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Cambodia likes to promote itself as an emerging mid-level income country rather than a least developed country, but the indications of development here are to a large degree a facade or veneer. Not much has changed for most of the country although the cities seem to bustle. In this environment, survival still takes precedence over artistic and cultural skills and values. If it works is much more important than how it looks.
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.
On the Easter weekend, the new church being constructed at St. Joseph Parish was opened to allow a few people to see the interior.
The main stairway leading up to the front doors opens into back portion of the nave of the church which has a lower ceiling to allow for offices and meeting rooms above.
Then the back half of the nave opens up to a high ceiling. The building is large but the seating will not be much greater than what is presently available in the hall in another building that is currently used for Sunday liturgies.
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.
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.
Sr. Regina came to DDP this morning to say goodbye to the staff she has worked with over the years.
We stopped our Wednesday gatherings of Maryknoll Cambodia when we closed the NGO, but many of us decided to continue to meet and tonight we had a gathering of nine of us who try to meet every week. Most of us were part of Maryknoll but we have others who are lay missioners on their own or with another group.
When students come to DDP for two years of education and a year of job training, we become responsible for almost everything. Most of them are from poor families with no disposable income so we help with even getting them clothing.
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.
1. This week I lost Wednesday. I got on a plane in New York at 8:00 PM Tuesday night and flew to San Francisco to change to a plane to Taiwan. I left San Fran at 00:25, a little after midnight, the beginning of Wednesday, and when I got off the plane in Taipei it was Thursday morning at 5:36 AM. I was on terra firma for 25 minutes on Wednesday. Due to 550 MPH ground speeds and crossing ten time zones, the rest of that day was in the air.
2. I had an impressive visit to the 9/11 Memorial in New York City the day before I left and want to feature that here but somehow in transferring the photos from my laptop to the desktop, they disappeared. I have hopes of recovering them for you to see.