January-Ordinary time

 

Yesterday the liturgical calendar for most Christian churches brought an end to the season of Christmas, with the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus. So, I guess that means it's a return to "normal" or average days or something other than huge celebrations!

This reality of "Ordinary Time" is never really calm, ordinary and Polyanna-like. One thing that's coming up this week is a return to Take Back the Site prayer vigils, as homicides for 2025 have already begun. In 2024 the City of Erie counted 5, though the number is larger if you expand to the boroughs and townships of the County. Now on January 1st we started a new year with one. Very sad reality for us and possibly for where you live, also.

We are in between lake effect storms (!) and as such we had a larger number of people attending our Sunday service this past weekend. There was a rousing version of "Go Tell It On the Mountain" to end the celebration--helped in no small part by our organist who is now 98% recovery from a broken knee cap a few months ago. Speaking of last year, we have begun celebrating the one-year anniversaries of four sisters who died last January. The concept of dying, passing on to the next life, however you see it, has one very difficult piece for me: we miss them--terrribly. Also the mystery of passing time, be it 1, 5 or 15 years always takes me by surprise, as in "How can it be 10 years?"  

I recently saw that Disney has produced a new version of the Lion King. So here I am humming "The Circle of Life" again. But it really fits, not just in the Disney world.

Snowbound movie watching

 

Over the last two weeks or so I've watched a couple great movies. Here's a quick synopsis as encouragement for you to consider them!

We just finished The Six Triple Eight  which is one of those based-on-a-true-story movies/books that most of us have never heard of. It reminded me of the movie Hidden Figures. Both are about black women who made outstanding, yet little known contributions in their areas. This one is set in the last year of WWII, Hidden Figures  was in the 1960s, I believe. We watched it in two one-hour segments and it worked fine. Truly outstanding---in the story line and in the acting. Be ready to experience another "new" look at American history that somehow doesn't get into the high school classes or maybe even college ones. Shout out to Ken Burns, also.

The second movie was Conclave. This one is very much like The DaVinci Code, historical fiction yet you think......well, maybe...some of it...maybe.  It is about a conclave at the Vatican to elect a new pope. The cinematography alone is worth the whole movie. After we viewed it I goggled how they made it and the answers included using various sites in Rome, but also a Sistine Chapel ceiling that they built themselves! Again, the acting is terrific. 

For at-home viewing, Conclave is on Peacock and Apple TV and Six Triple Eight is on Netflix, and probably other options.  Enjoy!

In celebration

We're living a reality that we knew would come some day, but Christmas Day itself wouldn't have been one of the expected moments: our Sister Placida, 107, oldest sister in our diocese for quite a few years now, and who knows what rank in the worldwide Benedictine world, passed away quietly at the end of the Christmas Day festivities, without fuss or much ado, with great peace and calm.

I found her to be a delightful character, quite a wordsmith, very clever and not at all a predictable "nun."  She entered later (which was unusual at that time) and brought her life before the convent with her, I guess. She didn't land in our scene until she was about 70-75, so we missed her at her peak, though she was a little bit of a character in the years with us, too! We'll miss you, Placida, your clever phraseology, your ever-present pink knit cap and your encouragement and kindness to us all.

You can read her obit and prayer card, if you haven't already, on our website.

We'll be hosting her rituals: Memory Service, Funeral Mass and Burial, this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  

P.S. My favorite memory: When she was 95 the prioress asked her to discontinue driving. At the same time she discovered the wonders of a Kindle, especially emailing photos. Her favorite line became, "I gave up driving, but got a Kindle instead."

Christmas Week-old and new

 

The community room/dining room tree with its new LED lights and 

a long lace-dressed angel for the top--courtesy of Sr. Mary Philip and her crafting skills.

The O Antiphons.

The children's manger scene, in a new woodland setting.

Part of the annual Dickens village.

An attempt to show the lights in the inner courtyard, as seen from the administrative hall 

and the 2nd floor West Wing.

The creche in the display cabinet on first floor.

And a special "new" treat:  Mary Did You Know?

Conclave

 I watched a 2-hr movie online this week, Conclave.  It's fiction of course, kind of like The DaVinci Code,  in the thinking----well, it could be real or semi-real. It's on Peacock (NBC streaming) and very enjoyable, albeit fiction!  Enjoy...

Here's my cardinal friend, now trusting enough to sit right outside my window on the nearest tree, just waiting to come over for some food, while also fending off others!

and counting

 Well, we came out the other end of a recording-setting lake effect storm. Where we live, the northwest corner of Harborcreek Township, about 7 miles from the center of Erie, we received 58" give or take!!

One of the eeriest things about it for me was watching TV programs from around the country where the weather was warm and sunny or at least not snowy. It's really surreal to see the extreme difference when you're sitting in the middle of an extreme weather moment yourself!

Here's another and hopefully final look at some of our recent reality!

Mailboxes that were along the road were almost buried.

Our side signage along Troupe Rd. was gone; just the upper border showed.

Here's the path out the inner courtyard doors where we tried to keep

feeding the birds...mostly sparrows and nuthatches.

Lots of birds came to my window feeder, too, including both male and female cardinals. 

Very pretty in the snow. That tree in the background suffered large broken limbs

from the weight of the snow. Today a mild melting has begun.

OMG!

Late October 2024: How to be interviewed by CNN, The Washington Post, etc? Be accused of voter fraud by a nationally known conservative blogger.

Late November 2024: How to be on The Weather Channel and have one of their meteorologists in town for the weekend? Live in Erie, PA. amidst 45.2"....so far.

Cars #14-15-16-17-18 disguised as snow lumps.

Looking outside from the chapel foyer.

The back patio furniture; Can you see the railing that surrounds the patio?

The Blessed Mother statue in the inner courtyard-- looking more like a dinosaur!

A woodpecker hanging on my window feeder, which is a little too small for it, 

but these are desperate times!