as well - two flat tires in two weeks, for example; followed by a bathroom sink that decided this would be the time to have the drain pipe rust out. We lived for a few days with a bucket under the sink that, after using the sink, we would pour into the toilet. I was able to get parts and replace the plumbing with only one small drip remaining. I know how to fix that but it requires a part not on this island so it'll wait a week.
Next week, by the way, we go to Nassau for the Chrism Mass to recieve the holy oils for the next year (and parts for the bathroom sink). This is always a special liturgy for me because, unlike Boston, Deacons are invited to join the priests for the renewal of their vows. After the priest and deacon clergy, the women religious are also invited to do the same. How inclusive is that! It really is a powerful moment.
Well, between CCD, RCIA, Penance Services and Teen Movie Night I am a bit bushed so I am going to sign off. This Lent is certainly living up to what Lent should be. I just can't wait for Easter!
Till next time
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Happy Lent!!!
Hello again my friends -
Well, since my last post Ginni has returned and so has Lent (totally unrelated I assure you). Our surprise this Lent was a call from the Archbishop telling us he was sending us a priest - arriving on Tues before Ash Wed. He will stay with us throughout the entire season of Lent and thru Easter. To say we were surprised is an understatement. We usually see a priest once every 6 weeks or so, now we'll have a resident priest every day for 7 weeks!
We got the news while we were in Nassau. Prior to going to Nassua we had two major events on our radar screen. First, Ash Wed is an annual ecumenical service with the Anglicans on Andros and this year it is our turn to host. Prior to going to Nassau I had put together the program and sent it off to the Anglican minister. With a priest arriving the day before Ash Wed I would have to scramble to change the program (of which 60 copies had already been made), in order to add a role for the new priest. Second, the Saturday after Ash Wed we were going to have a huge funeral, and those programs have already been printed by the funeral home. A funeral in the Bahamas is a BIG deal. The deceased was in his 40s and died a tragic unexpected death in a car accident so the turnout was going to be more than the church could hold. Since we did not plan on having a priest the program did not include Eucharist, but was a Service. Who does what and how would need to change.
So we return to Andros and I crank out a new Ash Wed program for the Anglican priest, myself, & the visiting priest that modified who said and did what during the service. The people followed along and the night was a huge success. What was unfortunate was that the visiting priest wanted to wear a Cope for an ecumenical service like this (a Cope is a cape-like liturgical vestment) and, surprise surprise, we don't have that type of vestment. It was upsetting for him and not the best way to start off our relationship especially when complicated by the added stress of the Anglican invasion filling the church at the same time.
Once we got thru Ash Wed we sat down with the program from the funeral home and marked it up so we agreed on my roles and his roles, both at the church and the cemetary. Despite the hysterics of a Bahamian funeral this actually worked out pretty well and the funeral went off without a hitch.
Our new friend is a retired priest from Florida and clearly has his way of doing things, and we are adapting. The biggest surprise for us was the weekend liturgy for the 1st Sunday of Lent. It turns out that he finds the new Roman Missal difficult to navigate so - - he has transcribed the common parts of the liturgy onto a notebook computer and, for those parts of the liturgy, he scrolls through the liturgy using his notebook computer on the altar, complete with a wireless mouse. Well, having a computer on the altar has set off a firestorm. Comments from both people on the Navy Base & Bahamians have been fast and furious, critical of a computer on the altar that blocks the view of the people, the inappropriatness of it, the scandal, the sacrilidge, et. al. (pray for me).
So on Monday, after having had an earful from people throughout the community, we asked if we could talk about a few things to plan the next 7 weeks of Lent and we tried to address the notebook. It was a difficult conversation, but he agreed to consider the objection. Clearly we need to reconcile this topic or, I am afraid, people may stop attending until he departs.
The Archdiocese has always been very supportive of us here on Andros and, knowing that, I gave a call to the Vicar. It was very helpful conversation for me and acted as a sort of relief valve for the stress I was feeling. He was very supportive and, in the end, suggested we do our best and monitor the situation and see how it plays out, but to keep him informed. We really do want to work well and be supportive of this man as we serve the people of Andros, but if this persists it will clearly be corrupting their Lenten season and will have a negative impact on our Easter celebration. We pray that doesn't happen.
While this plays out, it is not all negative. He has, in the past, hosted Teen Movie Nights and has brought several DVDs and the equipment to show them. We want to plan a weekly viewing, followed by discussion and refreshments. It sounds like he has had some success with this, and he has a plan, so we hope we can pull this off too - it really could be quite good.
So, all in all - despite a few bumps in the road we continue to work towards growing the Kingdom of God, and what kind of Lent would it be without a few bumps in the road. Praise God for the bumps of Lent!
Keep us in your prayers - we appreciate all your support.
Well, since my last post Ginni has returned and so has Lent (totally unrelated I assure you). Our surprise this Lent was a call from the Archbishop telling us he was sending us a priest - arriving on Tues before Ash Wed. He will stay with us throughout the entire season of Lent and thru Easter. To say we were surprised is an understatement. We usually see a priest once every 6 weeks or so, now we'll have a resident priest every day for 7 weeks!
We got the news while we were in Nassau. Prior to going to Nassua we had two major events on our radar screen. First, Ash Wed is an annual ecumenical service with the Anglicans on Andros and this year it is our turn to host. Prior to going to Nassau I had put together the program and sent it off to the Anglican minister. With a priest arriving the day before Ash Wed I would have to scramble to change the program (of which 60 copies had already been made), in order to add a role for the new priest. Second, the Saturday after Ash Wed we were going to have a huge funeral, and those programs have already been printed by the funeral home. A funeral in the Bahamas is a BIG deal. The deceased was in his 40s and died a tragic unexpected death in a car accident so the turnout was going to be more than the church could hold. Since we did not plan on having a priest the program did not include Eucharist, but was a Service. Who does what and how would need to change.
So we return to Andros and I crank out a new Ash Wed program for the Anglican priest, myself, & the visiting priest that modified who said and did what during the service. The people followed along and the night was a huge success. What was unfortunate was that the visiting priest wanted to wear a Cope for an ecumenical service like this (a Cope is a cape-like liturgical vestment) and, surprise surprise, we don't have that type of vestment. It was upsetting for him and not the best way to start off our relationship especially when complicated by the added stress of the Anglican invasion filling the church at the same time.
Once we got thru Ash Wed we sat down with the program from the funeral home and marked it up so we agreed on my roles and his roles, both at the church and the cemetary. Despite the hysterics of a Bahamian funeral this actually worked out pretty well and the funeral went off without a hitch.
Our new friend is a retired priest from Florida and clearly has his way of doing things, and we are adapting. The biggest surprise for us was the weekend liturgy for the 1st Sunday of Lent. It turns out that he finds the new Roman Missal difficult to navigate so - - he has transcribed the common parts of the liturgy onto a notebook computer and, for those parts of the liturgy, he scrolls through the liturgy using his notebook computer on the altar, complete with a wireless mouse. Well, having a computer on the altar has set off a firestorm. Comments from both people on the Navy Base & Bahamians have been fast and furious, critical of a computer on the altar that blocks the view of the people, the inappropriatness of it, the scandal, the sacrilidge, et. al. (pray for me).
So on Monday, after having had an earful from people throughout the community, we asked if we could talk about a few things to plan the next 7 weeks of Lent and we tried to address the notebook. It was a difficult conversation, but he agreed to consider the objection. Clearly we need to reconcile this topic or, I am afraid, people may stop attending until he departs.
The Archdiocese has always been very supportive of us here on Andros and, knowing that, I gave a call to the Vicar. It was very helpful conversation for me and acted as a sort of relief valve for the stress I was feeling. He was very supportive and, in the end, suggested we do our best and monitor the situation and see how it plays out, but to keep him informed. We really do want to work well and be supportive of this man as we serve the people of Andros, but if this persists it will clearly be corrupting their Lenten season and will have a negative impact on our Easter celebration. We pray that doesn't happen.
While this plays out, it is not all negative. He has, in the past, hosted Teen Movie Nights and has brought several DVDs and the equipment to show them. We want to plan a weekly viewing, followed by discussion and refreshments. It sounds like he has had some success with this, and he has a plan, so we hope we can pull this off too - it really could be quite good.
So, all in all - despite a few bumps in the road we continue to work towards growing the Kingdom of God, and what kind of Lent would it be without a few bumps in the road. Praise God for the bumps of Lent!
Keep us in your prayers - we appreciate all your support.
Friday, February 3, 2012
February Already!!!
Well I couldn't believe the last post I had here was Merry Christmas and Jolly Junkanoo. It is February already and so much has happened.
As I write this, Ginni is back home in the US being a nurse to earn the money we need to stay here. Let me explain - we do have a plan on the money issue. We have a 2 family home in Canton and a log home on a lake in NH ski country. Rental income from those properties allow us to be serving here in the Bahamas while keeping the mortgage, taxes, water bills, and insurance paid up. (If we could sell either of these properties we certainly would, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards in this economy). The problem is that not all tenants actually pay their rent - its created a financial burden we hadn't expected. The bad tenants have left and we had a few months between tenants so we are 'financially challenged'. Ginni should be able to get the hours to help fix this, but it means she'll miss about a month of Bahama time.
So Gin is gone and I am doing the 4 weekend liturgies, and the 4 CCD classes, and the RCIA classes and the cooking, cleaning, laundry, et. al. Getting time to blog is a problem!
As I wrote those words it struck me that for decades, the missionary priests that came here did all that I just described day after day after day. When I read about thier lives and what they accomplished I am amazed. Throw in the fact that for many of them, there were no roads, no air conditioning, not even electricity. Heros, every one of them.
I do have one anecdote those of you from Boston will get a kick out of. When we came here we brought all the baggage of the sexual abuse crisis in Boston. The Bahamas has been spared this scandal and so the sensitivity to 'protecting God's children', while present, is not as in-your-face as it was in Boston when I left. Bahamian parents tell me if their child acts up during CCD classes the 'beat dem deacon - if dey be bahd beat dem'. A major difference from Boston where hugging a child is frowned upon.
So anyway, Ginni is gone and I am driving the kids home after CCD. Three of these teenage girls live about a half hour away and as we drive one of them says, "Deacon, when we get out into the bush can you pull over so I can get out and pee?" I say, "Excuse me?" She says, "When we get out into the bush please pull over so I can get out and pee." I was blown away - all 3 girls thought nothing of this request - it was a perfectly innocent request from their viewpoint and expected me to just say "sure, go ahead".
Well, fortunately, our route goes past the Andros Town airport and we hadn't reached it yet so I suggested we stop there and they can actually use a toilet and they thought that was a great idea, so we did. But I gotta tell ya, if we had gone 10 minutes more we would have been driving in the bush and it would have been an interesting dilemma. Thank God I remembered the airport up ahead.
Other items of interest - the tail pipe on the van's muffler disconnected and I had tied it up with a wire coathanger until I found a parishioner who does welding. I took it to him and he welded it back on, no problem. When I offered to pay he was insulted. "Dis be da choich van Deacon, I do dis for da choich". A week later the other end of the muffler has the same problem. The pipe from the engine INTO to muffler disconnects. Once again its back to the coat hanger solution until I can find my parishioner. Turns out he is off the island seeing a dentist and won't be back for a week. (Island life dictates when you don't have something you make due until you get it). So my wire coathanger works for awhile but comes loose so I crawl under the van and wire up another one (to discover I had parked near some fire ants). Anyway this lasted until he returned and in 20 minutes this was fixed and, once again, he refused to even consider any payment. Good people.
This weekend we will have a visiting priest - the Archbishop. We are into our 4th year here and this is his 1st weekend visit to go to all the churches. It is unfortunate he is coming while Ginni is away but that's life. This past year the Archdiocese sent a surveyor to map out all the church-owned land on Andros. He will fly in Saturday morning and we will spend the day viewing all these sites so the Archbishop gets a sense of the property here. The surveyor found some land I wasn't aware of and determined some that I did know about were much larger than I had imagined. I am hoping some will be land the Archbishop may be willing to sell to help us with the costs associated with building a chapel in North Andros where there hasn't been a Catholic Church in over 40 years.
On that front - it occured to me that the Knights of Columbus might be a resource to help us with the new chapel. Coincidentally, the Grand Knight has an annual dinner to honor the clergy throughout the Bahamas and I was invited. Unfortuanely I could not attend but I sent him an email, thanking him, then telling him about the opportunity in No. Andros and asking if the Knights could help. Well I got a very nice email back, it turns out he grew up on Andros and would love to present the need to his brother Knights at their next meeting. Who knows - this could be a huge help in making this a reality. Right now the local Bahamians up North, and a few US donors, have reached the $6,000 mark. I have one builder who quoted me $50,000 and another for $30,000. All we really need is four walls and a roof (and a bathroom). I am hoping I can get the costs down but buying materials and getting them here is a significant addition to the price.
As I write this, Ginni is back home in the US being a nurse to earn the money we need to stay here. Let me explain - we do have a plan on the money issue. We have a 2 family home in Canton and a log home on a lake in NH ski country. Rental income from those properties allow us to be serving here in the Bahamas while keeping the mortgage, taxes, water bills, and insurance paid up. (If we could sell either of these properties we certainly would, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards in this economy). The problem is that not all tenants actually pay their rent - its created a financial burden we hadn't expected. The bad tenants have left and we had a few months between tenants so we are 'financially challenged'. Ginni should be able to get the hours to help fix this, but it means she'll miss about a month of Bahama time.
So Gin is gone and I am doing the 4 weekend liturgies, and the 4 CCD classes, and the RCIA classes and the cooking, cleaning, laundry, et. al. Getting time to blog is a problem!
As I wrote those words it struck me that for decades, the missionary priests that came here did all that I just described day after day after day. When I read about thier lives and what they accomplished I am amazed. Throw in the fact that for many of them, there were no roads, no air conditioning, not even electricity. Heros, every one of them.
I do have one anecdote those of you from Boston will get a kick out of. When we came here we brought all the baggage of the sexual abuse crisis in Boston. The Bahamas has been spared this scandal and so the sensitivity to 'protecting God's children', while present, is not as in-your-face as it was in Boston when I left. Bahamian parents tell me if their child acts up during CCD classes the 'beat dem deacon - if dey be bahd beat dem'. A major difference from Boston where hugging a child is frowned upon.
So anyway, Ginni is gone and I am driving the kids home after CCD. Three of these teenage girls live about a half hour away and as we drive one of them says, "Deacon, when we get out into the bush can you pull over so I can get out and pee?" I say, "Excuse me?" She says, "When we get out into the bush please pull over so I can get out and pee." I was blown away - all 3 girls thought nothing of this request - it was a perfectly innocent request from their viewpoint and expected me to just say "sure, go ahead".
Well, fortunately, our route goes past the Andros Town airport and we hadn't reached it yet so I suggested we stop there and they can actually use a toilet and they thought that was a great idea, so we did. But I gotta tell ya, if we had gone 10 minutes more we would have been driving in the bush and it would have been an interesting dilemma. Thank God I remembered the airport up ahead.
Other items of interest - the tail pipe on the van's muffler disconnected and I had tied it up with a wire coathanger until I found a parishioner who does welding. I took it to him and he welded it back on, no problem. When I offered to pay he was insulted. "Dis be da choich van Deacon, I do dis for da choich". A week later the other end of the muffler has the same problem. The pipe from the engine INTO to muffler disconnects. Once again its back to the coat hanger solution until I can find my parishioner. Turns out he is off the island seeing a dentist and won't be back for a week. (Island life dictates when you don't have something you make due until you get it). So my wire coathanger works for awhile but comes loose so I crawl under the van and wire up another one (to discover I had parked near some fire ants). Anyway this lasted until he returned and in 20 minutes this was fixed and, once again, he refused to even consider any payment. Good people.
This weekend we will have a visiting priest - the Archbishop. We are into our 4th year here and this is his 1st weekend visit to go to all the churches. It is unfortunate he is coming while Ginni is away but that's life. This past year the Archdiocese sent a surveyor to map out all the church-owned land on Andros. He will fly in Saturday morning and we will spend the day viewing all these sites so the Archbishop gets a sense of the property here. The surveyor found some land I wasn't aware of and determined some that I did know about were much larger than I had imagined. I am hoping some will be land the Archbishop may be willing to sell to help us with the costs associated with building a chapel in North Andros where there hasn't been a Catholic Church in over 40 years.
On that front - it occured to me that the Knights of Columbus might be a resource to help us with the new chapel. Coincidentally, the Grand Knight has an annual dinner to honor the clergy throughout the Bahamas and I was invited. Unfortuanely I could not attend but I sent him an email, thanking him, then telling him about the opportunity in No. Andros and asking if the Knights could help. Well I got a very nice email back, it turns out he grew up on Andros and would love to present the need to his brother Knights at their next meeting. Who knows - this could be a huge help in making this a reality. Right now the local Bahamians up North, and a few US donors, have reached the $6,000 mark. I have one builder who quoted me $50,000 and another for $30,000. All we really need is four walls and a roof (and a bathroom). I am hoping I can get the costs down but buying materials and getting them here is a significant addition to the price.
Shifting gears once more. You may be aware that the Catholic Church has changed some of the responses at Mass to be truer to the original Latin. For example, for years the response to "The Lord be with you" has been, "and also with you". Well now its "and with your spirit". Some people have picked up the new wording throughout the Mass, for others its been harder. I saw this poster the other day and fell in love with it.
One other area this has affected is music. At St. John Chrysostom in Fresh Creek the only instrument we have is a drum, and Ginni's guitar. All the new music that has been adapted to the new words are written for organ or piano. So my lovely wife took it upon herself to create an arrangement for the Gloria on guitar that uses the new words (as I said earlier, in island life you either do without or make do - so Ginni took the bull by the horns and made do). It is a wonderful version of the Gloria and we are now singing it at all of the Bahamian parishes. AUTEC is using a version from the St. Benedict Mass in the missalette. If I can ever figure out how to post audio here I'll try to record a version of us singing it. Suffice it to say this was a huge undertaking for Ginni and she did a great job.
Well I really need to sign off - this is the 1st Friday of the month and we have a Holy Hour of Adoration at the AUTEC Chapel I need to prep for. Please keep us in your prayers
- Deacon Frank
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