Well as I watch CNN from the rectory here on Andros I can see that the snow up north just keeps coming and coming. I really feel for all my friends and family dealing with 10-15" of new snow, plus sleet and freezing rain with temps soon to drop into single digits. All the while here it is mid 70s during the day and 60s at night.
With that said, in the summer they will enjoy 80 degree temps while we melt with temps over 100 and are forced to scan the horizon for hurricanes. Look at it this way - when you have a storm up north you shovel it and life goes on -- if we have a storm down here, we may have to rebuild our house.
Anyway - while I bask in the lovely Bahamian weather I am dealing with a variety of other storms. The violent crime here continues to escalate with 12 murders in January to start off the new year. At this rate we will clearly set another record in 2011. It is a concern for me because I have a few family situations that are beginning to become potential sites of domestic violence.
One woman has asked me to help her get her son out of her home. He is a drug user and has become increasingly more violent in his outbursts. I dropped by unexpectedly and we were having a chat under a mango tree when he returned yesterday. Not knowing I was there he came around the corner, clearly irritated about something but backed off when he saw me. What gave me pause was the 2' machete he was carrying. His mother and siblings saw him, their eyes got big and he began to say something to one of the kids when I stood up, stopping him mid-sentence. Seeing me and just nodded in my direction saying, "Faddah", then turned and left. It is clear that I need to do more here but the level of social services and police support is minimal so it will be a challenge.
On another front, one of my CCD kids has shown up with what look like cigarette burns on his scalp. I spoke with a nurse in town and she said that there is a scalp fungus they are seeing in school children and she has a free shampoo to address it if I could get the boy to the clinic. It would also be a way to evaluate if it is the fungus or abuse. After speaking with the mother about the fungus and the free shampoo she promised to take the boy in. I learned later, however, that the mom showed up at the clinic to get the shampoo, but didn't bring the boy. So that is still something I'm concerned about.
Ginni remains in the US getting in some nursing time (between the snow storms). One of our tenants have left and, lacking that rental income, we need the extra money to pay mortgage, insurance, taxes and water bills on our home up north. Clearly it would be better to sell them but the real estate market is still pretty poor so we are stuck in the landlord-tenant mode in order to pay the bills. We are hopeful she will be able to return in another week.
This week includes the feast of the Presentation (when the infant Jesus was brought to the Temple in compliance with Mosaic Law) and a tradition in our church is that on that day all the candles to be used in church over the next year are blessed (Christ is the light of the world so we use this feast of His presentation in the Temple to bless our candles). Since our parishioners can be on boats fishing, or off island, or working - rather than having a special liturgy I did a short Candlemas service at the beginning of all our liturgies on Sunday. It seemed to be well recieved and I was glad I could do something to make the liturgy a bit special.
Thursday is the feast of St. Blase, so while I blessed the candles at the beginning of our service, at the end I invited all who wanted, to come forward and have their throats blessed. It was quite the liturgy (all four of them).
Speaking of 4 liturgies, last Sunday after our 4th liturgy, I was driving the Haitian man home who has been attending services with us in Mastic Point. I asked him about the return from exile of ex-president Baby Doc Duvalier to Haiti. I was shocked to find out that he, and just about all Haitian people are thrilled he has returned. They're very happy he has returned from exile and are confident he will not go to jail but will be eventually elected President of Haiti once more. His english is poor so I couldn't really get much more out of him as to why he was so well recieved - other than the fact that when he arrived, and his limo was driving to Port a Prince, Baby Doc was tossing money from the limo windows - I guess that is one way to get a political following in a country ravished by poverty. Nobody is asking where that money came from in the first place. Time will tell where that goes.
Enough for now - please keep us in your prayers - especially for those family situations I'll be dealing with.
Peace
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Back on Andros
In my last post I asked you to pray that the 2' of snow in Boston wouldn't impact my flights back to Andros and it clearly worked. All my flights were on time and today it was mid 70s all day long while I know Ginni was wrestling with sleet and freezing rain .
I have had a few experiences in my first week that I thought I would share with you. I arrived late Friday and found out about 3 deaths that took place while away. Yes, one was another murder in Nassau. A school teacher who is related to the owner of the local grocery store was shot and killed while away. Our parishioner was clearly upset and called from Nassau to tell me she wouldn't be in church Sunday since she was going to be dealing with this. While we live in an 'island paradise', crime and violence in Nassau is out of control.
One of the local addicts is someone that frequently visits the Church looking for a sandwich or a soda. We have some history with this man, not all of it good. He has a history of committing robberies in town and most people have shunned him. On occasion he has taken advantage of our generosity and I've had to cut ties with him more than once. It has not been a good relationship, but eventually we reconcile (until the next time). There is clearly a pattern.
Anyway - his mother is one of the 3 deaths I mentioned earlier. She died in the hospital in Nassau and, since the family doesn't have the money to ship the body back to Andros for a funeral, the funeral and burial were in Nassau - which meant our friend had to go to Nassau. Coincidentally, the church where they held the funeral was the Cathedral - a rather impressive venue to say the least.
So, this morning I am praying my Morning Prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament and from behind me I hear "Deacon, can I come into the Church?" Well I wasn't expecting that in the midst of the dead silence of my Morning Prayer so I jumped about 3 feet, but then told him that, certainly he could come in. (You must realize that in the 2 years we have been here he has come to our front door to ask for food almost daily - but he has never set foot inside the church).
So he comes into Church and sits in the back and I continue Morning Prayer and I hear the pages of a missalette being turned. It struck me that here we are, together in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Me, the Deacon, with my prejudices about this man, and he, the addict, having just lost his mother, sits in silence just a few pews behind me. Ahh, the unifying presence of the Blessed Sacrament.
After about 5 minutes I hear the phone ring in my office and, since I was actually expecting a call, I went out and left him alone in Church while I took the call. When I came back he stood up and we talked a little. His experience in the Cathedral was moving and he knows he does bad things, but asked if I thought it was OK for him to come back to church. He knows some of the members might give him a hard time, but he wants to try. He also asked if I thought it would be OK for him to go to confession the next time we have a priest. Well, this was like a wave crashing down upon me. I am thrilled he has had the experience he has had and I really do hope he shows up on Sunday. I do know that some of the local folks will ask me if I know what I am doing since 'clearly he is only here to case the joint' (I've heard that before). But if there is a glimmer of hope that he is serious, it is worth the risk.
After we talked, he asked if he might have a sandwich and, since all I had was peanut butter and jelly - he took it gladly and was on his way. Keep Herbie in your prayers.
Now then, let me tell you about that phone call. Arnie had called a few days earlier asking me if I could find the baptismal records of his father. He thought his Dad was born in the early 1920's in Small Hope, which would take some researching on my part so I took his number and promised to call him back. Well his number was a cell phone and calling cell phones on Andros can be an adventure. In the Bahamas you buy your cell phone and then buy phone cards. You enter the phone card number into your phone and you have that much credit for your phone. So you can get a $20 phone card and use $20 worth of phone calls - when you have used all your minutes your phone is busy if anyone calls. So, you guessed it, after I find Arnie's Dad I call his number and I get that rapid busy that says to me that he has no minutes and all I can do is hope he calls back - which he did when I was praying Morning Prayer with Herbie in the back row.
So I take the call and explain what I had found and he was thrilled and asked if he could come get a Baptismal Certificate of his father's baptism and I said "Sure, why don't you come over around 10AM" Fine, all set - I figure Small Hope is the next town he shouldn't have any problem getting here by 10. Well 10 comes and goes, 10:30, 11, around 11:30 there's a knock on the door and its him. We talk a bit, I give him the Certificate, and he explains that he is trying to prove his Bahamian Citizenship. There is no record of his birth (the keeping of Birth Certificates is better now, but 40 years ago if an island midwife didn't bother to send a notice to Nassau, the birth may or may not ever get on the books and, in his case it didn't). So he was able to get a legal Affadavit that he was the son of Alton and, if he could prove Alton was a Bahamian, then he could prove he was a Bahamian - except, there is no Birth Certificate for Alton either! The fact that the Church maintains Baptismal Certificates however, would prove to be his salvation. With Alton's Baptismal Cert he could show Alton was born in the Bahamas and, with his Affadavit he could prove he was Alton's son and he would be home free. Of course if Alton had ever bothered to get Arnie baptized it would have been much easier, but that's another story.
What impressed me about Arnie however, was not this story. It was what he went through to get to me and pick up the Certificate. It turns out that while his Dad was born in Small Hope, the next town to Fresh Creek. The reason it took him so long to get to me was that Arnie lives in Lowe Sound - at the very northern end of the island and has no car. Arnie hitch-hiked for 60 miles to see me and when he left he was going to do it all over again to get home. What an amazing testimony to his perserverance to straighten all this out and prove he is a legal Bahamian.
And finally, there is Jane. Jane is 89, blind in one eye, and since her recent stroke she is homebound. In her house there are 4 daughters, all with several children, all unmarried and the fathers of these children are nowhere to be seen. Anyway, we know this family pretty well and I have been bringing her communion for several months on Sunday afternoon. For the past two weeks one of the boys in the house, about 10 years old, has been coming to church on Sunday, all by himself. This week when I brought her communion she started by asking 'Did you see my boy in Church today?' I said I did and she said, that's my grandson and I want him to be Catholic just like me. She has been evangelizing her grandchildren! The daughters consider themselves Catholic, although they don't come to church and none of their children are baptized. I have spoken to them about it but hadn't gotten anywhere - but Jane has!
When she told me she wanted this boy baptized I said, "Well that is nice Jane, but we need his mother to give permission for that to happen". At which point Jane turns to the door and yells, "Theresa, come in here, Deac wants to talk to you!" In comes Theresa and in a few short minutes she agreed to have her son baptized - and his little brother! I explained she needed to find God-parents that were Catholic and we planned to do a Baptism Prep session, then schedule the Baptism. THEN, she tells me to come in the next room to meet her cousin who just had a baby and wanted to have her baptized as well! So off I go and there's a young mom with a 2 month old sweetie in her arms, and the Daddy - so I give them the same little talk about God-parents and planning a Baptism Prep session and it feels like we are on our way to 3 new members of our Church - all because Jane was doing her job, without pressure, without guilt, just simply witnessing to the importance of being a Christian and, in God's time, people heard her.
So, as you can see it has been quite a week. Ginni is still in the US so I am flying solo with CCD and RCIA and the choir misses her terribly (actually everyone misses her terribly). So please keep me in your prayers.
Till next time
I have had a few experiences in my first week that I thought I would share with you. I arrived late Friday and found out about 3 deaths that took place while away. Yes, one was another murder in Nassau. A school teacher who is related to the owner of the local grocery store was shot and killed while away. Our parishioner was clearly upset and called from Nassau to tell me she wouldn't be in church Sunday since she was going to be dealing with this. While we live in an 'island paradise', crime and violence in Nassau is out of control.
One of the local addicts is someone that frequently visits the Church looking for a sandwich or a soda. We have some history with this man, not all of it good. He has a history of committing robberies in town and most people have shunned him. On occasion he has taken advantage of our generosity and I've had to cut ties with him more than once. It has not been a good relationship, but eventually we reconcile (until the next time). There is clearly a pattern.
Anyway - his mother is one of the 3 deaths I mentioned earlier. She died in the hospital in Nassau and, since the family doesn't have the money to ship the body back to Andros for a funeral, the funeral and burial were in Nassau - which meant our friend had to go to Nassau. Coincidentally, the church where they held the funeral was the Cathedral - a rather impressive venue to say the least.
So, this morning I am praying my Morning Prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament and from behind me I hear "Deacon, can I come into the Church?" Well I wasn't expecting that in the midst of the dead silence of my Morning Prayer so I jumped about 3 feet, but then told him that, certainly he could come in. (You must realize that in the 2 years we have been here he has come to our front door to ask for food almost daily - but he has never set foot inside the church).
So he comes into Church and sits in the back and I continue Morning Prayer and I hear the pages of a missalette being turned. It struck me that here we are, together in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Me, the Deacon, with my prejudices about this man, and he, the addict, having just lost his mother, sits in silence just a few pews behind me. Ahh, the unifying presence of the Blessed Sacrament.
After about 5 minutes I hear the phone ring in my office and, since I was actually expecting a call, I went out and left him alone in Church while I took the call. When I came back he stood up and we talked a little. His experience in the Cathedral was moving and he knows he does bad things, but asked if I thought it was OK for him to come back to church. He knows some of the members might give him a hard time, but he wants to try. He also asked if I thought it would be OK for him to go to confession the next time we have a priest. Well, this was like a wave crashing down upon me. I am thrilled he has had the experience he has had and I really do hope he shows up on Sunday. I do know that some of the local folks will ask me if I know what I am doing since 'clearly he is only here to case the joint' (I've heard that before). But if there is a glimmer of hope that he is serious, it is worth the risk.
After we talked, he asked if he might have a sandwich and, since all I had was peanut butter and jelly - he took it gladly and was on his way. Keep Herbie in your prayers.
Now then, let me tell you about that phone call. Arnie had called a few days earlier asking me if I could find the baptismal records of his father. He thought his Dad was born in the early 1920's in Small Hope, which would take some researching on my part so I took his number and promised to call him back. Well his number was a cell phone and calling cell phones on Andros can be an adventure. In the Bahamas you buy your cell phone and then buy phone cards. You enter the phone card number into your phone and you have that much credit for your phone. So you can get a $20 phone card and use $20 worth of phone calls - when you have used all your minutes your phone is busy if anyone calls. So, you guessed it, after I find Arnie's Dad I call his number and I get that rapid busy that says to me that he has no minutes and all I can do is hope he calls back - which he did when I was praying Morning Prayer with Herbie in the back row.
So I take the call and explain what I had found and he was thrilled and asked if he could come get a Baptismal Certificate of his father's baptism and I said "Sure, why don't you come over around 10AM" Fine, all set - I figure Small Hope is the next town he shouldn't have any problem getting here by 10. Well 10 comes and goes, 10:30, 11, around 11:30 there's a knock on the door and its him. We talk a bit, I give him the Certificate, and he explains that he is trying to prove his Bahamian Citizenship. There is no record of his birth (the keeping of Birth Certificates is better now, but 40 years ago if an island midwife didn't bother to send a notice to Nassau, the birth may or may not ever get on the books and, in his case it didn't). So he was able to get a legal Affadavit that he was the son of Alton and, if he could prove Alton was a Bahamian, then he could prove he was a Bahamian - except, there is no Birth Certificate for Alton either! The fact that the Church maintains Baptismal Certificates however, would prove to be his salvation. With Alton's Baptismal Cert he could show Alton was born in the Bahamas and, with his Affadavit he could prove he was Alton's son and he would be home free. Of course if Alton had ever bothered to get Arnie baptized it would have been much easier, but that's another story.
What impressed me about Arnie however, was not this story. It was what he went through to get to me and pick up the Certificate. It turns out that while his Dad was born in Small Hope, the next town to Fresh Creek. The reason it took him so long to get to me was that Arnie lives in Lowe Sound - at the very northern end of the island and has no car. Arnie hitch-hiked for 60 miles to see me and when he left he was going to do it all over again to get home. What an amazing testimony to his perserverance to straighten all this out and prove he is a legal Bahamian.
And finally, there is Jane. Jane is 89, blind in one eye, and since her recent stroke she is homebound. In her house there are 4 daughters, all with several children, all unmarried and the fathers of these children are nowhere to be seen. Anyway, we know this family pretty well and I have been bringing her communion for several months on Sunday afternoon. For the past two weeks one of the boys in the house, about 10 years old, has been coming to church on Sunday, all by himself. This week when I brought her communion she started by asking 'Did you see my boy in Church today?' I said I did and she said, that's my grandson and I want him to be Catholic just like me. She has been evangelizing her grandchildren! The daughters consider themselves Catholic, although they don't come to church and none of their children are baptized. I have spoken to them about it but hadn't gotten anywhere - but Jane has!
When she told me she wanted this boy baptized I said, "Well that is nice Jane, but we need his mother to give permission for that to happen". At which point Jane turns to the door and yells, "Theresa, come in here, Deac wants to talk to you!" In comes Theresa and in a few short minutes she agreed to have her son baptized - and his little brother! I explained she needed to find God-parents that were Catholic and we planned to do a Baptism Prep session, then schedule the Baptism. THEN, she tells me to come in the next room to meet her cousin who just had a baby and wanted to have her baptized as well! So off I go and there's a young mom with a 2 month old sweetie in her arms, and the Daddy - so I give them the same little talk about God-parents and planning a Baptism Prep session and it feels like we are on our way to 3 new members of our Church - all because Jane was doing her job, without pressure, without guilt, just simply witnessing to the importance of being a Christian and, in God's time, people heard her.
So, as you can see it has been quite a week. Ginni is still in the US so I am flying solo with CCD and RCIA and the choir misses her terribly (actually everyone misses her terribly). So please keep me in your prayers.
Till next time
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Travelling up North
Well we finally got to fly up to NY to see our new grandson - and what a joy! He is a precious little Christmas present that we totally enjoyed holding and hugging and kissing and cuddling for hours on end. Joe and Liza are doing great with little Leo and we enjoyed our time visiting with them and our other son Mike. Uncle Mike competed with us for 'Leo-time' but we managed to share him as best we could.
Mike has a 4-wheel drive jeep and, after the first snow storm of this trip he and I went '4-wheeling' through the forest on trails very few cars would dare attempt. We plowed through the white stuff with ease and I realized many of my Bahamian friends would get a kick out of seeing their Deacon in the snow so I had Mike pull up and we took this pic.
Now after seeing this pic once again I must tell you that Ginni has about had it with the beard. I had let it grow for Christmas because so many people asked me to play Santa with the Bahamian Children. Ginni has been asking me to cut it back for weeks and, now that we were with Joe (who has a nicely trimmed beard) I gave Ginni a Christmas present and used Joe's trimmer to create a whole different look. Here is a pic of the new me, watching the Boston College - Nevada bowl game with my grandson (the newest Boston College fan).
As I write this we have already left NY and are now with friends in Walpole MA and right now we are getting 18-24" of the white stuff. I am scheduled to fly back to Andros on Friday and I am hoping that the airport will use Wed night and all day Thurs to clean up so I can still get out on time. If I'm not back by Saturday the Archdiocese will have to scramble to provide coverage for the weekend liturgies. This storm is supposed to go all day Wed and end around 8PM tonight, after having started around midnight. Something about 20 hours of straight snow that tells me travel might be an issue.
This trip was a thrill for Ginni and I - to get to play with our grandson, and to re-experience snow (which I haven't seen for a few years) has been wonderful - but its time to get back to my 80 degree home on Andros.
Pray for a safe flight - until next time, Peace.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Junkanoo
Well it is Boxing Day - the day after Christmas and a national holiday in the Bahamas.
Actually, since the day after Christmas was a Sunday, today - Monday is the holiday.
Boxing Day means Junkanoo in the Bahamas a day of festival and parties.
Parades start at midnight and go all night and into the day - think caribbean mardi gras and you come close. Each year a theme is selected and different bands spend the year making costumes and preparing for band competition.
The competition is SERIOUS and the winner gets serious bragging rights. Actually, there are 2 sets of parades, one on Boxing Day, and one the day after New Years. Last year one group one the Boxing Day parade and another won the New Years Parade. The two big bands are THE SAXONS, and THE VALLEY BOYS - but they are not the only ones (which is why it takes all night for the bands to march down Bay Street before the judges).
What is interesting is that the bands consist primarily of cow bells, whistles, and horns - plus the dominant instrument DRUMS! Big drums, little drums, homemade drums - and they set the beat for the entire band, big time!
This year the parades are fighting an up hill battle with the cold. Temps in the night drop to the 50s and the hi temp is low 70s. As you can see from the costume above, it can be a bit chilly in some of these outfits - not to mention the people in the grandstands watching at 3 in the morning!
Now I do want to mention that, as I write this, I realize the folks in New England are getting 20" of snow and blizzard conditions so, while we struggle with temps in the 50s I will get no sympathy from them. We pray you all stay warm and drive safe in the midst of all that white stuff I used to have to shovel.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all - and have a Happy Junkanoo too!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Bahamian Christmas
Hello my friends -
Well as I write this it is Christmas Eve Eve and we are ramping up for a busy weekend.
This past week was full of Christmas-related activities, such as the Chamber of Commerce asking me to play Santa, a Christmas nativity play at AUTEC, a Tree Lighting Ceremony at the roundabout, and putting together plans for Christmas liturgy.
On another bright note, I had a call the other day from the Vicar of the Archdiocese telling me that we WILL have a priest for Christmas. A priest from the Seminary in Miami (where the Archdiocese of Nassau is sending its seminarians) will be joining us. As I said in my last post, with Christmas and New Years both being on Saturday we have back to back liturgies with Christmas followed by the Sunday services the very next day so this will be a huge help.
Well as I write this it is Christmas Eve Eve and we are ramping up for a busy weekend.
This past week was full of Christmas-related activities, such as the Chamber of Commerce asking me to play Santa, a Christmas nativity play at AUTEC, a Tree Lighting Ceremony at the roundabout, and putting together plans for Christmas liturgy.
One thing that is unique about the Bahamas is that it is an explicitly Christian country. By that I mean that the Constitution actually says the Bahamas is a Christian Country. Unlike the US, therefor, government officials will speak from the podium at public meetings thanking the Lord God for sending Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Every year we have a tree lighting ceremony in Fresh Creek, complete with the Royal Bahamas Police Force Band. Every year I am amazed at how freely government officials proclaim Jesus as their Lord and Savior (not only is it true, but in the Bahamas it is politically correct to do so - just the opposite of the US).
This year I hadn't been asked to do any specific role at the tree lighting so I was in jeans and a polo shirt, sitting with Ginni, enjoying the music, the speakers, and the celebratory atmosphere of the event. I was really caught off guard, therefore, when the MC said, "I notice Faddah Trimble is with us today, Faddah, will you come on up and lead us in the final Benediction?" I actually pointed to my chest and said, "Do you mean me?" People in the first three rows all turned and said, "Yes Faddah, he be calling you up" So up I went and did a spontaneous prayer and blessing - only in the Bahamas.
At AUTEC Navy Base was a bit more prepared. Every year they have a 'Living Nativity', where the children dress as shepherds, wise men, Mary and Joseph, with a newborn drafted to play Jesus (this year it was a baby girl cast as Jesus). I had been asked to read the nativity from Luke and, as each event was read, Mary and Joseph would take up their positions in the stable that the seabees had built, then the shepards would walk on stage, then the wise men - all the while I am reading the story of Jesus' birth. This isn't the best of pics but here I am reading the narrative as the procession is taking place.
It really was a great event, followed by an evening of local Bahamian food from folks that had been invited onto the Base to staff booths, along with local craftsmen and local charities the Base supports. It really was a good time - there is nothing quite as pretty as coconut palms trimmed with Christmas lights.
On another bright note, I had a call the other day from the Vicar of the Archdiocese telling me that we WILL have a priest for Christmas. A priest from the Seminary in Miami (where the Archdiocese of Nassau is sending its seminarians) will be joining us. As I said in my last post, with Christmas and New Years both being on Saturday we have back to back liturgies with Christmas followed by the Sunday services the very next day so this will be a huge help.
We met Fr. Rios yesterday and we have decided he will preach on Christmas and I will do the Sunday homilies for the Feast of the Holy Family. We'll repeat that the following weekend with him preaching for the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God on New Years, and I will take the Epiphany on Sunday. With him staying for the whole week we will, for the first time in years, be able to have daily Mass as well, not to mention the availability of Confession!
Some very kind people have given us a food basket for Christmas. While we appreciate their generosity we know so many people in need that much of the basket has found its way into their homes. We have come to know where the families are that will be having peanut butter for Christmas dinner and donations like this help us help them and they are always very, very thankful.
One story along these lines will give you an idea of what I mean. I have told you in prior blogs that in the Northern part of the island we have encounted a growing Haitian community who work the fields in the farms up north. A few weeks back we were driving one of them home after having church in the primary school (since we have no church up North). I asked him what crop was he working on and, in broken english, he said, "No work today - two weeks" I repeated my question and again, "No work - two weeks". Well it turns out that he had no work right now and the next time he was promised work was in two weeks. When I finally understood that I asked what he was doing for food while he was out of work and his answer was, "No work - two weeks". The bottom line was, there was no work for two weeks, there would be no pay for two weeks, and there would be no food for two weeks. He, and all the Haitians there, would be 'getting by', but there was no plan as to how that would happen. It was the way things were for him, pretty much the normal way of life - when you had work, you ate, if not, you didn't.
Well I didn't know that this was such a desparate situation and I only had $20, but I gave it to him for food and you would have thought I had given him a thousand. "Thank You, Thank You very much - God bless you" It was an endless stream of thanks and praise.
The next week when I picked him up he had a plastic bag full of green tomatoes he gave us. He had no money, but what he did have was the produce that the farmer thought unworthy of bringing to market - and he gave us what he had in thanks. To be truthful, what he gave us was not that appetizing to look at but - after about a week they turned bright red and, once ripe, were delicious! We ended up giving many of them to those Bahamian families with so little I mentioned earlier. Our bounty, met his need - from his bounty we met the need of others. God is good.
Well I will sign off for now - Merry Chistmas to all of you. As Jesus was born in Bethlehem we pray that he may be born anew in you - He is Emmanuel - God with us. AMEN? AMEN.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Bahamas Cold, Warm Babies, and more
Hello Again
Well, once more I am writing from Nassau, attending our monthly clergy meeting with the Archbishop. This trip is unique because of the cold. Bone chilling 50 degree temps at night and mid 60 days have all Bahamians bundled up. I am actually wearing my Boston College sweatshirt day and night!
While this is terribly cold here I know back in the US people are laughing as they deal with temps in the teens and 20s. Watching the Patriots play the Jets a few weeks ago was an eye opener. We could see the breath of all the players on TV as they lined up to play as the announcer commented on the 20 degree temps, then the following week they played the Bears in the snow!
One of the biggest news stories here, after you get past the cold, is that BTC (Bahamas Telecommunications Corp), is being sold to British Cable and Wireless. BTC is our phone company and one of the few profitable government run operations. Privatization of the phone company has been a hot topic here for years but now that its finally happening we have had protests in the streets, confrontations between the police and union marchers, & political wrangling unlike anything I'd seen in the US. Coincidentally, BTC just did an audit of its customers and decided to convert all Churches to Business Class customers, tripling our rates. After months of back and forth arguing over this it was determined that since we only have 1 phone, and its in the residence, we can be converted back to residential if we change our listing from St. John Chrysostom Church to St. John Chrysostom Rectory. Time will tell if this plan works out, but we clearly cannot afford business class rates, its a killer.
Speaking of killer, the Bahamas has had a record number of murders in 2010 and the crime wave is very serious here. The economy has many, many people out of work and the result has been a skyrocketing crime wave. The police do a pretty good job of catching the bad guys, but a poor job of preventing the crimes in the first place. It really is quite serious. When we come to Nassau on trips like this one, once we are in for supper we stay in. Going out in Nassau at night is really rather risky, unlike Andros where we feel much safer. The priest we stay with on Nassau has warned us that, if we go from the Rectory to the Church at night, we should take a flashlight and never walk across the parking lot alone. Believe me, we follow his advice. Actually, the Archbishop spoke on this topic at the clergy meeting this morning, warning us all to review our security plans. With so many businesses upgrading their security systems churches are views as the next area of opportunity for thieves, especially with the midnight liturgies we will be having over the next few weeks. Merry Christmas.
On a more positive note, the big news in our life right now is the birth of Leo John Tremblay, our newest grandson, in Sag Harbor NY. Born 12 DEC at 12:30AM, 7lbs, 6oz, he is beautiful and we can't wait to get home and visit.
Getting home will be complicated since we have nobody to cover my weekend liturgies. I am hoping I can lobby to get someone for the weekend of Jan 8 so I can leave after New Years and spend 2 weeks up North cuddling with the little guy, otherwise it will be a Mon-Fri trip for me.
Our liturgical schedule for the holidays is VERY complicated this year because both Christmas and New Years (The feast of the Holy Family) are on Saturday. So, you have the Saturday Christmas liturgies, complete with that extra Midnight Mass, and then the very next day the full slate of Sunday weekend liturgies. I will have 6 liturgies for that 2-day combination. With that complete, the very next weekend we do it all again with New Years Day on Saturday, including midnight services, then the Sunday morning services starting at 8. It will be interesting to see what kind of turn out we get, not only because of the frequency of the liturgies, but also because a large number of my parishioners will be in Nassau for Junakanoo.
Christmas time on the islands is one of great celebration. On Nassau it is a MAJOR big deal and the Junkanoo celebration is serious business. To describe it, you have to think of it on a par with Mardi Gras in New Orleans. There are Bahamian marching bands, in elaborate costumes that they work on all year long. They compete for points just like the Rose Bowl Parade floats in the US and there are serious bragging rights involved. Once the parade begins it goes well into the night and beyond midnight into the next day!
One of my chores while here is to return with a ciborium of consecrated hosts. We haven't had a priest in so long I am literally down to just a few hosts between the 3 churches. The Rector at the Cathedral has been very supportive of us on Andros and I am confident he will give us what we need to hold us over until we can get a priest to visit.
Today we spent the day shopping and we sent two shopping carts, filled to the brim, with supplies we need to the docks. On Fri morning the ferry makes the Nassau to Andros run and we will take the 7AM flight to beat it home and recieve the shipment at the Fresh Creek Dock. This will include the final few things we need for the restored church in Calabash Bay, as well as things we just don't have on Andros. My challenge will be to arrive in Fresh Creek, run to the bank to get money to pay the frieght charges, and line up someone with a pickup truck to help us carry it all from the dock to the Church (ahh, island life).
Till next time - I pray you all experience the fullness of Emmanuel, God with us.
Well, once more I am writing from Nassau, attending our monthly clergy meeting with the Archbishop. This trip is unique because of the cold. Bone chilling 50 degree temps at night and mid 60 days have all Bahamians bundled up. I am actually wearing my Boston College sweatshirt day and night!
While this is terribly cold here I know back in the US people are laughing as they deal with temps in the teens and 20s. Watching the Patriots play the Jets a few weeks ago was an eye opener. We could see the breath of all the players on TV as they lined up to play as the announcer commented on the 20 degree temps, then the following week they played the Bears in the snow!
One of the biggest news stories here, after you get past the cold, is that BTC (Bahamas Telecommunications Corp), is being sold to British Cable and Wireless. BTC is our phone company and one of the few profitable government run operations. Privatization of the phone company has been a hot topic here for years but now that its finally happening we have had protests in the streets, confrontations between the police and union marchers, & political wrangling unlike anything I'd seen in the US. Coincidentally, BTC just did an audit of its customers and decided to convert all Churches to Business Class customers, tripling our rates. After months of back and forth arguing over this it was determined that since we only have 1 phone, and its in the residence, we can be converted back to residential if we change our listing from St. John Chrysostom Church to St. John Chrysostom Rectory. Time will tell if this plan works out, but we clearly cannot afford business class rates, its a killer.
Speaking of killer, the Bahamas has had a record number of murders in 2010 and the crime wave is very serious here. The economy has many, many people out of work and the result has been a skyrocketing crime wave. The police do a pretty good job of catching the bad guys, but a poor job of preventing the crimes in the first place. It really is quite serious. When we come to Nassau on trips like this one, once we are in for supper we stay in. Going out in Nassau at night is really rather risky, unlike Andros where we feel much safer. The priest we stay with on Nassau has warned us that, if we go from the Rectory to the Church at night, we should take a flashlight and never walk across the parking lot alone. Believe me, we follow his advice. Actually, the Archbishop spoke on this topic at the clergy meeting this morning, warning us all to review our security plans. With so many businesses upgrading their security systems churches are views as the next area of opportunity for thieves, especially with the midnight liturgies we will be having over the next few weeks. Merry Christmas.
On a more positive note, the big news in our life right now is the birth of Leo John Tremblay, our newest grandson, in Sag Harbor NY. Born 12 DEC at 12:30AM, 7lbs, 6oz, he is beautiful and we can't wait to get home and visit.
Getting home will be complicated since we have nobody to cover my weekend liturgies. I am hoping I can lobby to get someone for the weekend of Jan 8 so I can leave after New Years and spend 2 weeks up North cuddling with the little guy, otherwise it will be a Mon-Fri trip for me.
Our liturgical schedule for the holidays is VERY complicated this year because both Christmas and New Years (The feast of the Holy Family) are on Saturday. So, you have the Saturday Christmas liturgies, complete with that extra Midnight Mass, and then the very next day the full slate of Sunday weekend liturgies. I will have 6 liturgies for that 2-day combination. With that complete, the very next weekend we do it all again with New Years Day on Saturday, including midnight services, then the Sunday morning services starting at 8. It will be interesting to see what kind of turn out we get, not only because of the frequency of the liturgies, but also because a large number of my parishioners will be in Nassau for Junakanoo.
Christmas time on the islands is one of great celebration. On Nassau it is a MAJOR big deal and the Junkanoo celebration is serious business. To describe it, you have to think of it on a par with Mardi Gras in New Orleans. There are Bahamian marching bands, in elaborate costumes that they work on all year long. They compete for points just like the Rose Bowl Parade floats in the US and there are serious bragging rights involved. Once the parade begins it goes well into the night and beyond midnight into the next day!
One of my chores while here is to return with a ciborium of consecrated hosts. We haven't had a priest in so long I am literally down to just a few hosts between the 3 churches. The Rector at the Cathedral has been very supportive of us on Andros and I am confident he will give us what we need to hold us over until we can get a priest to visit.
Today we spent the day shopping and we sent two shopping carts, filled to the brim, with supplies we need to the docks. On Fri morning the ferry makes the Nassau to Andros run and we will take the 7AM flight to beat it home and recieve the shipment at the Fresh Creek Dock. This will include the final few things we need for the restored church in Calabash Bay, as well as things we just don't have on Andros. My challenge will be to arrive in Fresh Creek, run to the bank to get money to pay the frieght charges, and line up someone with a pickup truck to help us carry it all from the dock to the Church (ahh, island life).
Till next time - I pray you all experience the fullness of Emmanuel, God with us.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Catching up with the news
Hello my friends
Well once again I have not been as faithful to posting here as I would like, where to begin?
For starters, at the AUTEC base we have a member we affectionately refer to as 'The Card Lady'. She is a sweetheart and has taken it upon herself to generate Get Well, Birthday, and Bereavement Cards for just about everyone on base. Well she has outdone herself! Awhile back there was something called 'Clergy Appreciation Day'. I had never heard of it, but she had. With very littel fan-fare, after our Saturday evening liturgy, I was surprised with a celebration complete with chesse and crackers, fruit, juice and cake, a card, and a wonderful photo album as a gift. Everyone who came to church filed into the hall at the rear of the church, including a few visiting engineers from companies testing their equipment with the Navy. It was great to be recognized like this and it really gave me a sense that what we are doing here is appreciated.
A few weeks ago we stopped to do our regular Sunday communion call with Anna. I have mentioned her here in the blog before. Anna is in her 90's and blind. On this Sunday we were told it was her 95th birthday, so after communion we all sang Happy Birthday and she sang and clapped her hands along with us. I've never posted a pic of Anna before, but to commemmorate her birthday she let us take her pic - here it is!
Anna, if you remember, is the woman who once gave me a hug and then said, "Oh Deacon, you be da big mahn, you come from da big bone" - cracked me up.
As you can see, the beard has gotten a bit long. The local Chamber of Commerce has asked if I would be willing to play Santa and so I have let it go. I am not sure when that will take place but you will certainly hear about it here if it really happens.
Every month we go to Nassau for a meeting with the Archbishop and the other Bahamian clergy. Our meeting is at the Emmaeus Ctr, a great facility for meetings like this. It sits atop a hill overlooking Nassau and is a great place to pray, as well as connect with other clergy to compare notes on are various ministries.
The grounds include a Benedictine cemetary and I have actually found the grave of Fr. Gabriel Roerig, OSB, the first priest to ever serve on Andros.
I have much more to tell you but I just realized the time and I have to run out to teach our last CCD class before the Christmas break. After class we will head out to the AUTEC base for dinner, followed by the rosary and a liturgy to celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. As an island nation getting to church can be problematic for many people so the Archdiocese of Nassau only has two holy days of obligation, Christmas and The Feast of the Holy Family (New Years). However, with so many Americans on the Navy Base we thought we would celebrate the Solemnity with that community.
Anyway - I better get going.
Till next time
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