Well, here it is Christmas morning. I am in Aiken, North Carolina where some of the family (my brother John and his wife Donna, and their three daughters, Ann ( a doctor, GP, and her husband Dave), Barbara (an electrical engineer and her friend, Hans, a doctor, alsoGP, from Germany), Karla (who teaches Biology as the university of Santa Barbara in California), Katrina, the daughter of Ann, and me (the happy wanderer).
Ann is busy cooking some bacon and Barbara is helping her. Donna is taking a break from wrapping Christmas presents. Katrina is playing with her computer. John is up and about and the others are all in various stages of activity. It is about 8:30am and I am surprised that everyone is already up. I am the early bird and by 5:30am I have showered, dressed, made the bed and am checking the emails and news from around the world (after saying my morning prayers, of course).
I have been out for a long walk to wear off some of the fat that I have been accumulating over the past 6 months. I have also checked a site called "Deacon Greg" who has some excellent thoughts for sermons and will use some of his thoughts this morning.
We will have a family home Mass to celebrate Christmas properly after breakfast and before the Christmas feast (at the table that is!)
It is soooo nice to be with the family as it is rare that in these past 46 yrs. since I left that I have had a chance to celebrate Christmas with my family (maybe 3 times in all those years). But I am also preparing for the departure in a few days to go back to what has been " home " for me for these past 46 yrs. I am caught in between.
I think of the Vinny that I talked about earlier and of all the hurts and burdens that my family and friends carry into the new year. Some have very heavy burdens and they really weigh down heavily. Everyone has something to deal with. And, maybe the good news is that famous word " Emmanuel" God is with us. We are not alone. We don't walk alone or carry our burdens alone. Incarnation. Becoming one with us, as brothers and sisters of one Father / Mother (God). Perhaps, last year, we wondered how we would ever be able to carry our burden but, here we are, the old year is almost gone and the new year is just around the corner, and we did it. Yes, God is still with us. I hope that we can all listen to that reminder this Christmas. By sending us God's Son, God was saying, loud and clear, I love you and walk with you so don't be afraid of whatever! I am here.
So, there you have it. Soon I will be back in South Africa and jumping back into the fray there. Our friendship and love continues into the new year, perhaps even deepened by the experiences of this almost past year 2012. May God continue to love and bless you now and throughout all of 2013.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
There is lots I would like to share with you today, but I want to concentrate on one thing in particular. I was introduced to a new friend by an old friend today. I was visiting my old friend, Teddy, in Winston-Salem North Carolina. She helps out at a hospital and had told me about one of her young friends who is 9 yrs. old and who has been fighting serious cancer for some time now. It is just a matter of time but Vinny is made of tough stuff and is fighting, although his maybe 30 pounds isn't much to fight with. I really wanted to talk to him today but he just came back from two very exhausting procedures when we were there and he really wasn't in shape to talk or listen, so I am using this Blog to give him my message, e.g. what I wanted to tell him.
Dear Vinny,
Your good friend, Teddy, told me about you some time ago and I have been keeping you in my prayers and have asked a lot of my friends to join in supporting you in your battle against that mean cancer with all of our prayers.
You know, Vinny, you may find it hard to believe but you are very very special in God's eyes. You are one of his really special children. Our loving God sent you here among us for a very special reason, for a job that no one else could do. Since you have come here to be with us, you have touched so many people's lives and have showed them what real courage is, and have taught them to stop thinking so much of themselves and to think of others. Your mom, because of you, and because of her love for you, and because of what you have taught her, has done marvelous things in reaching out to other people which, I am sure, she would never have thought of doing if God had not given you to her as one of his very special children.
I know that it is very hard and painful sometimes, like Jesus, God's son whom he sent to us for a very special job too. But, Holy Moses, all the good things that have come because of you, and all the people that you have touched, in such a short time, is really amazing.
I am so happy that I at least had a chance to shake your hand as a new friend. I thank God for giving us the gift of your presence among us ever though you are very young. When God calls you to go back home with God, we will really miss you, but we will never forget you and we will never forget how special you were for us and how much we learned from you being with us. We thank God for borrowing you to us and promise that even when you go back to be with your God, we will continue to live all that you have taught us, especially, how to love and appreciate the gift of life that is so fragile and that can go away, also, very quickly before you even know it.
So, thank you, Vinny, even for those few minutes that we had a chance to spend together and thanks too to your mom who loves you so much and let me share those few minutes with you.
When we celebrate Christmas this year, we will not only remember the great gift that God gave us when he sent us his Son Jesus, the greatest gift of all, but we will also remember that along with the gift of Jesus, he also sent us you as his very special gift to be with us and share a few years with us.
Many blessings on you this Christmas and on your family and friends. Your new friend, Father Cas, from Africa.
And for the rest of you, I was really touched by this lovely story that was told at the funeral of Sr. Bridget in Reading Pennsylvania. There was this beautiful sailing ship, with tall masts and huge sails. Some of our friends were on the ship to take a trip and we were on the dock waving goodbye. The ship pushed off and went out into the sea and we watched and watched and watched and the ship got smaller and smaller and smaller until is was just a dot on the horizon and finally, even the dot disappeared. Then we all said, " Well, they're gone now!"
But, on the other side of the horizon, there were people who were watching the horizon and they saw this little speck way out there on the horizon. Little by little the speck grew and grew and grew until it was a beautiful sailing ship. And the people on the shore were jumping up and down with joy saying " Here they come. WELCOME HOME!"
The one who told the story reminded us that horizons have limits. So you have to see horizons from both sides. But life is forever.
Have a very blessed Christmas, more than just a happy holiday, as the saying goes. May you be richly blessed by the re-entrance on the one who is gift, life, love, into your hearts again this Christmas to get you ready for the challenges that are going to confront each of you this year, and me too. Love and Peace, your brother Cas.
Dear Vinny,
Your good friend, Teddy, told me about you some time ago and I have been keeping you in my prayers and have asked a lot of my friends to join in supporting you in your battle against that mean cancer with all of our prayers.
You know, Vinny, you may find it hard to believe but you are very very special in God's eyes. You are one of his really special children. Our loving God sent you here among us for a very special reason, for a job that no one else could do. Since you have come here to be with us, you have touched so many people's lives and have showed them what real courage is, and have taught them to stop thinking so much of themselves and to think of others. Your mom, because of you, and because of her love for you, and because of what you have taught her, has done marvelous things in reaching out to other people which, I am sure, she would never have thought of doing if God had not given you to her as one of his very special children.
I know that it is very hard and painful sometimes, like Jesus, God's son whom he sent to us for a very special job too. But, Holy Moses, all the good things that have come because of you, and all the people that you have touched, in such a short time, is really amazing.
I am so happy that I at least had a chance to shake your hand as a new friend. I thank God for giving us the gift of your presence among us ever though you are very young. When God calls you to go back home with God, we will really miss you, but we will never forget you and we will never forget how special you were for us and how much we learned from you being with us. We thank God for borrowing you to us and promise that even when you go back to be with your God, we will continue to live all that you have taught us, especially, how to love and appreciate the gift of life that is so fragile and that can go away, also, very quickly before you even know it.
So, thank you, Vinny, even for those few minutes that we had a chance to spend together and thanks too to your mom who loves you so much and let me share those few minutes with you.
When we celebrate Christmas this year, we will not only remember the great gift that God gave us when he sent us his Son Jesus, the greatest gift of all, but we will also remember that along with the gift of Jesus, he also sent us you as his very special gift to be with us and share a few years with us.
Many blessings on you this Christmas and on your family and friends. Your new friend, Father Cas, from Africa.
And for the rest of you, I was really touched by this lovely story that was told at the funeral of Sr. Bridget in Reading Pennsylvania. There was this beautiful sailing ship, with tall masts and huge sails. Some of our friends were on the ship to take a trip and we were on the dock waving goodbye. The ship pushed off and went out into the sea and we watched and watched and watched and the ship got smaller and smaller and smaller until is was just a dot on the horizon and finally, even the dot disappeared. Then we all said, " Well, they're gone now!"
But, on the other side of the horizon, there were people who were watching the horizon and they saw this little speck way out there on the horizon. Little by little the speck grew and grew and grew until it was a beautiful sailing ship. And the people on the shore were jumping up and down with joy saying " Here they come. WELCOME HOME!"
The one who told the story reminded us that horizons have limits. So you have to see horizons from both sides. But life is forever.
Have a very blessed Christmas, more than just a happy holiday, as the saying goes. May you be richly blessed by the re-entrance on the one who is gift, life, love, into your hearts again this Christmas to get you ready for the challenges that are going to confront each of you this year, and me too. Love and Peace, your brother Cas.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Well, folks, I finally got my Christmas letter off. I left Chicago last Monday and have been busy ever since I got back to Detroit. A doctor's appointment (dermatologist--dry skin getting rough like sandpaper), getting ready to send books and lots of other things by post--very expensive.
I still have the mixed feelings, of delight at having had the chance to spend considerable time with so many friends and family, and the thought of having to leave them, once again, with a gap, probably, of another 4 yrs. I will be 81, if I should live so long, before I come back again and then we shall see what I look and act like by that time.
I have a long list of those I would like to touch just once more before I head for "home". Yes, home. They too are asking " when are you coming back???" I also miss them, my surrogate family, home away from home.
Regarding the Christmas letter there were many that were returned because the email address was no longer valid or for some other reason. If you know of anyone who expected the " annual" and didn't get it, please share it with them.
And, once again., when Jesus comes back to our world in 2012, he will find a world still full of challenges, expecting us to use the gifts he gives us to try to meet at least some of those challenges. The world is certainly not the same this year, 2012, as is was last year, 2011, and neither are we. It is a new Christ coming to a different us. But bringing the same hope to our world as he brought to the world of his time, but not in the way his people expected (a saviour), and maybe we too, not the way we might expect. We have to do some discerning.
But that is enough for now. I am tired and want to get to bed. Have a great day, evening, whatever Cas.
I still have the mixed feelings, of delight at having had the chance to spend considerable time with so many friends and family, and the thought of having to leave them, once again, with a gap, probably, of another 4 yrs. I will be 81, if I should live so long, before I come back again and then we shall see what I look and act like by that time.
I have a long list of those I would like to touch just once more before I head for "home". Yes, home. They too are asking " when are you coming back???" I also miss them, my surrogate family, home away from home.
Regarding the Christmas letter there were many that were returned because the email address was no longer valid or for some other reason. If you know of anyone who expected the " annual" and didn't get it, please share it with them.
And, once again., when Jesus comes back to our world in 2012, he will find a world still full of challenges, expecting us to use the gifts he gives us to try to meet at least some of those challenges. The world is certainly not the same this year, 2012, as is was last year, 2011, and neither are we. It is a new Christ coming to a different us. But bringing the same hope to our world as he brought to the world of his time, but not in the way his people expected (a saviour), and maybe we too, not the way we might expect. We have to do some discerning.
But that is enough for now. I am tired and want to get to bed. Have a great day, evening, whatever Cas.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Just a quick word. My uncle John passed away yesterday, Tuesday, Dec. 4th, 2012. He had been fading and hadn't been eating for over a week, or so I heard. The quality of life was gone and he was just physically (what little there was left of his shrinking body) there. No communication.
He was one of our icons. He was a good man, hard working, honest as the day is long, generous to everyone who was in need, always ready to help. 92 yrs. old. That whole generation set a standard for us of the next couple of generations that we will have to struggle to live up to. There are only two more from his family who are left on this earth: Rose, who is going on 95 in a short time and is bright and alive but is now the proud owner of her very own pacemaker; and Casey, who is 86, dealing with macular degeneration, but still drives, at least for now. His wife, Rose, has other problems that keep him and her both busy and mostly at home as health problems keep them from doing a lot of traveling. She is also a lovely lady and it was my pleasure and privilege to stay with them for almost a week when I tried to visit all the cousins in the Milwaukee area. I got my name from Casey. He was my favorite, probably because he was closest to me in age (there were 14 kids in his family--not a loser in the bunch) and is 9 yrs. older than I am. He had the task of being the court appointed executor of Uncle John's affairs and had to do a lot of work in that connection. Now Rose's sister also passed away as well as the father-in-law of his daughter Suzie, so they are really stressed now with three funerals to be part of. John will be buried tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 6th at 2pm. I am happy that I am here to lead the service. I haven't had a chance to do that for almost half a century now.
I will leave this page for now. We are having a closing Mass and cocktail party and then going out for a final dinner (the last supper for our sabbatical group. We have been together since August 22nd and tomorrow everyone scatters to his or her destination.). It is a say moment at the end of an incredibly beautiful and fruitful time. But, let me leave it at that for now. I am running out of time. Cas.
He was one of our icons. He was a good man, hard working, honest as the day is long, generous to everyone who was in need, always ready to help. 92 yrs. old. That whole generation set a standard for us of the next couple of generations that we will have to struggle to live up to. There are only two more from his family who are left on this earth: Rose, who is going on 95 in a short time and is bright and alive but is now the proud owner of her very own pacemaker; and Casey, who is 86, dealing with macular degeneration, but still drives, at least for now. His wife, Rose, has other problems that keep him and her both busy and mostly at home as health problems keep them from doing a lot of traveling. She is also a lovely lady and it was my pleasure and privilege to stay with them for almost a week when I tried to visit all the cousins in the Milwaukee area. I got my name from Casey. He was my favorite, probably because he was closest to me in age (there were 14 kids in his family--not a loser in the bunch) and is 9 yrs. older than I am. He had the task of being the court appointed executor of Uncle John's affairs and had to do a lot of work in that connection. Now Rose's sister also passed away as well as the father-in-law of his daughter Suzie, so they are really stressed now with three funerals to be part of. John will be buried tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 6th at 2pm. I am happy that I am here to lead the service. I haven't had a chance to do that for almost half a century now.
I will leave this page for now. We are having a closing Mass and cocktail party and then going out for a final dinner (the last supper for our sabbatical group. We have been together since August 22nd and tomorrow everyone scatters to his or her destination.). It is a say moment at the end of an incredibly beautiful and fruitful time. But, let me leave it at that for now. I am running out of time. Cas.
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