On my trip to Kentucky last week, I arranged to get new liturgical books that we can use on Wednesdays for the mass we have with lay missioners in Phnom Penh. Here Kila holds the old, taped-up books, and Maria has the new ones.
Time for a change
Take a look…
When my sister Ann died, we kept her photo frame for displaying photographs and today I introduced it to the deaf students at the Deaf Development Programme. We take lots of pictures at DDP but the students seldom see them so setting up the photo frame was a big hit! Ann would be pleased!
What’s in a name…
One of the interesting parts of living in another country, another culture is seeing how English words are used in a different way and with different meanings. Notice that this building is a medical clinic and MATERNITY. In US English, maternity is the condition of being pregnant, being a mother. Here the word designates a specific type of medical facility, a building.
Still to come
My flight from Minneapolis to Seoul, Korea was delayed and I missed my Phnom Penh flight in Seoul and had to wait another day to return to Phnom Penh a little after midnight this morning.
I made good use of the day in the airport hotel but didn’t get to the rest of the photos I want to post here. I hope to catch up with some of those tomorrow.
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Tomorrow a good number of our children in the religious education program will receive their first communion. Today, to prepare them for communion and to introduce them to another of the church’s sacraments, we offered the Sacrament of Reconciliation, known as confession in the past.
Fr. Charlie was the presider and Fr. Fel (L) and Fr. Pedro were also ministers of the sacrament.
Trip to Kentucky–7
‘I’m writing this from a hotel in Seoul, Korea…
I left Minneapolis, Minnesota (airport photo above) flying to Seoul, but our flight was late and I missed the Phnom Penh flight. Now I’m rebooked on the same flight for Friday night and I have a day to work in air conditioning in the hotel, courtesy of Delta Airlines.
Trip to Kentucky–6
On Sunday we had a gathering of the Dittmeier sisters and brothers. Here Martha, the youngest, arrives with her family from Ohio.
Lots of conversations and updates took place, including while one group ate in the kitchen area.
In the dining room, another group gathered and ate. Only one brother, in Florida, didn’t make it to the gathering.
Trip to Kentucky–5
On Saturday morning I met a donor who has been very generous in supporting the Deaf Development Programme. We met at this coffee shop near the retirement home where I will be living. The bicycle is my cousin’s electric bike that I am riding while in Louisville.
On Sunday morning I bicycled over to St. Margaret Mary Church where two of my priest friends are ministering.
Like many modern parishes, they had two technicians in the back to control the projection and the sound system.
Trip to Kentucky–4
On the morning of our last day together, Brian Reynolds, the vicar general of the archdiocese, spoke to us about the research and planning for a reorganization of the parishes of the diocese.
Some photos from the beautiful St. Meinrad campus
Trip to Kentucky–St. Meinrad 3
The distinctive twin spires of St. Meinrad Archabbey dominate the countryside and can be seen across the fields and forests of Spencer County, Indiana.
At the liturgy this morning, I proclaimed the first scripture reading.
A special part of this liturgy was the offering of the sacrament of the sick to any of the priests who felt the need for it. Archbishop Shelton Fabre anointed them with the holy oil blessed in Holy Week.
St. Meinrad Archabbey is an old and traditional Benedictine abbey but it is also home to new technology, with a solar power field on the abbey grounds.