New York #5

More New york friends

Sr. Helen Graham is a scripture scholar who specializes in the Torah and our Old Testament scriptures.
Sunday morning I went to mass at the old seminary building and afterwards had a chance to reconnect with Tom Dunleavy (L), John Barth, and Bill McIntire (R).
Then I came to the Maryknoll house in Manhattan and enjoyed being again with Lionel, one of the staff of the house.

New York #4

Here are some more Maryknoll friends I met with the next day.

Sr. Luise Ahrens told me about an exhibit of famous women from Ossining (where Maryknoll is) and we walked over to an arts center that has taken over the Bethany building which used to be a retirement home for the Maryknoll Sisters and then the headquarters for the Maryknoll Lay Missioners.
For lunch that day I met Adel ORegan, a former Maryknoll lay missioner in Cambodia, and we caught up on what has been happening for us.
Then I went to the Maryknoll seminary building and met with Fr. Tom Dunleavy who was assigned to mission in Thailand and then moved with returning refugees to Cambodia and started Maryknoll’s presence there.

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 #2

The room I have at the Maryknoll Sisters Center is a small suite, the Philippines Suite. It is nicer than what I am accustomed to.
What I appreciated is the small table with folding leaves that I can use with the computer.
The L-shaped room has a bed in a little alcove, right by the window. That was helpful because the first night the heat was on and the room was warm and I opened the window.
Unlike the regular small guest rooms I used at the Sisters Center before, this room even had a television, telephone, refrigerator, and a water heater. Luxury!

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.

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.