LIVING IN THE AGE OF INSTANT GRATIFICATION

REALLY NEEDED ITEMS

There is a great need for some good used laptop computers
for the girls at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Home for Girls on the island of St. Vincent where I have been volunteering. These nineteen young girls have been though a lot of abuse and neglect in their lives and now we have a chance to help change their futures. 

I am personally sponsoring one of the girls from the Home to go to World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, along with six other youths from the diocese that some of my friends are sponsoring. 

They need good used laptop computers only because it costs a lot to send them down there and they have no money to fix them if they are not working properly.

If you can help, call me on my cell. I am going back down April 1.
 502-303-4571. 

In a world with so many needs, why should we care?
A line from the movie Schindler's List answers that question.

"When you save one person, you save a world."

MISSION TRIP THREE - 2-25-16

ALL IN ALL, AN AMAZING TRIP FOR SURE, BUT...




ST. VINCENT TO BARBADOS, BACK TO MIAMI, THEN HOME TO LOUISVILLE
THE BEST PART IS BEING THERE.
THE WORST PART IS THE TRAVELING.







HELL IS NOT "DOWN THERE," IT IS "UP THERE" IN THE AIR






"..........AND "IN THERE" GOING THROUGH CUSTOMS IN THE MIAMI AIRPORT





YES, BAGGAGE CAN BE "TERMINAL"

LIAT AIRLINES left the luggage of a whole plane full of passengers at the airport back in St. Vincent last night. That's after taking off an hour late. 
I was lucky enough to retrieve my suitcase after a return trip to the Barbados airport at midnight because of a "divine intervention."  (Bishop Gordon had called a priest back in St. Vincent who knew the baggage manager at the St. Vincent airport. who was asked to "make sure" my bag made it onto the last flight of the night.) In the islands, I was told, "knowing somebody" is better then having money. 
After about four hours of sleep, I went back to the airport for my early flight to Miami just happy that I had some clean clothes to wear on the flight home.



THE BEST PART IS MAKING IT HOME












ALLELUIA, I AM HOME!
I know we are not supposed to use "alleluia" during Lent, but I can't help myself!

MISSION TRIP THREE - 2-24-16

TODAY I STARTED RETRACING MY STEPS BACK HOME



FROM ST. VINCENT BACK TO BARBADOS
FROM BARBADOS BACK TO MIAMI
FROM MIAMI  BACK TO LOUISVILLE






MY HOME, THE CITY OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, ON THE OHIO RIVER

MY CONDO COMPLEX IN THE GARDENS OF EASTERN PARKWAY.
Actually, this spring picture makes it look even better than the reality.



(On the left) MY GARAGE AND THE PATH TO MY FRONT DOOR!
This looks just like the reality.


HOWEVER, BEFORE I GET TO "HEAVEN" I HAVE TO GO THROUGH "HELL,"
THREE PLANES AND CUSTOMS AT THE MIAMI AIRPORT!

Here, at the Kingstown Airport, is where I begin hours of  wondering and waiting - will my first flight be late, will it be cancelled or will it miraculously be on time? Will my baggage make it? 

It wasn't on time - as usual - thus its nickname LIAT "Leaving Islands Anytime." 
Also read about "missing baggage nightmare" in tomorrow's post. 

MISSION TRIP THREE - 2-23-16

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.