Welcome to Cambodia, and…..

New York #3

These last couple days in New York were devoted to catching up with friends. Some of them I had seen in Cambodia just two months ago.

Sr. Mary Little returned to the Sisters Center from Cambodia a month ago. Here she is meeting me at 7:00 AM to guide me through the breakfast line.

Then I went to the Walsh Building used by the Maryknoll Lay Missioners and met with a longtime good friend, Richard Gatjens of the development department. Richard is known for his outrageous ties.

At lunch back at the Sisters Center, I met up with Sr. Ann Sherman (L), recently returned from Cambodia, and Sr. Juana Encalada who also served in Cambodia.

The last of the recent returnees from Cambodia is Sr. Helene O’Sullivan who was also at lunch that day.

New York #1

Today was the day I made the transition from Kentucky to New York for the final part of my US journey.

Louisville is a busy airport because it is the hub for UPS and their hundreds of flights per day, but the passenger-side apron was relatively clear when I took off at lunch time.

Here we are starting our final approach into EWR, the Newark, New Jersey airport, and below us was one of the metropolitan area’s stadiums for a professional sports team.

I had to wait 65 minutes for the bus from EWR to Grand Central Station in Manhattan and then it was a slow journey through heavy traffic.

A high point of every trip to New York City is going through Grand Central Station, an iconic train station serving lines going all over the East Coast. It was a 50-minute ride on the train to Ossining and then I had to catch a taxi to the Maryknoll Sisters Center where I am staying. The taxis were few and far between and when one finally came, the young man ahead of me invited me to share his taxi so the taxi dropped him off and then went to Maryknoll.

Kentucky #2

The last days in Kentucky were the occasion for reuniting with friends.

After mass on Sunday, I took communion to Peg Darcy and her mother Ruth. Ruth will celebrate her 103rd birthday in a week.

For lunch on Monday I met with Jules Marquart. We worked together when she organized youth programs for the Louisville Red Cross.

In the afternoon, my sister Mary and brother Dennis and I went through Southern Indiana to see the new bridges on the Ohio River. Here we are at a visitor center in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Kentucky #1

After the retreat finished, I had time to visit with family and friends and take care of various tasks.

The day the retreat ended, the Ditt brothers and sisters gathered at Mary and Mike’s house for a simple gathering. Martha in Cincinnati was just getting over Covid and didn’t come.

We are a close family and really enjoy getting together.

The next morning four of us went to the Frazier Museum where niece Amy (red arrow) was part of a puppet show.

On another floor of the Frazier Museum was a display of all the bourbons made in Kentucky.

Still another floor had an exhibit on the Lewis and Clark Expedition which set out from Louisville to the Pacific coast in the early 1800s.

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.