Mission Post #18

This week and last brought us some exceedingly generous donations.  I met the Millers in the church parking lot and bags of food, baby cereal, wipes, diapers, and much more (all new) transferred from their car to mine.  The big surprise though was a brand new EvenFlo car seat.  I was floored.  Sister needs car seats and I knew that one very lucky mother was going to be very happy.

Then I met up with a good and long-time friend for lunch a few days ago.  In between caring for her very ailing mother, she still was able to find time to go to Walmart and gather up $200 in gift cards for sister to use for stocking the most needed ongoing items.

Today we received a phone call from another lady from the church who, as it turns out, lives just a few blocks away from us.  She brought by ANOTHER car seat.  It's used but in very good condition.  Score!  Two car seats for sister; another lucky mother.  Sister Darlene may bust out in a happy dance.

Mission Post #17 - Gifts of the Spirit

The First and Highest Gift of the Holy Spirit is Wisdom.  Wisdom is the perfection of faith. As Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., notes in his Modern Catholic Dictionary, "Where faith is a simple knowledge of the articles of Christian belief, wisdom goes on to a certain divine penetration of the truths themselves." The better we understand those truths, the more we value them properly. Thus wisdom, the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, "by detaching us from the world, makes us relish and love only the things of heaven." Through wisdom, we judge the things of the world in light of the highest end of man—the contemplation of God.

II am nowhere near perfection and actually, the amount of wisdom I possess may be equal to what is needed to know when I've taken a step backwards.  Today I realized that I was taking forward steps towards wisdom without even knowing it and that bit of awareness lead me right to what I'm going to call "my error of the day".  Yeah.  Just one.  But wisdom tells me that an "s" can easily be added to "error".  So I guess I should count my blessings that today's insight came in one long protracted lesson.

Committing to going on a mission takes a lot of thought and later, preparation.  And then practical actions (like applying to be a volunteer).  And then there are recommendations, criminal checks, background checks, and online classes to be aware of child abuse and elder abuse.  Reality check time.  This just going out and doing something good for others is not a simple process in the 21st century. 

But with that all behind me, other areas started to open up.  I found myself praying more, becoming more conscious of my actions, and following breadcrumbs that pointed out behavior that needs to change.  Which brings me to today.

The Walmart Neighborhood Store was not very busy and I got everything I needed that was on my list.  Then I wandered around and decided to pick up a few more things that I had reserved for Raleys.  Win/Win.  Then I got to the checkout stand. 

Stand one - there is a problem so I go to

Stand two - and met a big load of groceries to be checked so back to

Stand one - where I discover the problem will take a while and it's back to

Stand two - where a full basket from another shopper is now in line.

At this point, I start to wonder when they will open checkout stand three because people are gathering; everything else is Self-Checkout.   I make a comment about opening Stand 3 but it falls on deaf ears.  Then, Stand 2 shuts down too and still no one responsive about getting someone to open Stand 3.  I'm not shy about stating my feelings.  Then in undisguised exasperation, I go to Self-Checkout.

Self-Checkout at Walmart is easier than it is at Raleys; I'll give it that.  There is no machine beeping and speaking at you.  Nice.  BUT, reaching deep into the basket was hard on my back and by the time I was finished with my very full basket, I was a sore and crabby mess.

To add insult to injury, another couple who had been there with me when this mess started (and had only five items) was just finishing checking out at Stand 2.  Yes, they had finally reopened.  A few growling words later, aimed at the clerk, and I was gone.

Okay, so you had to be there.  Bad customer service at the checkout after a good in-store experience and a nice clerk at the meat counter, just plain soured me.  Walmart!

So, I went home, cooled off (literally and figuratively) and then headed out to Raleys.  First stop, Starbucks (and the beginning of my breadcrumb trail fed by my moderate supply of accumulated wisdom).  There, I ran into John, a young man I had not seen for a while.  We chatted and caught up and I admired his Spanish language Catechism of the Catholic Church.  I told him about my and Don's upcoming mission and what we would be doing and at the same time consider that I need to start paying attention to my Spanish self-studies again.  It occurred to me that reading the Catechism in English and Spanish might be a helpful learning aid.  It also got me thinking about Walmart and my actions there.  God was sending me a message and His Wisdom was moving in and taking over.  I then moved on to Raleys and quickly discovered that God wasn't finished with me.

So, no sooner did I go into Raleys than I saw two nuns.  Now, this isn't an everyday occurrence around here and to add to the recognition factor, they were wearing traditional habits.  One of the nuns was hurrying down the aisle and rounded the corner.  She disappeared but then I turned around and there was another nun, with a laywoman.  I had to speak and said "hello".  The breadcrumbs turned into an entire loaf of bread.

She was Sr. Maria Santana of the  Irmas Missionarios dos Pebres.  Their mission is to help and serve the homeless, sick and destitute among the children of Brazil.  This naturally lead to me sharing our upcoming mission to serve the poor in SE Missouri and our work with Sr. Darlene.  It was an amazing and unifying moment and God's message and His grace was received loud and clear.

Wisdom is teaching me take a deep breath.  Look at what is going on around me.  Take inventory.  Be patient.  Recall the wisdom of keeping your mouth shut when the words that want to come out will wound someone or, worse yet, make you look like an idiot.  And just to make sure that I knew who was in charge, He gave me one final test and after some thought and deliberation, I said just the right thing.  I spoke from my heart.  I was direct, honest and didn't compromise my beliefs.  End result?  A nice conversation with a former student and an opportunity to teach a little bit about taking information about the Church from the source, not from media or other uninformed interpreters.   Thank you, God, for the gift of wisdom that gave me just the right words to make everything end A-okay.

Mission Post #16 - What Unites Us?

What unites us as human beings?  What is it that we all have in common that makes us one?  In answer to this question, at its most essential, what unites us is blood and bone.  We are all human.  We are men and women.  We may come in various shapes, sizes, and colors, but, we are all human.  We all experience joy, satisfaction, and the desired to do good.  We suffer pain and sorrow, know hunger, want, and thirst, and we all experience the impulse to commit acts for good or evil.  We are complicated creatures that act on more than instinct.  Sometimes this sense of unity comes home in a very real way and we find that we may be the sum of our individual parts but we are all also brothers and sisters beneath the skin.

This weekend Don and I took our next big step in preparing for our mission to southeastern Missouri this coming winter/spring 2014,  Saturday and Sunday we spoke at all of the English and Spanish Masses telling our community of Catholic brethren at St. Anthony's of our upcoming mission; we introduced them to the small community of Glenmary nuns, priests and brothers who serve Appalachia and the South and their mission to serve the poorest of the poor in areas where there is often no Catholic presence at all.

We spoke of Mother's House in Caruthersville, MO and Sr. Darlene's mission to serve the many impoverished single moms of the area.  We asked, not for money but, for donations of maternity clothes, baby clothes and baby food and baby toys.  In a community where children wear uniforms to public schools, we asked for navy and khaki pants and red, blue and white  polo shirts that would fit teenage pregnant girls.

After seven Masses, I found myself reflecting on what unites us.  We of St. Anthony's are a community of people where some have great wealth, many are ordinary middle class, and more than a few are the working poor and not a few who are undocumented and living in the shadows.  We are Anglos, Latinos, and Filipinos.  But at the end of the Masses, at the end of our appeal, I felt so united with all of them.  The response was so overwhelming and positive.  People understand need no matter their "station" in life.  Giving is something we can all do.  There is always someone who has less than we ourselves have and giving fills the need to reach out and help another even if we have a hard time helping ourselves.

Mission Post #15

We have been accepted.  We are going on our mission.  The official word has been sent to us.  We've spoken to Fr. Marcelino to start our planning on the parish end; we have spoken to Sr. Darlene and we think we will be staying with her; we have spoken to Fr. Armando - our pastor - and the details of our appeal to the parish for contributions have been settled.  

We will make our appeal at all the Masses on September 14th and 15th and then once a month after, until we leave, there will be an announcement that we will be outside after Mass. 

Fr. A. also mentioned that La Favorita (a Spanish language radio station) has an English and Spanish Catholic program and we may be able to arrange to make an appeal through there.  

Athens (a friend) is setting up a radio interview for us on her radio program later in September or early October.

Now is the time for me to touch base with Sue again (in Mineral Wells, TX) and start the ground work for a news article and connect with the Catholic Church there.  

We are going to be meeting to make a presentation to Knights of Columbus, YLI, and the Rosary Ladies' group, and others.  Just those three alone will make a deeper connection with parish members.

Our friends Alicia Ruelas and Sara Fontana will translate for us at the Spanish Masses.  So - we are set to go.  I'm excited.

Mission Post #14

My path was set and I thought that with age, that path was cast in stone.  How short-sighted of me.  Age flung the door to my path wide open. 

The walk on this path has been ambling and without special purpose.  Each corner and curve revealed new choices and possibilities. 

Each threshold leads to a new path, some short and some longer.  But no matter the length, each was ambled upon and carefully examined. 

Creativity

Theology

Political Philosophy

Each takes their turn, in turn. 

My daydreaming self-achieved some completion – showing my photography, completing a class on the basics of my faith, exploring political thought and the why of our society’s current conflict.

Satisfaction followed by satisfaction followed by dismay.  I had to ask myself, “What path is right for me?”  Epiphany flared up, dropping glittering awareness, like shining confetti, creating a path of an entirely new direction, a quest, if you will, to live a new way by following:

The corporal works of mercy - feed the hungry; give drink to the thirsty; clothe the naked; shelter the homeless; visit the sick; ransom the captive; and bury the dead.

The spiritual works of mercy – instruct the ignorant; counsel the doubtful; admonish sinners; bear wrongs patiently; forgive offences willingly; comfort the afflicted; and pray for the living and the dead.

This new path will lead me to new places in the coming spring.  Now I plan the endeavor, prepare myself emotionally and pray for spiritual guidance and a willing heart to accept what is asked of me. 

Mission Post #13

We are simply waiting now.  The application is in.  The clearances are completed. The personal recommendations are received.  Now we are simply waiting for final approval to volunteer with the Glenmary Sister at their mission post in Caruthersville, MO.

Lately, I've started to make lists of what I need for basic packing and living on the road for a few months.  I ran across a blog a while back that, in part, talks about this as well as economizing on sleeping and eating on the road.  I also discovered a couple of creative journaling books by Vivian Swift.  One that has been especially helpful is Le Road Trip.  As you might suspect, this has a French twist to it but traveling is traveling and it doesn't take much tweaking to use her ideas as a fun and useful guide to getting myself organized.  Most of it is common sense but having it laid out here, and in such a fun way, helps me focus, not to mention the reduced brain power I need to use to get it right and not think, down the line, "How could I have not thought of that?".

Post-mission we are now fine tuning our adventures.  Civil War sites and Catholic shrines are high on our list.  Shiloh National Battlefield in Tennessee is just three hours from where we will be in Missouri.  Later, after leaving Indianapolis, we will be heading east visiting Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and Antietam in Maryland.  In between is The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.  There are so many historic sites so close together that the mind boggles.  I'm already thinking forward to 2015 and another mission and trip.

The other nice news is that three of my blogging/Facebook friends have volunteered to host us as we travel through their area.  Texas, Maryland, and Michigan friends - "Thank you so much".   Sue, Dave, and Jeanie - so looking forward to meeting you face to face.

Bye for now.  More soon.

Mission Post #12

This post of this meeting was summarized and written by Don Jeffries.

Letter to Sr. Darlene

Yesterday morning we had an hour long visit, with Father Marcelino, who is the Associate Pastor of our Parish.  He is our newest priest here and from the Philippines.  A very conservative person, who knows the value of American freedom as the Philippines were basically enslaved for 300 years, by the Spanish.  First he became a priest and then he became a medical doctor.  His personal mission, in the Philippines, is the caring of discarded babies, who were born of unwed mothers.  He donates his salary, from here, to that mission.  So he relates to your own mission of Mother’s House, which we discussed.

The Pastor is Father Armando, whom I think may have received a letter of enquiry from Glenmary Sisters, concerning Annie and I.  Father Armando is finishing up his vacation and will be back at the end of this week.  I say this because it is relevant later in this report.

Father Marcelino discussed many aspects of our trip, to Caruthersville, with us.  Remember that I sent you an email reporting what had transpired, when we attended the Catholic Charities meeting?  We also informed Father of that.

Bottom line is that even if Annie and I are not accepted, for temporary home mission work with you, we are still going to visit Caruthersville and bring any items donated by the Parish here, for Mother’s House.

By the way, I have noticed indications that we will be accepted, including from you, but of course none of us can assume that we will be accepted and must act accordingly until the formal acceptance is received.  Just wanted you to know that we know.

Father does know that our application is still pending.

Some of his ideas are the same as those thought of at the Catholic Charities meeting.

I need to compose a two minute presentation concerning Glenmary Sisters, your Pemiscot County mission, our visiting, Mother’s House and the requirements for Mother’s House.  This presentation will be delivered, by Annie and I, at weekend Masses, on both Saturday and Sunday.  The appeal will also be placed in the Parish Bulletin.  All of this is pending approval by Father Armando, who Father Marcelino will confer with next week.

We already discussed the receiving, warehousing, packaging and transportation of the received items, which Annie and I have experience with, from a project Annie once achieved for another project concerning an orphanage.  Oh…if we are so blessed, what we cannot transport via car we will ship.

This brings me to the point of asking you if you can please compose a priority list of items required, for Mother’s House not only for continuous need, but also for the time we will be there, during the winter season.  The list will be printed up and distributed.  One item we are including is WalMart Gift Cards, to be used by you.

Father Marcelino suggested that you write a letter to Father Armando explaining the Glenmary Sisters Order, their mission in general, your respective mission and what Annie and I might be doing there or even Sister Sharon writing it.  The address is:

Saint Anthony Catholic Church, 7820 Fox Road, Hughson CA  95326

I told him that you and other Sisters will go to Parishes and promote the Glenmary Order and its Missions, to receive donations.  He stated that donations, for Glenmary Sisters, could also be requested; therefore I plan to use the “Adopt a Sister Program” form, from Kinship, to include in the handout.  I will include the Glenmary Sisters web site as well.

Also in the handout, I will include the Kinship articles on Mother’s House.  That is if it is okay to do so.  Father suggested providing photos, for a more tangible effect.  This too he will request permission, from Father Armando.

I just noticed that I need to contact Richard, for reprint permission.

Father mentioned having some kind of feedback, from us, concerning our trip.  I told him that one of the Parish Council members suggested that Annie do photos and I do reports, to be sent by email, to the Parish, or placed on the Parish’s Face Book page.  As I said, in my previous email, we want to talk to you concerning the photography protocol.

Father views us as representing the Parish, in our activity, in your mission.  All of this rather amazes me.  In my mind, we were just going to visit back home and assist you.  I was clueless concerning all of the formalities and now the Parish involvement here.

Look forward to hearing back from you soon.