| Today was the third full day of retreat talks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. |
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Fr. Louis spoke about a larger view of our cosmology today, centering our understanding on Jesus but relating his reality to all of creation and our relationships with the world and each other. |
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Near the lecture hall is this small mausoleum where the ashes of parishioners can be kept. |
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After the morning talk, the group made their way in silence back to the main buildiing where tea and coffee and Cambodian snacks are available every morning and afternoon. |
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Below the Catholic center--which is set on a hillside--the port of Sihanoukville is visible. It is the only port for the country. |
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While we were having our tea break, this woman, brought in as temporary help because of the size of our group, was cleaning shrimps for lunch. Shrimp abound in the waters of the Gulf of Thailand and are readily available here. |
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This is the parish church for Sihanoukville. It is one of two church buildings that were not destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. |
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The last days of the retreat the priests from the Phnom Penh diocese planned the liturgy. This morning the younger priests presided as a group. |
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Dominican Sisters live and work in Sihanoukville and this week they have joined us for the liturgy before lunch. They are musicians and have contributed greatly to the liturgical celebrations. |
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In the afternoon Fr. Louis sat quietly while he waited for the group to assemble. He had just filled a whiteboard with outlines of various ideas he wanted to cover in the second talk of the day. |
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I had hoped I would be able to find an empty seat in a car going back to Phnom Penh on Saturday but all the vehicles are full so today I took a motordupe into town and bought a ticket for the bus for the return journey. The five-hour trip costs $5.00. |
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