Green and Red

 

Here we are again--ready to celebrate Super Bowl LIX--with the Philadelphia Eagles playing the Kansas City Chiefs. I can name at least 7 of our sisters who grew up in the greater Philadelphia area and, as such, are the recipients of a constant flow of emails from their families and friends at the anticipation of the Super Bowl victory against the nasty, going for a three-peat Chiefs. 

I think there is a bit of a conflict however as the head coach of the Chiefs is a beloved former coach of the Eagles, Andy Reid---generally acknowledged as a mastermind of the game. Add to that another acknowledged Chief's mastermind, this time on defense, Steve Spagnolli and Kansas City is  probably a slight favorite----but, the Eagles are very, very good, too, so I'd say it's a 50-50 game!

P.S.  These days the entire Eagles faithful, and probably non-football fans too, will jump at a moment's notice into their fight song: "Fly Eagles Fly." Listen to it here.

Of course, our major event is the 23nd Annual Lenore Shaw Memorial Super Bowl Pool where sisters strive to be one of the four quarter winners. 

Great memories, Lenore, especially the one about the bowling alley and the ten dollar bill and the roll over in bed and caught between it and the wall---during a community meeting! 

Check or checkmate

Kudos to Bishop Mariann Budde from St. John's Episcopal in Washington, for her courageous remarks at the interfaith prayer service on January 20 attended by Trump and many in his incoming admin. Episcopal bishops throughout the country followed up with letters of their own, supporting Budde's call for mercy on the people most impacted by announced administrative policies, namely towards  immigrants/refugees and LGBTQ people.

The Presiding Bishop of the US, Sean Rowe, also issued a letter on the same topic. We in Erie are understandably proud of him, as he was born in a small town about 70 miles south of Erie and was the Episcopal bishop of Northwestern PA for 17 years before the recent national appt. His letter referenced Christ's exhortation to "welcome the stranger." Rowe also officiated at the funeral for Jimmy Carter.

Long awaited is here

 

In case you didn't already know:

Season Four of "Astrid" is back on PBS Passport.

The Number 1 favorite show of all the many we have watched.

Enjoy!

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?