ANOTHER STEP CLOSER TO REALIZING THE DREAM

PREPARING FOR PROFESSIONAL VOLUNTEERS

Little by little, R J MISSION PROJECTS and the CATHOLIC SECOND WIND GUILD are transforming the Pastoral Centre of the Diocese of Kingstown, SVG.
Our dream is to make it a more useful Diocesan Chancery, a more comfortable home for the Bishop, a more inviting Retreat Center for the diocese and a welcoming headquarters for adult professional volunteers that the CATHOLIC SECOND WIND GUILD hopes to attract to help with needed diocesan projects.

So far, we have built a new chapel, created a CATHOLIC SECOND WIND headquarters, remodeled the kitchen, moved and upgraded the dining room and now transformed the living room.

While this is coming together, we have already started on the remodeling of the seven Guest Rooms. Next up is the Bishop's Library, downstairs commercial kitchen, large meeting room and front entrance.


ANOTHER RADICAL TRANSFORMATION

This Time - the Living Room
(The chapel and the living room are located in the newest part of the building - the part that was added onto a former private residence when Kingstown became a diocese in 1989.)

The old dining room. The dining room was moved through the doors on the right to be closer to the kitchen where it really belongs to make room for the new living room. 

The old dining room as seen from inside the area that became the new chapel.

The same view of the new living room area from inside the new Saint James Chapel.

Another view of the almost finished new chapel. New living room to the right. 

Artist sketch trying to use the old furniture scattered in two rooms of the house. It did not work. It looked much better in this sketch than it did in reality. The furniture was mismatched and ripped upholstery was covered with white couch-covers. It had to go.  A new proposal was offered.

Tim Schoenbachler's  final sketch of the proposed living room. 

The reality as it has come together. I am amazed at how beautiful it turned out!

DIOCESE OF JEFFERSON CITY (continued)

A BISHOP AND HIS PRIESTS TOGETHER FOR A WEEK OF LEARNING

Dinner First Night. That's Bishop John Gaydos in the lime green shirt. 

Dinner First Night - Other Side of the Room

The Hospitality Room Begins to Fill Up



Father Clark, the newest ordained, has to be related to the Clarks from the Catholic Holy Land of central Kentucky who moved west a couple of hundred years ago. There are a lot of central Kentucky Catholic names out here.



Daily Mass



Father Clark leads the con-celebration of the Mass.



Six of the eight African priests serving in the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri.
They are from Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda.



Father John and his diabetes service dog, Lily, have been friends for years.



Faithful Lily takes a break. I met Lily three years ago. She is "getting up there in age," but she can "smell" when her master needs insulin and aggressively lick his hand to let him know.



Another day ends at the Four Seasons Lodge on  Lake of the Ozarks



Bishop Gaydos (left) me (center) and Fr. David (right)
part of a group of ten priests the bishop invited out for supper on Wednesday night at a local restaurant. 

DIOCESE OF JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI, PRIEST RETREAT

MY SECOND PRIEST RETREAT FOR THIS DIOCESE

October 2-6, 2017 

INTENTIONAL PRESBYTERATES

PART TWO

Claiming Our Responsible Freedom as Individual Priests

Rev. J. Ronald Knott

“No one can replace us in the responsible freedom that we have as individual priests.”

Pastores Dabo Vobis
Pope John Paul II
 #69

Bishop John Raymond Gaydos
Bishop of Jefferson City, Missouri



A recent ordination.


LAKE OF THE OZARKS



FOUR SEASONS LODGE - LAKE OF THE OZARKS



PRESENTATION ROOM

SHRINE AT MONTE CASSINO, SAINT MEINRAD, RE-DEDICATED

MONTE CASSINO SHRINE REDEDICATION

St. Meinrad, Indiana

October 1, 2017

Before with gravel area, wooden pulpit steps and park benches.

Almost completed (except for wall capstones) new expanded stone plaza and restored finials above chapel door. . 

Old picket fence surrounding the chapel.

New stone wall before final capstones are laid. This wall will offer additional seating when the benches are brought back.  

Dedication Day - Today

Pre-restored paintings on the ceiling, missing wall paint scheme and deteriorating plaster. 

New up-lighted restored wall and ceiling paintings awaiting the replacement of the old pews.  To protect the wall and ceiling murals, the chapel now has a new humidity control system. 




Final view with reinstalled pews, new simple Mass altar and votive lights. 




Dedication Day - From Choir Loft

Old altar with home-made paint restorations. 

Partially finished faux painted altar as it will look today. 

New "faux marble" paint scheme on lower right - old monochrome paint scheme on bottom left and altar top left. 

The finished faux painted altar.

New Marian Memorial Shrine in side yard before it was completed.

The finished Mary Grotto in the Prayer Garden in honor of my mother.

Jim Patterson II (far left) and his family. The renovation of the chapel was done by Jim Patterson II in honor of his mother, Dorothy, (second from the right). His father Jim Patterson, Sr. in on the right. 



Jim Patterson II and Archabbott Kirt OSB. 



Part of the crowd that attended.

MONTE CASSINO REDEDICATION

October 1, 2017

Rev. J. Ronald Knott




Father Ron Knott and Mr. Jim Patterson II

Thanks for allowing me to say a few words on behalf of Jim Patterson II and myself.

Jim and I have worked on several projects at Saint Meinrad. He and I were behind the building of the teaching kitchen in Bede Hall. Jim and I have supported the international seminarians over the years with everything from clothes to spending money to assistance with class study trips to Rome. We still do to a lesser degree since I retired. Maybe our most consistent program were the Thanksgiving Dinners we hosted in Louisville for the  seminarians who had nowhere to go for that holiday.

For the last several years we have been working on projects in the Caribbean missions in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. We continue that mission work even today. 

Jim fell in love with Monte Cassino when he came to visit me at St. Meinrad when I was running the Institute for Priests and Presbyterates. It was one of those famous “Benedictine hospitality moments” that so often lead to unsolicited major gifts, much like the two women who became the donors of the new Guest House.  To paraphrase Scripture, “People in places like this have entertained angels, unaware!”

Jim would tell you that we had three objectives in this project.

1.     Preserve this jewel, this treasure, for future generations.

2.     Restore it, but remain true to its history.

3.     Make it more accessible through careful improvements.

We found out, like anyone who has ever attempted to renovate an old house or take on a historic preservation project like a cathedral or historic chapel, that this building was in worse shape than it first appeared. The foundation was in need of shoring up. The walls were cracking and taking on water. The paintings were flaking. In general, its deterioration was speeding up. It could have deteriorated to a point of no return. It could have collapsed at some point.  

This chapel and these grounds were victims of what is called “entropy,” the natural process of decay and decline unless there is an opposing force pushing against it.  Without careful maintenance, material things decay, decline and fall apart.

It has been beautifully restored and repaired, thanks to the passionate attention of Jim Patterson II and Andy Hagedorn. For them, and for the artists and craftsmen who worked with them, this was not just a “job” but a spiritual adventure. We all ended up being emotionally and spiritually invested. Our hope from now on is two-fold: (a) that those who have loved and enjoyed this place will help take responsibility to look after it in the years ahead and (b) that the monks of Saint Meinrad Archabbey will think of new and creative ways to utilize it so that even more people will come here and take ownership of it.  The more people using it, the more ways it is used, the better!

This chapel restoration and Marian shrine are meant to be tributes to our dear mothers, Dorothy Patterson and Ethel Knott. People coming here will be reminded to pray for them and it will surely help people honor Mary, the mother of Jesus, after whom this whole place is named.

Thank you for listening. Thank you, Jim. It now belongs to all of us so step up and claim your inheritance! 

ANNOUNCING MY SVG "HERO OF THE MONTH" AWARD

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

HERO OF THE MONTH

I have decided that I may have been talking more about the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines than the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. more about the needs of its people than and about the character of its people. As a result, I have decided that I am going to periodically "showcase" some of its outstanding individuals with my own "Hero of the Month" award.

FERGAL REDMOND

When was the date of your birth? 27/11/1943

Where were you born? Monaghan - 4 miles from the border with Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom)

How many siblings? 4 sisters (Alice alive) and two bothers (Nigel alive) - both younger than me

What did your father and mother do for a living? My mother was a house wife all of her life - died at the age of 96. My father was a civil servant (Revenue Commissioners) - died at age of 64.

Where did you go to school? Went to secondary school (minor seminary) as a boarder (200 miles from home - a very long distance in the 1960's). Attended major seminary (African Mission Society) for 4 years.

When did you get married? What was her name? Married Catherine in 1970 - she died in April 2014

Where did you work? Worked as a CPA mainly within industry

Where did you live? Moved to the West coast of Ireland overlooking Galway Bay - an area where the Gaelic language was predominantly spoken

How many children? Names?. Mary was our only child who is now married to Tommy with two sons, Euan and Cai. She also lives about two miles from my home.

How long was your wife Catherine sick and how long did you care for her? Catherine was diagnosed with encephalitis, a rare but serious disease, in 2008. From its onset she became depended on a wheel chair. Needing full time care, I gave up my job to look after her. She was further diagnosed with esophageal cancer 18 months before she died

How did you get involved in SVG? Martin, my friend who has been in SVG for ten years contacted me within 6 months after Catherine died and invited me out. I turned the offer down on grounds of old age! Months later he came home to Ireland for his brother's funeral and made contact with me again in Nov 2014 - a very persistent negotiator. I arrived here in March 2015.

What is the best part of being in SVG? The climate, the food, the enticing sea with swimming possible all year are all major factors, but its the people who are responsible for my extended stay here. The Irish are reputed for their Cead mile failte (a thousand welcomes), but they could learn a lot from the "Vinceys"

What is the hardest part?. I miss Mary my daughter a lot. It was a real treat and something special when she came out to visit me after my first six months here. It was the first opportunity that we had to have a memorable heart to heart chat about the role of Catherine in our lives - mother and wife. But it is a comfort to know that Mary is enjoying her own family with Tommy and two special little boys who came late in life. Skype is fantastic, but in many ways it is a poor second to the experience of the warmth of a family embrace that needs no words.