LATE ARRIVING PHOTOS FROM SUNDAY'S MASS AND VAN DELIVERY
It was truly a wonderful day.
They were so thankful ... an answer to many prayers over a long time.
St. Martin de Porres is the smallest of the tri-parish cluster. It is located in the town of Stuubs. This is where I had Mass and delivered the van.
The van will serve three churches - Corpus Christi, St. Martin de Porres and Our Lady of Lourdes. Corpus Christi is the largest community of the three-parish cluster. Without a church, they meet for Mass each Sunday at a local Community College.
An official hand-over of the keys. The van is a great blessing. People want to go to church and church meeting, but sometimes getting there is a big problem. Walking, especially for the elderly, can be too far, too dangerous on the narrow and crooked roads and many cannot afford a car.
In the United States we take transportation for granted. One of the amazing sights every morning and afternoon are hundreds of school children, in their various color coded uniforms, walking along the narrow roads, to and from school. With no shoulders on the roads to speak of, it is a miracle that dozens of them are not plowed down at one time by the speeding cars and trucks.
Sunday Mass at St. Martin de Porres
Some of the congregation.
Father Peter (pastor), myself and Father Boniface.
The priests, myself and the whole congregation posing after Mass.
Of course, I had to tell them where Kentucky was, what it is known for and how I got started volunteering. (Everybody knew about Kentucky Fried Chicken and a few about the Kentucky Derby.) I also got the chance to tell them about R J MISSION PROJECTS, how it got started, who it tries to help and about some of its supporters.
LAY DOMINICAN INVESTITURE CEREMONY
Last night, Archbishop Robert Reves of St. Lucia, a former bishop of this diocese of Kingstown and a Dominican himself, led the ceremony in the chapel of the local convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny. He invested three people into the Lay Dominicans. One of the three was Fergal Redmond (center in dark blue shirt), a volunteer from Ireland.
Martin Folan, another volunteer from Ireland here in the Diocese of Kingstown SVG, is the local leader. Several friends attended, myself included, to show support. Martin runs the soup kitchen downtown and does a lot of social work in the prison, hospital and nursing home. He is a real hero among the poorest of the poor. Fergal oversees the finances of the diocese and helps the other staff members keep things in the Pastoral Center running and moving - from taxi service to and from the airport to shopping in an emergency. They are both a real blessing to this diocese.
SOME MORE DOWN TIME
A peaceful early evening on the porch of the "Pastoral Centre" where I am staying,
looking out toward the island of Bequia in the graying distance.
I am not used to two days of down time. I am beginning to buckle under the pressure. To relieve the pressure, I scheduled a meeting with Bishop County, another with Msgr Michael of the Cathedral and another with Father John Persand, General Secretary of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (a job Archbishop Kelly used to hold in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops). I feel better when I am working - even down here in the islands.
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