Church – Page 5 – Welcome to Cambodia, and…..

Priests Retreat–Day 3

Fr. Miguel, the retreat master, and Bishop Kike working on a computer glitch.

The priests of Cambodia gathered for a liturgy in the parish church. (I don’t know why so many of the guys feel the need to dress up in albs and stoles–an indication of clericalism to me.)

Me with a group of Jesuits after one of the talks. The Jesuits have a REALLY good presence here in Cambodia with some REALLY good men.

Priests Retreat — Day 1

Today about 60 priests from Cambodia gathered at the Catholic center in Sihanoukville on the coast for a week of retreat.

Four of us drove down together but before we left Phnom Penh we had lunch at an NGO restaurant where we ran into some lay missioners.

Arriving at the center at St. Michael Church, our group checked the room list to see which building they would sleep in.

At 5:30 PM we had a short opening ceremony which featured a musical group composed of quite young children who played traditional instruments and danced.

The three bishops and retreat leader and our host priests sat at a head table for the music and dancing and introductions.

The young women in black and white are students from the food and beverage training program at the Salesian school where I have mass on Monday mornings. They are getting practical experience working this retreat.

Sami Scott is a Maryknoll Lay Missioner who formerly worked in Venezuela and Cambodia and is now assigned to Haiti. Because of the unrest and violence there, she has had to leave Haiti and is now on a visit to Cambodia.

Sami (pink top) joined us for our regular Wednesday afternoon gathering for mass.

Then our group, coming from eight different countries, had a pizza dinner.

Pentecost

More engaging and certainly more colorful than my making macaroni and cheese on Sunday was our celebration of Pentecost with the combined Khmer, Vietnam, French, Korean, and English communities.

38 mostly young people received the sacrament of confirmation at the Pentecost mass. It is the tradition here for those being confirmed to wear red and white traditional dress.

Several adults from the Korean community received confirmation, and afterwards all the Koreans present gathered for a photo with Bishop Olivier.

Sr. Carmel, MC / Funeral

Sr. Carmel, a Missionary of Charity assigned to Siem Reap, died April 12, the day before the Khmer New Year. We just had her funeral today because there was no one in town to certify her death two weeks ago because they all left to spend the new year in their home provinces.

The funeral was at St. Joseph Church where the Khmer people sit on the floor. Some chairs were brought in for the foreigners.

The Missionaries of Charity offering a blessing for Sr. Carmel.

After the funeral Bishop Olivier gathered with the Missionaries of Charity. The four men with him in the picture are religious brothers of the Missionaries of Charity. They do not wear a distinctive garb as do the sisters.

Are you serious?

Another Farewell

Sr. Regina Pellicore is leaving Cambodia tomorrow to return to the United States. Frequently she has attended morning mass with the Missionaries of Charity at their orphanage, and today we took some pictures to remember her last time there.

Next Year in New York

Things were really busy tonight when we were setting up for the Easter Vigil at the DK Meeting Centre in Phnom Penh. I didn’t get a chance to arrange for someone to take photos but after the service was over, we got this photo of Julie Lawler and me and Regina Pellicore getting ready to leave after her last Easter Vigil in Cambodia.

The Triduum

In Holy Week, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are known as the Triduum (“three days” in Latin). These ceremonies tell the story of our salvation and are the high point of the church’s liturgical year.

Category: Church

Priests Retreat–Day 3

Priests Retreat–Day 2