Church – Page 6 – Welcome to Cambodia, and…..

Palm Sunday Prep

Yesterday I went to St. Joseph Church to pick up the palms we would need for our Saturday evening Palm Sunday service. I found Fr. Chatsirey, the pastor, seated outside with a group of parishioners weaving elaborate crosses from palm.

St. William Mass

The community of St. William Church in Louisville really seek to implement the liturgy defined in the documents of Vatican II, and I try to participate there when I am in Kentucky. Today I attended the 9:00 AM mass.

Seven musicians and a song leader filled the minutes before the liturgy with music. The musicians are on a raised platform at one end of the worship space. Notice the large monitor high on the wall. Today more than 30 people participated online also.

The people participating online really participate. The second reading was done by an online lector, and here a woman at home adds a petition in the prayer of the faithful.

Every time I go to St. William Church I meet people I worked with or knew as friends before I moved to Asia. Today I had the opportunity to catch up with Jerry Hodapp.

USA Trip #5

Gethsemani Day 4

Bp. Stowe continued his talks, working from the documents of Vatican II and Pope Francis. In the morning he spoke about preaching and in the afternoon about *Laudato Si*.

An important part of a retreat like this is the opportunity to interact with other priests, discussing work and issues as colleagues but also building friendships and a sense of community.

The food at the monastery is quite simple but so good!

USA Trip #4

Gethsemani Day 3

Last night, the final activity of the day was an open forum, optional, for anyone to bring up any topics or ideas or questions that arose in the two talks we heard today.

Today Bp. Stowe continued his talks based on the documents of Vatican II, especially the liturgy document.

There are 24 Louisville priests participating in this retreat. Listening to Bp. Stowe is easy because he is so interesting.

We had a liturgy before lunch and Fr. George was the presider.

This evening before today’s open forum, I went to the abbey church for the compline service sung by the Gethsemani monks.

USA Trip #3

Gethsemani Day 2

Mass is at 11:30 AM and lunch is not until 12:30 PM so there was a short time after mass ended before we could go to the dining room and guys gathered in the lobby of the retreat building.

There is only a half hour allotted for each meal. That may not seem like much time but when the meals are simple and are silent, 30 minutes is quite adequate.

People can leave whenever they finish eating. We take the dishes to carts and racks to gather everything and then some of the monks wash the dishes. The food is simple but is quite good.

USA Trip #2

Gethsemani Day 1

The retreat for the Louisville priests is being held at the Gethsemane Abbey of the Trappist monks, near Bardstown, Kentucky. Gethsemane is famous as the home monastery for Fr. Thomas Merton, the author and spiritual writer who is buried there.

Many people come to Gethsemane for a time of prayer, and there are many lay people here making their retreat at the same time as we priests. Here a woman reads in an isolated area of the monastery grounds.

A view along the side of the monastery building with part of the cemetery where monks have been buried for more than 150 years.

USA Trip #1

Travel

This trip was not unusual in that it took 37 hours and four flights to get from Phnom Penh to Louisville, Kentucky, but because of the timing of the flights, it was difficult to get much sleep on the way.