Fr. Quinn's Blog

Entropy and Gravity--Good Friday Homily 2009

2009-04-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

Entropy and Gravity: Listen

Two forces in our lives that draw us down and disintegrate us to nothing. Christ Jesus was raised up! He give us LIFE! The rising of Christ on the cross crushes the forces of gravity and entropy. Instead of wallowing in our sin and selfishness; instead of breaking down to our lowest common denominator, Jesus Christ lifts us out of the miry clay and gives us the hope to overcome the natural law with the Supernatural love of God's redeeming Grace!

(Check out my First Communion class!)

Associate Pastor's Press

2009-02-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

Leave Sin in the Dust!
Praise the Lord! “I imagine you are like me. I need to be happy; I need to live on love; I need to be festive; I need to sing; and for all that, to which my being aspires, I need to know that I am forgiven. Psychiatrists attribute most of the neuroses and mental disequilibrium so common today to the suffering caused by feelings of guilt. The remedy proposed by unbelievers is to suppress the notion of sin, to remove from man the sense of sin. This is obviously a radical remedy. But it does not succeed. The conscience is still there. They may succeed in partially and temporarily stifling it, but they cannot kill it any more than they can kill God.” ---Father Jean C.J. d'Elbee on the teachings of Saint Therese (I believe in Love) Lent is the time to look at sin. I encourage you to look into sin but not to be intimidated by it! Lent allows us to examine our conscious, but not to be weighed down by it! Lent is a time to receive forgiveness, not run from it! Let us be confident in God's love for us! Let us embrace His gift of grace! Father Tom and I are here, impersona Christi (the the place of Christ) as priests, not because of who we are but because of the office we hold, Holy Orders. Every Saturday morning, we hear confessions from 8:30 to 10:30am. God's invitation is right here, at St. Pius in your backyard! Accept the invitation! Live life! Be liberated! Be free! Sure, you may be comfortable, but are you conformed to Christ? Ya, you may be happy, but are you joy-filled? Sure, you may be content, but are you FIRED UP! God is calling us this Lent, not to suppress our sin and allow it to weigh us down, but to lay it down and offer it to God. Now and forever!

Associate Pastor's Press

2009-02-06T10:08:00.000-08:00

Lenten Lonliness
Praise the Lord! “Do we really realize how utterly, how tragically lonely man is, especially in our Western world? The only way we can insulate ourselves against this loneliness which cries out for help at the top of its voice, in the most profound silence that man can be filled with, is to use the key of love. All around and about us is constant talk about poverty. Learned theologians discuss it in words that escape most of us. Philosophers do likewise. The elite, wherever they are, whoever they may be, make it a conversation piece constantly. The young never cease talking about it. But in all these conversations no one dares to look into himself and behold his loneliness! For who amongst us these days isn’t lonely? Are the theologians, the philosophers, the elite, the youth, unlonely? No. We are all lonely: those on the top of the human heap, those in the middle, and those below. Yet the answer to all that loneliness is so evident, so simple, so direct.” (Catherine Doherty)

In this weekend's Gospel, Jesus rises very early before dawn and leaves to a desert place to pray. Every time I hear Jesus doing this, I'm like, “Ya, go Jesus! Get away from the chaos and the craziness. Ditch the disciples and be alone!” That takes guts. Just to disappear and be alone and away from things. However, it is so difficult to do because of obligations. On top of that, we don't want to encounter ourselves while being away from things. I've concluded that this is why prayer is so difficult. We are confronted with our loneliness. John Paul II coined a term, “original solitude.” Original solitude is the state of man before the creation of the second man. Man was alone, before God alone. Will we allow ourselves to enter into our deserted place, our loneliness—this portion of original solitude? This Lent, let us make it a commitment. To steal away. To be away. To be alone before God in our loneliness. Not to be afraid of it, but to enter into it so we can love more deeply. So that we too, like Jesus after his purposeful loneliness, “Go on to the nearby villages to preach there also.” Listening to our loneliness leads to the love of the other and ultimately the mission of self gift. A balanced Christian lifestyle calls for periods of prayer and periods of proclamation. One can not exist vibrantly without the other. Now & Forever!

Christmas Homily: Pole Position

2008-12-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

Praise the Lord! There's nothing happening at the North Pole! No activity except for some penguins hobbling around and some polar bears eating walruses. It's blistering cold, beyond imagination and life barely exists. There are no excessive capitalist toy factories pumping out toys for boys and girls at the hands of cheerful elves. Nor are there reindeer hooked up to a sleigh ready to soar into the air traversing the globe. There's not much happening at the South Pole for that matter as well! Maybe a couple bunkered down research facilities in a hostile and sterile subzero environment. Two poles with not much meaning. Of course, we know that anything “Christmas” comes from the North Pole not the South Pole...for reasons that escape me!
Two poles at either end of the world, devoid of life and love that we've imagined and conjured up for ourselves. Two poles of a contemporary myth that, in a much deeper way, have truncated the meaning of it all. Sure, it may be all in good fun and holiday lore, but at a more sinister and subconscious level, hasn't this North Pole and all that surrounds this contemporary myth become an obsession, rampant consumerism and materialism snared in the soul society? Hasn't the meaning of Christmas been subverted by greed?
Ba humbug? Perhaps. Exaggerated. Maybe. But as a thirty-two year old post baby boom, post-modern bicentennial born citizen, I've had enough of these images cluttering up a newly discovered faith in Jesus Christ and the true meaning of Christmas! I bought the lie for too long and I do not want to be a part of it! Has today's shallow meaning of Christmas become incompatible with the story of Jesus Christ, God's son becoming man to set us free from our sins and giving us the gift of eternal life through his crucifixion and resurrection from the dead? There seems to be an ever widening rift between these conceptions of Christmas, a distance even rivaling the miles between the North and South Pole! Two stories that tell a vastly different tale. A pole of nominal and secular Christianity in a pagan culture and a truly opposite pole of orthodox and the fiercely other-worldly Christianity of authentic love. Where do we stand?
Yet in this world of ours, one that can easily deaden anyone's faith, God still is doing His work. In our lives when we continually covet things and deem them to be of much more valuable worth than the gift of God's Son, He is still loving us. In our lives when we may think we can't do enough to make up for what we've done, He has done enough for us.
I remember visiting the jail with Father Marti Carr for the first time during the Christmas of 2002. He challenged me to be with those who may not have had the most romantic and joyous Christmas behind bars. It reminded me for the first time that all indeed was not well during the idyllic days of Christmas. It also taught me that God continues to do His work in the midst of it. Since that time, I've come to see the importance of spending time with the least ones because their faith is not one thing among many competing suburban activities, but the only thing among nothing. It also convicted me that I was not doing enough. To this day I ask myself if I am doing enough. These two poles came clashing together and I realized that I had to make a decision and that only God could be the one who would bring meaning to any subsequent Christmas.
There is another pole that Isaiah mentions in our first reading. He speaks of a great darkness, gloom, a yoke that burdens us and a pole on our shoulder. There is the rod of the taskmaster and a cloak rolled in blood. This pole stretched across our back weighs us down with the heaviness of sin. This past Advent, I spoke a lot about sin because we rarely even know how to define it anymore. In fact, we are so oblivious to it, that we've come to ignore it only at the expense of many more unfulfilled lives. We come today with this pole of sinfulness. Across the brow of our back, we trudge along not knowing how much more we can do and wondering if it will ever be enough.
Yet there are two more poles for us to consider, each sustaining the true meaning of Christmas and the true meaning of Christianity. These are the stabilizing forces in life. Conversion and Mission. St. Paul exhorts us in the second reading, “reject godless ways and worldly desires.” He challenges us to live, “temperately, justly and devoutly.” The true meaning of Christmas is the call to conversion, to change the way we live so as to come to faith. To know that the story of Bethlehem is the real deal and not some distant and seldom visited place. To know that Mass is the place where we revisit a God who has come to us and called us to conversion. A God Himself who converted from the heights of His divinity to the depths of our humanity. I can't help but think of God coming down to us as I hold the host before someone in communion. I hold up the body of Christ and proclaim for each individual, “The Body of Christ,” and then lower the host into the palm of someone's hand. As if God is coming down from heaven to earth once again, time and time again descending into the palm of our lives seeking us out and calling us to conversion. We proclaim, “Amen, I believe.” Do we believe? He is the Wonder-Counselor, the God-Hero, the Father Forever, the Prince of Peace. Let us confess our sins before God and accept the Christmas gift that changes a life forever The darkness and gloom of depression can be transformed into light, abundant joy and great rejoicing. “A child is born to us, a son is given us; upon HIS SHOULDER dominion rests.
The second pole of Christianity is that of mission. This complements conversion. When converted, when our hearts are changed, we are called to mission. To, “go out to all nations and preach the Good News.” Unlike many other world religions that are stuck in contemplation, Christianity is a way, it is mission. This sense of mission is characteristic of our God because He is the One who comes to us in the ultimate mission, the incarnation. He is Emmanuel, God with us, the missionary God seeking us out. No other faith makes the claim that God became man to set us free from sin. His act of love IS enough! We need not think there is something that we can do to earn salvation, eternal life. It is a completely unmerited unconditional gift from God, the gift of His Son Jesus Christ. We are really just left with the decision to accept the gift and bring it to others.
Yes, bringing gifts to others isn't a bad thing. But it must be indicative of the accepting of the gift of Jesus Christ in our own lives, to allow His love to incardinate in our souls. This Christmas, let us drop the poles of shallow and meaningless Christmas lore, the pole of sin that makes us toil and pick up the pole, the cross of conversion, the banner of mission and live, maybe for the first time for the fiercely other-worldly Christianity of authentic love. Jesus Christ is born! “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Now and Forever!

Nominal Catholic vs. an ON-FIRE Catholic

2008-12-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

ASSOCIATE PASTOR'S PRESS
Praise the Lord! Brit Hume, a news anchor for FOX, recently commented on his upcoming retirement, “I certainly want to pursue my faith more ardently than I have done. I'm not claiming it's impossible to do when you work in this business. I was kind of a nominal Christian for the longest time. When my son died (by suicide in 1998), I came to Christ in a way that was very meaningful to me. If a person is a Christian and tries to face up to the implications of what you say you believe, it's a pretty big thing. If you do it part time, you're not really living it.” What does it mean to be a nominal Christian versus an “on-fire” Christian? Nominal means doing the bare minimum. It means living our faith in a complacent or mediocre way. Being nominal means not noticing the beauty and vividness of our Catholic faith. After reading, Letters to a Young Catholic by George Wiegel, I made up my mind that being nominal and mediocre in my relationship with Jesus Christ was not an option. In a priestly mission statement I included a quotation, “Never a mind so effervescent full of wit and wisdom, zealous to his goal in every detail. Never a body so untiring, strong and energetic, emanating fire from a secret source within. Never a heart so abounding with devotion, touching all with special persevering care. Never a spirit so undying filled with God’s purpose and his precious love. Real happiness is following Jesus and serving him” Some lady by the name of Helen Stewart said that and I liked it! So I've always wished to be like that. Time and time since then, I've discovered that it seems so far away but as I came to understand God's love for me, the words of I John I began to ring true, “If we say, 'We have no sin,' we are deceiving ourselves and truth has no place in us; if we acknowledge our sins, He is trustworthy and upright, so that he will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all evil.” It dawned on me that I didn't have to have it all together and be all these things all the time. I didn't have to, “have a mind that was effervescent full of wit and wisdom, zealous in every detail...untiring, strong, energetic...” etc. Sure it was good to strive for this, but God loved all of me. As long as I asked Jesus for His forgiveness, and strove for holiness, He'd take care of the rest. Being “on-fire” was being my nominal, my natural self, but at the same time, allowing the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to, “cleanse me from all sin.” Don't wait until retirement, like Mr. Hume, to shift from mediocrity and nominal Christianianity to being on-fire. Repent and ask Jesus for the gift of His unconditional love. The seven deadly sins are very much alive in a very sinister way these days. What are they? Pride, Covertness, anger, lust, gluttony, envy and sloth. These vices are nominal ways to live. These sins cover a vast array of meaningless and fruitless lives. The seven virtues that combat these deadly sins are, humility, liberality, chastity, meekness, temperance, brotherly love and diligence. Let's live for Jesus and give our lives to Him. He gave His entire life for us! How could we not give our entire lives to Him! Let's do it full time, not part time. Let's believe the implication of His Christmas coming so we may live the implications of a truly dedicated Christian life! Father Leo Dehon, the founder of the Priests of the Sacred Heart, “The love of the Lord must dominate everything in our lives. We owe Him not only grateful love, but also preferential love.” Jesus said he came to the world ablaze. Jesus says, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Luke 12:49) Let's be set ON FIRE! Now and forever!

The African Adventure Continues

2008-09-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

We have had much adventure since the last time we wrote! The Lord has been keeping us on our toes, that's for sure. This week has flown by and we only have a short 11 days remaining! We had the privilage of going with Sr. Mary Jo to her apostolate work: Divine Providence Nursery. There are about 50 kiddos that come here for daycare full of energy, ready to sing and learn. It costs them about $100 Ghana Cedis, about $100 per term and there are 3 terms. So it is quite obvious that these children come from pretty well off families. They learn all kinds of fun stuff. They sang songs, many nursery rhymes that we knew, and practice their writing skills so that they are ready for kindergarten. They practice writing on slates with chalk rather than on paper with pencils. One girl kept petting my hair and with a look of amazement she said "I like your hair." They don't have flowing hair that is soft...she had never seen anything like this, much less, touched something like this so i just let her go to town...the teachers had a good laugh! I also had an older boy come up to me and point to my arm and say "White, you are white." They cracked us up! Sister said that some of these children are dropped off at 6am and aren't picked up until 6pm...yikes! That is a long day for those kiddos and for those teachers! But like any children, their favorite part of the day is snack time and recess...their playground equipment could sure use some WD40!!! The next day we went shopping at the Art Center. This is like a large market where you barder a good price. Brother Francis, our driver, came with us and good thing because it was crazy. As soon as they see white folk, they pounce and shove things in your face to buy. It was quite overwhelming! But we got the hang of things and didn't let them rip us off! While here, we bought some shaker things made out of beads and gord like things. But to get them we went back where they hand make the drums. It was really neat to see these large stumps and them they carve them out and carve a design on the outside and paint them up and then string a hide of an animal on the top for the head of the drum. These are some very skilled people! They do everything by hand, they don't have fancy machines like we do in America. I can't imagine how long this would take to make just one! It is very strange here, people will take time to sweep the streets and walkways from leaves but there will be garbage piles to the sides. I don't understand it, but the noise of the broom is what we wake up to every morning at the Generalate...but not a normal broom, it is made from a very thick and sturdy straw, kind of like smaller branches scrapping on the cement. You can sweep something 52 times a day and things will still be full of dirt and dust, it is just the name of the game here. Brother Bernie, the gardener and auntie, the cook let Angela and myself pound the Fufu. They premix the kasava and corn flower and then for some reason you have to pound it for like 20 minutes. It look very easy, we thought, No problem...yeah right...you really have to pound with this huge stick! it was fun for the first 3 minutes! Then brother Bernie climbe the paw paw tree, papaya for us but for some reason they call it a paw paw tree. Well, he climbed the tree and picked a bunch of fruit for us to eat! Yummy! But very slimy. It looks like a cantalope, but very soft and mushy...kind of a different texture and not very sweet. We also got to eat some Ghanian oranges, but they are GREEN! A green orange...hmmmm, it was kind of bitter and rough because they aren't fully in season and they told us they have the ones we have that are fully orange but they are not in season right now. I have also learned to just try something new rather than always ask what it may be for fear of what they may tell us! One night we had Ghanian spaghetti and there was some tougher meat mixed in...it turned out to be chicken gizards!!!! I was fine until I knew what it was...so i have just learned to keep my mouth shut and enjoy the tasty cuisine. Fish, fish and more fish....lots and lots of fish. Almost every meal they have fish...its growing on us but we are not to the point of being able to eat all the bones of EVERYTHING like the sisters...in time? We'll see!

Need some aire for your tires? Just pull off the side of the road and fill up!

Need some furniture? Just pull off the side of the road and carry it home on the top of your head or the top of your car!

Check this cool palm tree out...like a giant fan!

They have these little sticks sold in a tiny bundle called chewing sticks. They are my new favorite thing! You chew them to make your teeth stronger and then you kind of bite the end and use it as a brush for your teeth. It leaves them as smooth as can be! When Sr. Angela first told me about these, I was picturing a large stick from a tree but this is smaller than a popsicle stick. Angela doesn't really care for them because it leaves a bit of a wood after taste and it leaves little pieces of wood in your mouth!

The next Pope mobile?

Wanna climp the coconut tree? Sr. Mary Assumpta told us we had to save all of our dangerous adventures for when she left...

Back at it again...selling for survival...sun up to sun down On Friday, the 5th of September we went back to the orphanage, perhaps our last visit there. There were a couple other a braunies, white people, volunteering. One girl was from California and she was excited to hear we were from Wisconsin. She told us she was conceived in Madison...ah, the things strangers will tell you. Anyway, we got to talking and she had been in Ghana for 3 weeks working at a private orphanage that was a happy, cleaner environment. They learned things, they sang, the kids weren't all crying...it was a home, the kids were adjusted and happy. That is not what this place was. It is dark and full of screams of Get me the heck out of here. How painful it was to put those children down knowing full well of their living conditions...eating off the floor, sitting in wet pants, neglected. Being only at this place, we were very ignorant thinking this is just how it is. We heard what other volunteers were saying but it was hard to believe at first because it is so unbelieveable, but something clicked today. We were talking with the doctor there and he told us these kids are not properly developing because of the lack of nutrition of fuits and vegetables...being in Ghana, I have never eaten so much fruit in my life...it is all over on the trees...for FREE! Why are they not getting what they need when it is right here? So we tried our best to make our time there a time of joyfilled love. All the kids were screaming and crying waiting for their food to come out so I told Angela to start singing and she did. You should have seen these kids faces turn from so unhappy to laughing, just staring in wonderment like what the heck is this girl doing, but they loved it! We also learned that there are some very sick children here that they never told us about. God is bigger than AIDS, Hepititis, TB, Malaria...please pray that God keeps us free from all sickness. But beyond us, what if these kids are sharing a potty or spoon or sippy cup...the doctor said that this is how most of the children get sick...Lord have mercy. After staying 3 hours, we decided we had enough and it was time to go. As we walked passed the bathtub room, there were still 2 kiddos on the pot so I said Angela, we are on a mission from God, if one of the workers sees us, we are going to really get a whoopin' but we need to get these kids cleaned up and in a crib they are falling asleep on the pot and they are gonna fall off. So we began our secret mission, claimed them for Christ and made the sign of the cross on their forehead, and cleaned them up for nap time! It was hard to walk out of there without tears streaming down our face. These children deserve to be treated with dignity. As I sit here and type away in this very nice internet cafe with Fr. Carr's picture, St. Therese's picture and Pier Girogio Frassati's picture next to me, i can't help but wonder what kind of response the Lord is asking from us? These 3 friends of mine were not afraid to respond. Please pray that we too will not be afraid! No Tengan Miedo! Father, we abandon ourselves into your hangs; do with us what you will. Whatever you may do, we thank you: we are ready for all, we accept all. Let only your will be done in us, and in all your creatures-we wish no more than this, O Lord. Into your hands we commend our souls; we offer them to you with all the love of our hearts, for we love you, Lord, and so need to give oursevles, to surrender ourselves into your hands, without reserve, and with boundless confidence, for you are our Father. AMEN.

Charles de Foucald may the Lord shower you with love overflowing!

Duc In Altum!

Cast into the Deep!

All for Jesus!

Your Ghanian Missionaries,

Jenny & Angela

From one dropping to another

2008-09-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

~Droppings #1
Interesting title isn't it? But, what does it mean? Well, let me explain a bit further. I have had the great opportunity to learn some African drumming skills here from some natives that really know how to teach and are willing to take the time to do so. I had a private lesson yesterday with a man named Mosquito Net. WOW! How do you like that name...I told him that he is very much needed here in Ghana with a name like Mosquito Net. Well, Mosquito Net and 2 of his friends sat with me for nearly 3 hours playing the drums. It was a great lesson and I had very red fingers when the lesson was over. I really didn't know how much I was to pay these drummers because one of the religious Sisters pays the main drummer that Mosquito Net works for. SO, as we were ready to depart, Mosquito Net says to me, "I take droppings." Well, I thought "droppings"....hmmm....my mind went...then I said, "Money?" He said, "yeah." When i returned to the convent for the night, I told Jenny and she said droppins in Amercia is poop. After talking to Sister, I found out that the word "droppings" here means taxi....get dropped off here and then dropped off there. So, Mosquito Net was really looking for money for a taxi.

~Droppings #2
Today, I worked at the orphanage for a few hours. They have table cloths that are cut in smaller pieces so that you can hold the baby or child with out getting wet yourself because the babies where cloth diapers. Well, unfortunately for me, I didn't have the table cloth on my pants when out of the loose cloth diaper came, you guessed it "droppings." I mean a good amount of droppings right on my pants...to the point that some of the droppings hit the floor when I got up. The little girl didn't mind one bit as she calmly relaxed during the whole clean up procedure. I never knew I would miss wet wipes and disposable diapers so much.

~Follow up on the baby that needed help:
Please pray for the babies family that I mentioned last time. The baby passed away 5 minutes after being baptised and that leaves the father who had a stroke, an aunt and 2 children.

~Other news:
Jenny and I ate fufu (a popular food here) with our hands (the tradition here.)

God Bless!

Angela

Good news from Ghana!

2008-09-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

Our time at the Orphanage

Angela and Sr. Angela's sister. This is the outfit she made for Angela when she took her measurements alongside the road at her sewing shop! It's it beautiful!

Raw sugar cane bought along the side of the road. They peel off the outer layer and then you suck the cane juice right out, bite off that part and begin again with the peeling. It is not what we expected at all. It is not super sweet like granulated sugar but a tasty dessert!

Finally, they let us be real Ghanians and eat a bowl full of Fufu. It is made of corn flower and kasava...i think...it is very sticky but very yummy in some homemade peanut and chicken soup!

Our time at the Orphanage

Angela and her first drumming lesson with Sr. Brigid

Sister gave us a lesson in carrying stuff on our heads...good thing it was only a box of bread

Sr. mary assumpta next to Our Lady of Lourdes grotto. Sr. Brigid designed this herself and it is not quite complete but her vision is to have the water inside the pond blessed so that people can come and stick their feet in and fetch the water to drink and pray throuhgh Mary's interession for healing

Happy belated labor day America!

2008-09-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 2nd

I took a nice long Labor day siesta in honor of all of you yesterday! Today was a sad day, Sister left for to go back to the states. It was hard to see her have to go when her heart is here. It is ready to come home to be with her people. What a beautiful witness of obedience. Following the will of the Lord, not her own. What a great mother she has been to us...always making sure we are cared for, having enough cold water, calling home, getting enough rest, saying a prayer before we depart in a taxi that may explode on the way to our destination. This holy woman is a saint, completely gifting herself to not just us but to all those she meets. Thank you sister, for welcoming us into your home, into you life, into your heart. we are forever greatful for this experience and to be able to have shared half of it with you was a blessing! We went back to the orhpanage after mass today and loved on little babies, babies, and more little babies. There are so many of them who are so malnourished that have the big head, big belly and tiny tiny tiny worse then chicken legs arms and legs...but they are so fully of life and energy...just waiting for hugs and kisses. So that is what we did, we picked Jesus up one at a time and loved him through his poddie pants. That is one huge thing that we are learning being here: one at a time. That is how you make a difference! The need is so huge and overwhelming, you just want to help and make things better, but the only way you are going to do anything is by picking them up one at a time, kissing them one at a time, telling them they are loved one at a time, telling them God had plans for them one at a time, telling them to dream big because with Jesus the sky is the limit one at a time. Mentally and emotionally this had been a very hard trip. We are learning lots about the reality of life here...very simple but not easy. They have a huge need for a God here. They are faithfilled, hopeful, full of life...I still don't know how they do it. You know, as hard as it is to go to that orphanage, I praise God these children are here rather than having them be aborted. "It was not you who choose me, but I who choose you." Praised be Jesus ChristNow and Forever Amen!

With Love and baby slobber,
Your Ghanian missionaries
jenny & angela

Children's Harvest

2008-09-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 31st

Today mass was another very long celebration because of the Sunday School Children's Harvest. The children performed dances and they auctioned off things for crazy amounts of money to raise money for the program. These kids are AMAZING dancersf! I took lots of movies of them. they remind me of the SouthShore Color Guard from the Fish Day parade in Port Washington. Our drumming teacher Robert taught them all of these dances for the big day. It was sooooooo good! What entertainment and it was probably entertainment for all these people to watch 2 white girls wanting to rock it out with them! WOW, WHAT A MASS! Sister Mary Assumpta came back from her village today to tell us the news...Baby Fafa that I told you all about earlier died. What a miracle of a story it all was. Sister found a home for children run by Mother Teresa's sisters that the baby could have been brought to and then a couple years later brought back home. She was all set, they had a bag packed for the baby and they went to the church to baptize the baby...Claire is her baptismal name! They came back to Sister's home to get her bags and in the time it took her to go in the house to get her things, the baby went to sleep and never woke up. Peacefully welcomed home into the hands of the Lord. Again, just when we go and make plans, He always has others. This really shook sister up, but now there is a fresh little saint in heaven praying for sister in gratitude for all her love and sacrifice! She was waiting to be baptized and then she was ready! Makes you see how precious life really is.

All For Jesus,
Your Ghanian Missionaries
jenny & angela

Babies and Babies and More little Babies!!!!

2008-09-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

Thursday, August 28th

2B honest, I don't really know where I left off from the last blog. Hours and days run into one another, the sun rises, the rooster wakes you and before you know it it is time for Fufu and plantains, the sun goes down and you are thankful there is a fan above you circulating as you lie your head down for sleep. There seems to be little concept of time here. No one seems 2B in a rush or impatient (especially in traffic). I have found either you can let it all bother you that it takes so long to do a very simple thing like get to an internet cafe or you can go with the flow and just count it all gift. We didnot really know what this coming week would hold, and why would we when we don't even know what today is going to hold. We've learned to not make plans because the Lord will change them anyway...just go with the flow and He will provide. Angela and I expressed interest in going to an Orphanage and what do you know, the Lord opened a door and later this afternoon, we were en route! We didn't know what to expect, but what an eye opener. This place is government run with all kinds of workers and volunteers and children. These children will never know their families, these are the ones that have been abandoned because their mom is in jail, mom died and family can't care for them, is disabled and unwanted, etc. The foul smell was overwhelming as we walked into feeding time. 38 babies with cribs lining the halls with babies crying out "pick me, please, pick me, I just want to be held and loved". You just want to grab them all. You want to kiss them all. You want to change their stinky pants and feed them and take them away in your pocket. They never turn a child down because if they don't welcome them in, the child will probably die. They do the best they can here...what an eye opener! What beautiful language love is. You look into their eyes and they look into yours and you meet in the middle...in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. There is some hesitancy in picking these soiled children up. What if they are sick and they pass it along to you? What if? what if? What if? What if that were me and I couldn't help being hungry, full of poo and pee, waiting 2B loved, waiting to be picked up and given a glimmer of hope, waiting for that healing touch of another human, waiting for my tears to be wiped? I sure hope God would send someone that was not afraid to pick me up. So there we were...Babies in both hands, loving every minute of it. In reality, we wanted to be held just as much as they did. What a beautiful exhange of love especially when holding the children with disabilities. There was one little princess, maybe 5 or 6, can't walk, talk, feed herself, sit up. She spends much of her time in her crib drooling, but she lights up when you come to her side. I lifted her out and sat down to sing songs with her. We did arm exercises by making the sign of the cross and she would laugh and laugh and laugh. What a TREASURE!!! Tonight, Angela had her first drumming lesson with Sr. Brigid. She is a woman of many talents...grotto building, dancing, drumming...We also had Fufu for lunch. They eat a heavy breakfast, a late and heavy lunch and a lite and very late dinner. This stuff is great! In the news: Ghanian rapper 'Tic Tac' has swept the country off their feet with the new kangaroo dance. Even the political parties are doing it! you bend your fingers to look like kangaroo paws, you put your hands kind of like kyou are boxing (one in front of the other and jerk your head like a rooster. It is quite funny! There were massive floods in the Northern Region killing people and destroying thousands of homes. Many villagers have mud huts that will be demolished with some heavy rains. Ghana Decides 2008: This December, they vote in a new president so as you can imagine, things politically are in full swing here! The favorite of the 2 is from the NPP party and they have a chant that they sing with him: Na Na Nah NACHO...we are moving forward. They don't say Nacho, but it sure sounds like it!

Postcards for Africa

2008-08-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

Assumpta and her parents

Baby Fafa

Sister Mary Assumpta's brother (really her cousin) but they all call one another sister and brother because they all grew up together in the village. He is peeling off the corn from the cob and then they will grind it to make the corn flour for their many foods. A very simple lifestyle in terms of material things, but it is not very simple at all. Everything takes a very long time...getting from one place to another, making food (they make most of it from scratch), making a living to provide for the family, hauling water to do dishes. These simple, very basic things that to us, take them the majority of a day, but they do it joyfully with a smile on.

This is a village kitchen outside of the house. It is too hot to be inside the house

These children are from Sr. Mary Assumpta's village. We gave some of our school supplies out to them! I've never seen such greatful children to receive something so small as glue sticks and crayons. In America, we would hear 'That's it?'

This is a gas station believe it or not! In the city they have Shell stations, this was one out in the middle of no where in a village. The man would pump a couple of times and the gas would fill in the glass container and then he hit the release button and it flowed into the tank. Very fascinating!

sisters in worship

All ready to praise the Lord Ghanian Style. Sunday, the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time!

Yum Yum 3 kinds of fish, tomatoes and onions for dinner with rice

We are with Sister Angela's sister at her road side sewing shop! Look at her face and you will see Sister Angela, our Sister Angela at the Place 2B. Her sister measured Angela up to make her some Ghanian clothes!

self explanatory

With Sr. Brigid, Mother General of the Handmaids

Angela on the playground at the boarding house

This is the school bus for Our Lady of Fatima Jubilee School, the school Father Carr's Place 2B help build. But this bus crams in about 20 little children and makes about 5 runs back and forth from the boarding house to the school itself. We have begun praying for a donor to help sponsor them a bus. This is a great need they have!

Fruit and Vegie stand on the side of the road. They don't go to the grocery store like we do, everything is sold on the side of the road or they bring it right to your car window...talk about road side service.

Fresh coconuts, we drank the water and Sister ate the slimy inside...one of the many things I've tried that I didn't like!

Wednesday, August 27th

2008-08-28T16:18:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER BRIGID!!!!!
This morning after mass, we celebrate Sr. Brigid's birthday! What a day for a mother to share with St. Monica!
Thank you for your prayers! Please pray that we remain open to what God wants to show us! Little by little, He is unveiling a very beautiful treasure! We must be on our way now...until we meet again in the Eucharist...
Da nah say Da nah-ah say Da onya may ah say

God Bless you
Your Ghanian missionaries,

Jenny & Angela

Tuesday, August 26th

2008-08-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Today we gave Sr. Brigid and Sr. Matilda (the assistant superior general) the generous monetary gifts that people sent with us. They were so thankful. We told them that before we leave, we would like a list of ways that we can help from Wisconsin. They said a very big need is a bus to transport children to and from school and also to sponsor children's tuition for a year. The greatest gift you can give someone here is the gift of education. It is their way of making a life for themsleves and for their families...it is their ticket to survival.

The sisters also taught us some Ghanian songs!!!! It was fun watching Angela try to repeat the words the sisters were saying! Father Carr always said, Jenny, you can tell a good convent from a bad one from the amount of laughter you hear within its walls! I have never laughed so hard in my life. Sister Brigid kept telling us to make it stop because her head hurt so bad. God is Alive! These people know how to pray, play, laugh and celebrate! They really know how to enjoy one anothers company...a great sense of community here...they see you off and welcome you home every time you leave...a TRUE family!

Jenny & Angela

Monday, August 25th

2008-08-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

Today we spent some time in Sr.Mary Assumpta's village with her mom and dad and people. We brought some school supplies with us to give out to the children! What a great gift of joy the Lord brought to me by simply being with these children and with Sister's family. Her dad is a holy man, a stern man, a man in love with the Lord, a man full of hope...I see now why Sister is the way that she is...she is just like him! Her dad is not doing well physically. He has been in and out of the hospital and is in need of many prayers. He has gone blind in one eye already and cateracts are taking over his other. He is also struggling with his prostate. He will be having back to back surgeries in the coming months.

As the children received their school supplies they sang a song in their language for us. Such happy little boys and girls. We can't wait to spend time with the school children when school resumes at Our Lady of Fatima. This is where the bulk of the donated supplies will go. Not just these children, but children everywhere LOVE having their picture taken...

It was nearing the time to depart the village and head back to the Generalate when I heard a hiss. This is how the people call one another like 'hey you, come here.' I turned around and there was a girl standing in the window smiling. Me and Sister walked over and said hello to see a woman holding a crying, very tiny baby in her arms. Sister was telling me the story of these children. This baby is 2 weeks old, her mother died last week, she has an older brother and sister and a dad that just had a stroke and can't feed himself, can't bathe himself...is basically back to the state of his daughter, a baby. Her name is Fafa which means peace. The woman holding here was a family member and welcomed us into her home. She has no means of supporting the children, the dad, much less, herself. The baby cried all night long because she is hungry and they have to ration the formula because they don't want to run out. I held the baby and rocked her. She is spotted with rashes and is in obvious need of hospital care. Sister said that she doesn't have insurance and without it, the bill will be very big, too big for them to pay. If today you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts. I heard the cry of the poor. I heard it very clear..."I am thirsty, will you give me to drink. I am hungry, will you give me to eat." I offered the $80 I had and we scrounged up $40 more to meet the required payment for insurance. Leaving that baby was hard. I began to weep. She did not choose this. This family did not choose this. God, why? Why the suffering in the poorest, the most innocent? And then I realized God was saying I am here. He has a plan for her and her family. He also has a plan for me through this encounter with her. What an opportunity for me to offer myself in love. Her suffering has caused me to make a gift of myself back to her...What a mysteriously beautiful thing. Without God, without faith these people would be hopeless. This aunt caring for the baby knows she has no money but she knows she has the power of prayer and that will sustain them. WOW!!! Can you imagine what America would be like if we understood this? Mother Teresa was right in saying that America has a great spiritual poverty; so many suicides, so much divorce and broken families, so much hopelessness even in very young children. I thank God for this whole experience with Fafa, as painful as it was, it reminded me of the importance and necessity of God. Without Him grounding my life, I am like a house built on sand in the middle of a storm. Faith...a free gift...

Please pray for Baby Fafa and her family
Into His mercy we run,
Your Ghanian missionaries,
Jenny & Angela

Sunday, August 24th

2008-08-28T16:10:00.000-07:00

The day begin with a large bowl of kenkay and fish! "Eat up!" Sister said we are in for a real treat...a 4 hour mass! What a celebration!!!! They really know how to praise the Lord! They dance and sing and dance and sing some more and dance and sing even more. A very large number of the HDR sisters were there to support and celebrate with Sr. Catherine...it was awesome to sit behind all those white habits and watch them pray. Their dance is their prayer. The part of the mass that really made me smile was the offeratory. They put large baskets at the front of the pews and everyone danced their way up and dropped their offering to the Lord there. It was not a secret envelope or passing the basket by and hope that no one saw you not put anything in. They have so little and even the poorest will bring up some of what she has to offer it to the Lord. It was quite inspiring...I think we should start doing this! It would sure make us accountable, not out of obligation and duty but rather out of a love of the Lord, in thanksgiving for the gifts of our lives and all that He gives us!

Jenny & Angela

Saturday, August 23rd Feast of St. Rose of Lima

2008-08-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

Praised Be Jesus Christ, Now and Forever Amen!
Ack-bay Nam-ah-ooo (phonetical spelling!)

Happy belated feast day Fr. Quinn and Fr. Tom (St. Pius X)! We prayed for you and your parish. Father Quinn, I hope you wore your rose colored Chucks on Rose's feast day today!

We went to the Art center to buy some Ghanian clothing so we could fit in for Sunday Mass. It was like a giant market square only as soon as you are looking into someones little shop they will pounce you. They depend on this for income, to simply have money to eat, sometimes providing for an entire family. At first, I was very irritated because they wouldn't leave us alone. They would sweet talk you and get to know your name and then try to have you buy something from them. For some, this could be their only sale for the day. There are so many vendors and they all want a sale...very good salesmen just trying to earn a keep. After Sister explained to us why they are so persistant things started to make more sense. We also tried fresh coconut! Yuck! Not for these American taste buds!!!! It was funny watching Sister scrape the inside of the slime out and slurping it out.

We were then off on our weekend adventure to Ho in the Volta Region. In Wisconsin, the state is spilt into counties...in Ghana the country is split into regions. So we traveled from Accra to North East to Ho. Sister Catherine, on of the HDR sisters, a classmate of Sr. Angela's, was celebrating her 25th year of religious life, her silver jubilee. On the way out there, we stopped at the Mother House in Agomanyo. The delegates for the chapter were on retreat here. Every 4 years this congregation has what is called a chapter. Delegates are chosen from throughout the congregation to help decide where the congregation is moving and who they should elect for a new superior. It is a very busy, and prayerful time for their community, but Sister Brigid still had time to greet us and show us around the compound. She took us to St. Martin de Porres hospital where they see many aids patients, deliver babies, and care for sick children. We also saw the boarding house for the girls for Our Lady of Fatima school and the BUS!!!!

My heart is still heavy. I can't wait to pray the mass tomorrow for Sr. Catherine's celebration!

All for Jesus,
Your Ghanian missionaries,
Jenny & Angela

Madasaa, madasaa to all of you!

2008-08-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! Greetings from Ghana, West Africa!

Madasaa (Thank you) to all of you for your prayers and blessings! God is taking excellent care of us on our journey thus far and will continue to do so with your continued prayers and support! Madasaa, madasaa to all of you!

Our journey to Ghana was indeed long, but considering the long journey it went very well. The night before I left, I was a bit stressed and overwhelmed but with mom's help we got-r-packed and I awoke at 4:30am. Dad kindly took me to the airport in Green Bay for our flight departing at 7:20am. We had a lovely, long layover in Detroit for 11 hours. God so provided for Jenny and I, his sleepy children. We walked unplanned right to some comfortable chairs with cushioned foot stools where we could sleep on and off until lunch time. There was a great water fountain to watch that entertained us. We walked around and then slept again....our gaurdian angels woke us up at 8:10pm when we realized our plane was boarding in 15minutes...just enough time to grab a bite and go to the bathroom and board the plane. Amsterdam was short lived as we again used the rest room, grabbed a bite and took off for Ghana. All flights were smooth and on time...PRAISE JESUS!

So, life in Ghana thus far is more from a touristic point of view seeing as I haven't yet really interacted directly with the people too much so far. Some stories that really stick out in my head I will share with you below:

Yesterday, our driver Francis (he works for the sisters driving them where they need to go), SIster Martha, Jenny and I went for a long 2 hour drive. 2 hour drive in Ghana is long because the roads are windy, busy, and roads are not good in some places. We went to the central region of Ghana by the ocean where we saw a Castle and the slave trade took place....so sad...tell you more details on that later. On the way back, it was getting late so SIster decided to stop to buy some yogurt (frozen in a tube). About 5 or more kids were selling items and they rushed to the car to get there first to make the sale. The kids began arguing over how sister should purchase it from them. I began to realize later in the day when it became very dark (after 6pm) that the woman and children and men were still out at the side of the road selling everything. I mean everything....furniture, super glue, mops, brooms, gum, yogurt, pineapple, mangos, corn, plantine, soap, etc. See, not everyone has a car here and some cannot get to the store, so they buy it on the side of the road. Also, the sad reality exists for those people selling.....they are selling all day long, carrying bread, fruits, suitcases on their heads waiting for sale. They sell Monday - Saturday and take a break on Sunday to go to church. They will have to sell all day or they will have no food to eat themselves. There are many single women in Ghana. If the baby cannot walk, they tie the baby to their backs, if the child can walk, they walk with mom and if the child is old enough, they are selling the items. YOu will find people walking in the middle of the streets going up to your cars to sell you anything and everything. So, these kids I mentioned earlier who were arguing by our car were really fighting for a sale....to live, for survival. I saw shantees and mud houses along the road in some villages, people making fires along the road to cook food to sell and fires in the yards to cook for their families. Its very different from America forsure!

Another story: As we were traveling back to the convent on our journey yesterday, Sister Martha stopped to get some pineapple. We got 5 pineapple for $2.00. WOW! Well, there was a mother selling the pineapple with a child on her back. I got out of the car because I was fasinated with mom's carrying their children on their back and wanted a picture up close and personal. Yet, when I got out of the car, the mom took the baby off her back that was sleeping, laid him on the side of the road next to the other lady selling and ran down the road fast. I said to Sister, "What is she doing?" Sister explained that she asked the lady for a knife so we could eat the pineapple now on our ride home. I was so surprised....would we ever do such a thing in America??? I got the impression she was so willing to run because she didn't want to lose the sale. WOW! So, we ate messy pineapple that tasted delicious on our car ride back to the convent.

Another thing: We saw some men that were taking big rocks and crushing them into small rocks....basically making gravel. They got paid $3.50 each for the entire days work. Can you imagine?

Well, those are my stories that I share for now. Thank you for all your spiritual support, love and prayers. May God Bless and keep you. Please continue to pray for me to be open for God's will on this journey. In Jesus Name through Mary.

Thanks,

Angela

Interesting Tidbits

2008-08-22T10:41:00.000-07:00

We have eaten many new foods such as plantains fried, kenkay and fufu bankoo. Did you know that pineapple grows in a bush and not on a tree? And that they do not have many traffic rules here...if you want to make a u-turn in the middle of the busy road, you can. They honk for everything!!!!! They don't have stop signs or traffic lights really (maybe I've seen a total of 7) so it makes for one crazy ride! Sometimes we have traveled through the middle of two cars comign the oppositeway. It kind of feels like we are in a movie.

An average Ghanian makes 3.50 Cedi's a day. This is pretty equivalent to $3.50 but they can easily live on less than that a day because food can be readily gotten from trees and gardens.

The poverty here is unreal. It is kind of like a text book...everything that you saw in the books is right here, but what you don't get in the books is the strength of God in their lives. Everything is named after Jesus somehow: He Saves taxi, Jesus' blood haircuts, God is good market... The theme for this trip has been much surrender. The woman at the Green Bay airport security reminded me of this as I had to surrender my body spray because it was over 3 ounces. It was Christ speaking right through this woman...and it has definitely been the biggest and most beautiful challenge thus far! We must be going now! I wrote much more and it was all deleted...I surrender! It's not about me but what you want to do in me Lord!

Right now, we definitely have a tainted view of Ghana, the toursits view because we have been on the go, so I am looking forward to spending some time in the villages with the people and come to a better understanding of why people would remain in the poverty that they live because they obviously have something that my eyes cannot see but something that my heart has to hear...and that is Love!

To Jesus through the heart of His Immaculate Mother on this her great feast day!

Your Ghana Missionaries,

Jenny and Angela

The Queenship of Mary

2008-08-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 22nd, 2008
You are WELCOME!!!

It has been since Monday that we have been in Ghana and we have learned much already! I would have to say though that we have a very touristy idea of what Ghana is so far because we have been acting the part of tourists visiting churches and priests and monkeys and crocodiles and antilopes. People love having their picture taken here and they love to carry everything on their heads: a mother will carry a baby on her back and a fruit bowl on her head a knife in one hand and a bucket in he other...they are strong here not only physically but Rocks like Peter in their faith! I am understanding more and more why Assumpta is the way that she is! We got to meet the Apostolic Nuncio the 2nd day we were here and he sends his blessings to the Green Bay Diocese! What a nice man...put James Earl Jones in a bishop's garb and you'll have this man! We also got to climb the bell tower of the Cathedral with one of the seminarians for the Diocese of Accra. We went to the major Seminary, St. Peter's,for all of Ghana in Cape Coast. We went to Cape Coast catle yesterday about 2 hours from where we are at in Accra. This is where the slave ships would come in and take Africans to the Americas to be sold. My heart left heavy from this place. I can't imagine being treated like an animal waiting in hell for my end to come. The stench of death permeated through the rocks in these dungeons. It reminded me much of visiting Auschwitz. It puts much into perspecitive from all I ahve learned about in school regarding the slave trade.

Day 3

2008-08-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

August 19th, 2008

Ghana has just received a new Apostolic Nuncio recently and early this morning we piled into the car and went to mass in this dinky little chapel and there he was!!!! We got his blessing and took some pictures with him. It was beautiful to see him greet the people after mass. He embraced this little girl and made the sign of the cross on her forhead and continued to converse with her. Picture James Earl Jones as a Bishop and you will see this great man! What a Beautifully Universal Church we have as Catholics!So simple here. So relational here. So very different yet so similar...it's hard to explain, you will see when you too come and visit! We drove by the President's house today andwalked around Our Lady of Good Counsel School right outside the Generalate! What good kids. When you walk into the classroom they all stand and greet you...I just about fellover!The classrooms are not cluttered with all kinds of stuff here. very simple woodend desks and chairs and books and a black board and a cruxifix.Assumpta took us to the canteen full of snacks for the school children (the kitchen in our schools). They had popcorn, water, yogurt and juice and hotdogs for lunch!Their class size is about 30-35 for primary grades and pushing 40 for high school. It is their hope to be able to build a site just for high school and that way they can have 2 sites to concentrate on primary grades...So many children and not enough room...we will pray for this to happen for them!It costs much for parent's to send their children to school here compared to other places. But in sending your children to a good place, they receive a good education: they learn to speak engligh and write well and read. Their day begins around 6 schools starts at 7 and they stay until 1pm a small boy told me.I went back to my room after this visit and I thought I saw a centepede crawling on my wall, my mistake, it was Mr. Lizard! Yup, a big ole lizard running down my wall! AHHHHHH!!!Anyone remember the Gospel from today????

Today as in August 19th? How fitting for a trip to Ghana: "...And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life..."

Here we are Jesus!!!!Let your will be done! FIAT!

Jenny & Angela

You are welcome!

2008-08-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Day 2

August 18th, 2008

You are welcome!

We finally arrived in Ghana about 7:30pm Ghana time...we are five hours ahead of Wisconsin time here. We were greeted by an elephant in the airport and I got to feed him peanuts!!! What providence...immigration was smooth and we spotted that Holy Handmaid of the Divine Redeemer right away. As we came out of the airport, it felt like you were a movie star with huge crowds of people snapping pictures and holding signs for those they were searching for! We were greeted with holy hugs and kisses and Pineapple Fanta. Do you wanna wanna, wanna Fanta? Yes, I did! We were like parched, dry, weary lands without water! Leave it to Sr. Mary Assumpta to warmly wwelcome us to her native land! As we headed tothe Generalate, we got our first taste of Ghanian driving! Yikes! There are pretty much no rules at all...you wanna make a u-turn in on the busiest road because you need to turn around...you do it! They don't really have stop signs (i've seen 2) or stop lights (i've seen about 7). I am not sure why they even use a blinker, they just honk at everything...honk to turn, honk to merge, honk to say I am here, honk to move over...honk, honk, honk...this is one of the consistant nosies heard throughout the very large city of Accra! WE pulled up to the Generalate (they call it this because it is the home of the superior General Sr. Brigid) and were greeted "You are WELCOME" by all the sisters, the watch dogs, however, weren't very quick to say hello but rather, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrufff! After traveling over 36 hours, I have never been more thankful 2B in one spot, having a bed, food, cool water and a shower! Thank you Jesus for safe travels!!!! Your will be done!

Please pray that we be open to whatever He has for us during our stay here! We will pray for you!

To Jesus we go,

Your Ghana Missionaries,

Jenny & Angela

Let the Games Begin!

2008-08-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 17th 2008

Let the Games begin!!!

The day began at 4:30am and soon Kristy, Jessica, Patrick and I were off to the Green Bay airport to meet Angela at 6am! As we said our "see ya laters" and entered through the security check point there was an old prune face working there. She asked if I had any liquid in my carry on...I said like my shampoo? She said YES! ALL liquids! I said okay (oh dear Jesus help me!). I pulled them out of my toiletry bag and she asked if I had a zip lock baggie. I said no, do you have one for me. She said No I am not made of money. Since I wasn't very near a Wal-Mart, grocery store, or anything but an airport terminal, I didn't know what was going to happen. She soon came back with a small sandwich bag (oh Lord, thank you for having mercy one me). In my packing, I wasn't thinking zip lock baggie...I was thinking pack light, for hot weather, and don't forget your malaria pills...I thought I was doing good...but old prune face as Mr. Krauss would call her, reminded me I forgot an essential zip lock baggie! As I was transferring my liquids into the bag, I made the mistake of pulling out my body spray and she said that it was above 3 ounces and that I would have to surrender it. I said I am not attached, even though it was my favorite, you can take it. She looked at me sternly and said "I do not take things you will surrender it to me." I said okay I surrender and she kept saying it out loud "You are surrendering this to me. I do have a point here...You see this was God speaking to me through her. He was really laying the law of the land for this emersion trip "Surrender". Now that it is Friday, the Queen ship of Mary, the 22nd (I think) this has been quite difficult thus far...but I would like to share some words of Mother Teresa that I came across this morning in the chapel at the Generalate: "Jesus said, 'I have chosen you; I have called you. You are mine.' Everyday you have to say YES. TOTAL SURRENDER. 2B where He wants you to be. If He puts you in the street, if everything is taken from you, and you suddenly find yourself in the street, TO ACCEPT to be in the street at that moment. Not for you to put yourself in the street but TO ACCEPT to be put there. This is quite different. If God wants you to be in a palace, all right. To accept to be in the palace as long as you are not choosing to be in the palace. This is the difference in total surrender. TO ACCEPT whatever He gives; and to give whatever He takes with a big smile. This is surrender TO GOD. To accept to be cut to pieces and yet every piece to belong only to Him. This is the surrender. To accept all the people that come, the work that you happen to do; today maybe you have a good meal and tomorrow maybe you have nothing; there is no water in the pump. TO ACCEPT. And to give whatever He takes: HE takes your good name, He takes your health, He takes...YES. That's the surrender. And then you are FREE." It will take me a couple of days to naw on this one!!!!! I think you may understand the struggle within as you continue to read the blog!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

Your Ghana Missionaries,

Jenny and Angela

Point Beach, DAY 2

2008-08-12T05:12:00.000-07:00

The beginning of a day of pilgrimage! In the following pictures and descriptions, follow our journey throughout the Green Bay Diocese with our CYE Bus! It was a fun time! Here, our staff member, Kristy is giving an explanation of the cloistered Carmelite Sisters of Denmark. After spending time in prayer inside the chapel while the sisters chanted daytime prayer, we get a glimpse of the outside and learn about the monastic tradition of our faith! We are blessed to be Catholic....to have people consecrated to prayer! No other church can claim this kind of mysterious powerful prayers. In many was, we are sustained by the prayers of these women who live here for their brief stay on earth!
Ryan, a seminarian for the GB diocese gives a testimony at our second stop of the day, Xavier House in De Pere, WI. Father Tom feed us lunch and paved the way for us to have a discernment house for men seeking a deeper relationship with Christ and His Church!
Our next stop was at the National Shrine of St. Joseph at the Norbertine Abbey in De Pere. It is amazing to think of the numerous places of pilgrimage in our own diocese. After a tour, we spent some time in asking St. Joseph for his intercession. Here, some pilgrims take some time for personal prayer in the crypt.

Here's a vid of us learning about the miracle at Robinsonville. Every year 2 to 3 show up on August 15th to pray and commemorate the event that saved hundreds of lives through the intercession of the Virgin Mary!
Corrie, our summer staff member giving a reflection on our Blessed Mother. Mary is an important one to know in the communion of saints! At each location one of the staff members would give a reflection on what we had just experienced.
Karen, Trinity, myself and Simon. This is the family who runs Robinsonville. They came to the Parents with us afterward to enjoy a good dinner!

On our way to Stangelville, we thought it would be fun and random to get a picture with some cows. The owner of the farm thought it was funny too! This particular picture, I will be giving to a friend of mine who introduced me to camping ministry in Seattle. He has lead me to Christ in many ways and now, our apostolate can lead others to Him. The Christian message spreads like any GOOD NEWS...fast! Our faith can spread exponentially if we believe it strongly enough and the fact that it can bring eternal life to those who hear it! "The glory of God is a human being fully alive!"
Our day pilgrimage ended with Mass at Stangelville, WI. The particular church we used is a beautiful country church built to last! We spent about two hours in prayer and it was awesome! Praise God! The evening of prayer is the bread and butter, the meat and potatoes, the bread and water, the milk and eggs of the CYE. It consists of nothing less than good old Catholic adoration, confessions, benediction and Mass!

Sunday, Day 1 Point Beach CYE

2008-08-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

The expedition began with 10:30am Mass at St. Pius X Parish. It is awesome to have tangible youth ministry within the parish! For the congregation to see close to 60 high school students all together at a run-of-the-mill Sunday Mass is a special thing! Catholic Youth Expeditions sees the importance of having the parish be the hub of family life so it is appropriate for us to start at the altar of sacrifice, the place were Catholic Christian community gathers universally! This video shows our "family style" lunch in front of the rectory! Kurt Krause gives us his tasteful monologue while the expeditioners get their fill of PBJ! For a $45 registration fee, you can't expect sirloin tips! The RV in the back is our CCC (Catholic Command Center)! This basically means that it is our mobile office! CYE is completely mobile. We have not brick and mortar only brakes and motor vehicles! It cuts down on overheadWe reached Point Beach State Forest on Lake Michigan. To be honest, I had never heard of the place and one week ago, we didn't even know that this was where we were going! Thank you Deacon Luke Strand! Wow! It is beautiful. Tonight, we'll be on the beach to see the Milky Way and get some prayer in! Nature and prayer are staples of CYE and just taking the time to be silent is really important! Some of the park folk were a bit surprised at our numbers! I'm just glad we were able to register before the Harley group got their! The place was busy to say the least, but I was impressed with the 3,000 acres of wooded land! Our group site is islolated enough from the rest of the other sites that we can be ourselves! Praise God!

Nothing special here, just a lighthouse! A great reminder of the light of Christ, however. This particular lighthouse can beam a light up to 28 miles in clear weather. No matter how far or distant we may seem from the love of Christ, He is always there to light the way. Stay tuned tomorrow for our mini-pilgrimage! I have the "day off" tomorrow so after the 8am Mass, I'll pick up the expeditioners, along with the staff and we'll visit some awesome places like the Denmark Cloistered Monestary, Xavier House of Discernment in De Pere, The Crypt of St. Joseph at the Norbertine Abbey, Robinsonville and we'll finish the evening off at a beautiful country parish in Stangelville! We'll have a two hour prayer service with Mass and Confessions! Pray for us! We'll be in touch tomorrow! Thanks for following along this Sunday! Thank you for the faith you bring into your family and the openness to the gift of life! VERSO L'ALTO! DISCOVERING OUR DEEP SELVES!

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