BLUE CHRISTMAS MASS IS BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND

A MORE CONVENIENT LOCATION!

LOTS MORE PARKING!

TELL EVERYONE WHO IS GRIEVING A LOSS TO MARK THEIR CALENDARS!

BLUE CHRISTMAS MASS

2018

6:00 pm

Christmas Eve December 24, 2018

Holy Family Church

3826 Poplar Level Road

Louisville, KY 40213

Father Ronald Knott

This is our plan, and we hope to stick to it, but stay tuned and watch THE RECORD for any last minute changes. 

BACK DOWN IN THE ISLANDS - Part Four

THE FLAMBOYANT TREE

A Common Tree Around the Island Deserves Its Name

TYPICAL HILLSIDE HOMES
Saint Vincent is Basically a Dormant Volcano With Steep Sides Down to the Water and a Scooped Out Caldera in the Center. 





Notice the gardens planted on the steep slopes.


Inside the volcano caldera in the center  of island. 

A VISIT TO THE NEW GEORGETOWN DIAGNOSTIC AND TREATMENT CENTER

Sunday, June 24, 2018

This new hospital is not yet opened, but it is getting close thanks to the help of Supplies Over Seas in Louisville, Kentucky. 
Last year my organization helped send a 40 feet shipping container of surplus medical supplies to Saint Vincent. Some of the supplies were sent to the city hospital, some to small clinics and some have been reserved for this new hospital that will serve the north end of the main island. We do know that the baby warmer we sent down is being used in the neonatal area of city hospital. 
We hope, this time with the SVG Ministry of Health paying the full shipping costs, to send another 40 feet shipping container to help finish furnishing this new hospital and some of the outer island clinics. 
I was told that this new facility will be staffed by mostly Cuban doctors, at least for the first few years. 
Below are some of the items SOS of Louisville already has on site at this new health facility which hopes to open very soon.
They would like to have our next container by November which will probably be the new opening date. 
In the center of the photo is Ms. Donna Bascom of the Ministry of Health. 
Below are some photos of the tour with our SOS donations in place. 










I think it's a heart monitor?



An X-Ray reader. 


















They are so happy to get this help. They know that if they had to buy it, it would be out of reach.

They were also impressed by the fact that everything was so well marked and packaged and sorted. 

We do not yet have photos from the city hospital and outer clinics. We hope they will be forthcoming with the next container. 

It is obvious to me that SOS is a God-send to the people of these islands!


A VISIT TO SAINT MARTIN'S SECONDARY SCHOOL FOR BOYS
(about 300 students)

Monday, June 25, 2018












A TYPICAL NO-FRILLS CLASSROOM



Father Alando at his desk in a shoulder-to-shoulder crowded office full of desks in the administration area. 

They are doing good work with what they have, amazing in fact, but its is certainly no Saint Xavier or Trinity High School in Louisville! Maybe the students of our Catholic High Schools would be willing to partner with the Catholic boys and girls secondary schools down here to give them some help?


SAINT FERGAL TO THE RESCUE?????



Des (Pstoral Centre Manager), myself and Fergal (volunteer from Ireland) were out looking at some diocesan buildings
when we ran across a little boy crying in the street. He was walking home from school when he was confronted by a pack of five dogs. He was scared to death. Fergal got out of the car and walked him home. It was up a steep hill and around the corner. We lost Fergal and drove around till we found him. He was almost home so he walked the rest of the way. He is such a good-hearted man and so much fun to work with! 


ALL DAY YOUTH RETREAT AT THE PASTORAL CENTRE

Saint Joseph Convent Secondary School for Girls

June 26, 2018



Youth Leaders



Powerful singing circle of great Caribbean religious music with drums and rhythms.



JULY COMPUTER CAMP FOR KIDS



Late this afternoon, I had a meeting with Shanda Boyea who will be working with Beth Kolodey from Louisville on our computer camp for kids this coming July. Excitement is building on the island. The kids should have a wonderful learning experience to remember. 


A GOOD-BYE DINNER



Desmond, Bishop County, myself and Fergal went out for pizza for a farewell dinner. 



On the last night there was a full moon!



TOMORROW IS TRAVEL HOME DAY

I Am Exhausted!
 I Am  Very Happy With This Visit! 
I Am Coming Home With Wonderful Memories

Please Pray For a Stress Free Trip Back Home!



MY HOME SWEET (KENTUCKY) HOME

BACK DOWN IN THE ISLANDS - Part Three

DEACON RETREAT DAY

Saturday June 23, 2018

I got up early (about 5:00 am) to have coffee on the deck and prepare myself for the retreat that starts at 9:00 am. 

Here is what I have to look at from the deck of the Pastoral Centre. The best views are looking out at the sea.  Below is what I see looking out. 

Below is a shot of the newly renovated living room and new Saint James Chapel my organization was able to furnish and build for the Pastoral Centre (Chancery, Bishop's House and Retreat Centre combined). Through the doors on the left is the dining room and kitchen. 

The Port of Kingstown was busy this morning with lots of boats arriving. The dock is to the left - out of range of the camera.  One of the most interesting ships is a ship load of used cars from Japan that stops here and other islands regularly. New cars are way too expensive for most people. 



Deacons and wives and deacon candidates and wives.
The name of the day-retreat is "If You Don't Have It, You Can't Give It." It is about the character of the individual deacon and deacon candidate. We used to call it in seminary formation "human formation." It is one of the four pillars of seminary formation: spiritual formation, academic formation, pastoral formation and human formation. 
Some in the group attended my last two deacon retreats. 







Bishop County joined us for lunch - at the head of the table!



Closing Mass in Saint James Chapel 






Preaching at the closing Mass.



CELEBRATING MASSES IN THREE PARISHES
Sunday June 24, 2018

Saint Benedict Church
Georgetown






An old friend, Sister Zita, arrives for Sunday Mass with several of her charges! At eighty, she is running a home for children! She even does the cooking, as well as getting them up, getting ready for school and tending to their needs. She has a couple of children that are now in their teen years that she has had since they were infants! Think about it - eighty years old! 











Saint Joseph Church
Belle Vue







Mary Star of the Sea
Sandy Bay







Two of the youngest liturgical musicians I have ever met! The tambourine player was four and the drummer was six. They were actually quite good and kept pace with the music perfectly. 








Being "the old lady magnet" that I am, they were lined up for a hug!






See the coconuts on the tree behind me. 






After Mass I was served a fresh coconut from the back yard at the home of the guitar player at Mass. I was surprised at how much coconut milk there was in a single coconut! I was thirsty, but I could hardly finish it. 
After you drink the "milk," you use part of the shell as a spoon to scrape out the "jelly" - undeveloped coconut "meat." The whole experience was very refreshing. 
The dry, brown things we used to buy around Christmas time as a kids was a whole different experience than a fresh coconut. 




TWO HOMES FOR CHILDREN
Sunday June 24, 2018

Bread of Life Home for Children



I had lunch with some of the kids. 
That's little Daniel in the foreground. I wanted to see how much he has grown - and he has! He ate a huge plate of food in front of him! 



One of the things in the boxes of snacks were some balloons which got a lot of attention - almost as much as the boxes of macaroni and cheese and cookie packets. 

Saint Benedict Home For Children

We stopped in to deliver some snacks for the kids, but we were so caught up interacting with the kids that we forgot to take pictures. I was very pleased to see all of them dressed in the tennis shoes and running shorts and tops we had sent down to them! 

Sister Zita, Sister Nyra Anne and Sister Carmen were all at Mass at Saint Benedict Church for the morning Mass with the kids who are able to go to church. 



Sister Nyra Anne and one of her charges.





Sister Zita heads back to her orphanage. 



The drummer, to the left of Sister Carmen on the guitar, is a resident of the Saint Benedict Home for Children.  They led the music at morning Masses at Saint Benedict Parish. 
Sister Carmen teaches the second grade at Saint Mary's School connected to the Cathedral Parish but lives at Saint Benedict Home for Children. That's about an hour tgrip ach way, each day!