Mar 25, 2022
To continue the story, they went off to a
safari to a game reserve for a few days and when they cam back, I took them
for tour of the Mariannhill complex (3
schools, hos[ital, nurses training , cathedral, guest house, retreat house, carpenter
shop, metal work shop, printing press, tailor shop, and several other small
shops, 2 convents, orphanage, graveyard, soya farm, etc. a small city. The monastery was built in
1882.
Then we went for lunch to El Arish , a local
restaurant that serves a variety of dishes, but specializes in curries and sea
food ( from the Indian Ocean). That was Friday the 18th and on the
17th they were given a look at some or the local villages in the
rural area.(by my friend Jama).
On Friday afternoon, after lunch, we had a bit
of time together and a chance to say goodbye since they would be leaving the
next day, the 19th, Saturday. It was all too quick, but I really
appreciated that they took the time to come for a visit, even though it was
short, and Katrina had other friends that she wanted to visit, that she knew
from the year she was a volunteer here. parting is always such sweet sorrow
2
Things went along normally till the 12rh of
March. That is the day I have been waiting and longing for months. It was the
day when I would meet , my niece, Ann,…. My niece, , a medical doctor… and her
daughter, Katrina, my grand niece….who spent a year as a volunteer at our
orphanage home, some years back, and her
new husband (married in Dec. last year), Chase ( I really like him), and David,
Ann’s husband….all 4 are paying me a visit and
looking around, here and there in South Africa.
It was
enjoyable just to be in their company and it became even more enjoyable when
Katrina announced that she was pregnant. Wow. What great and beautiful news.
While they went off to do some more visiting with Katrina’s friends,
they dropped me off at home. I had had enough excitement for one day, and
although I went to bed early, I couldn’t sleep, I think because I was still too excited.
The next day was Sunday, (I’m sorry but something happened to shift
things around and I am too lazy and scared to try to correct that and make it
even worse) and they came and picked me up and we went off to Savannah Park to
my old community for a lovely Zulu Mass.I sat with them in the back and only
read the gospel in Zulu and listened to Fr. Des. Who has been helping since I
was no longer able to do it. The reading for that Sunday was about the
Transfiguration, when Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain to
experience the divine side of who he was, since all they knew of him was his
human side. Of course, their minds were blown when he was transfigured, big
dazzling light and all.
But what struck me was the juxtaposition of
Transfigure and disfigure that he brought out in his sermon…..
e.g. during Lent while we try to get ourselves
in shape for Easter, what we are actually doing is trying to get the sins out
of our lives, the things that dis-figure us, and try to get back to the Jesus
who was transfigured and who came to live in us when we were baptized. I
thought that was a cool way of explaining sin, a disfiguring of the
image of Christ in us. Then we went up,
after Mass, to spend some time and have an early lunch at the Pillay’’s ( Mike and Anneta who look after our church
stuff, Mike also being the leader and
organizer of the community. Mike is Indian but leads a 98% Zulu community. Netta would be classified as a “coulered”.
I had an appointment with the neurologist on
Wednesday the 23rd and there, after much discussion, we booked a
date for a Botox injection for next week
March 30th. It is not only for wrinkles, which I don’t have,
but also for muscle control…..I think it is my hamstring muscle that has been
driving me crazy (every time I get up from a sitting position or from the bed,
it goes into a tight and painful spasm. It will cost
R6 000 (In dollars , at the present
exchange rate it would be about $89.00 , good for 3 months, then another
$89.00. One of my cousins near Washington DC promised to help and I also ask
others if they can contribute, it would be a great help. Otherwise we would
just have to forget it. It is an injection into the muscle. I am anxious to see
how it will work. I am keeping my fingers crossed and praying like mad.
Well, that’s it for now. I feel kind of ashamed
to get this injection because I know that none of my parishioners could afford
it. But I am hoping that it may allow me to go back to Savannah Park on Sundays
again….I hope.
We are all praying for the people of Ukraine. Putin now joins the monsters like Stalin and Hitler and others closer to home here in Africa. Dare I not pray for his conversion and change of heart, as impossible as that seems? Lots of Love to you all.
