Feb.15, 2018.

I don’t remember where we left off but here are a few things that have happened that might be interesting to you. If you get bored, just drop it.

       I think I told you about the accident I had and how I had to go to the police to make a report and get to the insurance company to start the process of getting the money for repairing the car (poor little thing). To make a long story short, the Insurance company declared my vehicle to be a write off so they would either take the car and give me the book value R26,000 and something. Or, I would keep the car and they would give me R15400 and something to repair the car. It won’t be enough but I don’t really have any choice since the R26 ,000 wouldn’t even buy a motorized wheelbarrow.

     In the meantime, On the 2^nd of  Feb. I celebrated with our community (for us Catholics it is the feast of the Presentation---when Jesus’ parents presented Jesus to God and asked a blessing on his life.) when our young men start their novitiate, their year of introduction to the Mariannhill community, and when those who have finished that year, and have asked to join the community, and have been accepted, take their first vows for a year. They will do this 2 or 3 times, for a year at a time till, at the end they take permanent vows. They have plenty of time to get out if they think this isn’t the calling for them. Then the rest of us, old timers, renew our vows. It is a big day and a big celebration.

    In the afternoon a friend took me to the airport to catch a plane for Dubai and from there to Chicago the join the family in celebrating my Aunt Rose’s 100^th birthday. Although it snowed at least a bit every day I was there, it was only just after I left that the really big snow (more than a foot) came down.

     Rose’s husband was Wally, who passed away in about 2007 or 2008. I can’t think of Rose without thinking of him. She was who she was because of his input into her life and he was who he was, also partly because of the her input into his life. I think that we learned that in physics. There is no way that you can define an element by itself because it is always in relation to other elements. I think it is true of human beings too.

     Wally was born in the house where they lived after their marriage in 1937 and Rose still lives there. Holy Moses. 1109 N. Richmond, Humboldt 61183, are burned into my psyche almost as my identity. Anyway, on Sunday the 4^th of Feb we celebrated Mass together with the community of Sr. Mark’s parish where she has been a parishioner for over 60 yrs. After the Mass, we went off for the celebratory party at a venue called the White Eagle. It seems that the family knew the place from before and it had a Polish flavour. There were family from Cairo in Egypt, me from South Africa, Ottawa in Canada, DC, Tuscon Arizona, North Carolina, San Diego, Detroit, as well as locals from the Milwaukee – Chicago area, Illinois and Indiana. She, and the rest of her generation, aunts and uncles, left us a tough legacy to follow and keep up with. They were of the old school, rock solid, loving, caring, honest, non-hypocritical, non-judgmental people. If the rest of the world were like them we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in now. Although Rose uses a wheelchair, she can also use a walker. Her hearing is not that good but she is lively and humorous and quick to respond to anything. I found out that she was number 9 of the 14 children in her family. I think that her enduring presence has played a very positive role in all of our lives, kind of challenging us to live up to the standards that she and her generation set for us.

    I will be, God-willing, taking my home leave next year and really was afraid to miss this opportunity to tell her how much we love her and appreciate who she is for us all.. She may not be here next year so I felt that I had to go now.

    I am not a happy plane traveller. I can’t sleep and get very uncomfortable sitting for anywhere from 8 ½ hrs. to 14 hrs. I always get an aisle seat, preferably not too far from the John, so that I don’t have to disturb others often when I go to the John or just to keep from getting another DVT by marching up and down the aisle to keep the blood circulating.

     My travel agent, Rajes, also ordered a wheelchair for me this time. As my friend made it clear to me, I only refuse to take a wheelchair (I will be 83 this year, so I am much younger than Rose) because I am too proud a priest to be seen in a wheelchair. Not macho enough. Okay, so I became very humble and took it, again, and now I am getting addicted. They wheel you easily through immigration and customs with no fuss at all. I try to tell myself that it is OK but something inside of me says it ain’t fair.

     It was great to be with the family  again and to catch up a bit on their lives and to see them smile and be happy although they all have big problems (health and otherwise) that sit on their shoulders. I get energized and inspired when I see them and know the problems they have to deal with every day in their lives. In comparison, I have no problems or at least small ones. So I guess that means that I have to use what energy I have to give help and support to those who have bigger problems and who need help and encouragement.

    This time, I stayed with my cousin Jean and he husband Tom. I enjoyed their playful dogs, one big and a young teenager, the other small and older and a bit more cranky, something like people. Michael, their oldest son, did the snow shoveling the whole time. It was nice to see a family in action, each doing his or her thing but with sharing chores when it needed sharing. It was refreshing to be with Rose and the family. It touched my spirit. Also, it was nice to see my little brother (he is huge) John and his wife Donna, and my nieces Jenna and Karla. Just being with them picks up my spirits. It’s like drinking Energade.

    I also learned, on the way back how to kill time on the plane so that you didn’t notice how tired your buns were getting because I kept myself occupied with films, music, documentaries, and trips to the John and just keeping the blood flowing. I will sleep, I told myself, when I get home. Although I did get a good sleep in a hotel bed, organized by my travel agent, so that I didn’t have to sleep on a chair in the airport at Dubai. Many thanks to her.

     I arrived home on a Saturday evening and was off and running for an 8:30 Mass at a neighboring parish. They had asked, via WhatsApp, from South Africa, to Chicago, If I could take that Mass and I answered Yes. Modern communication. Wow.

Whew, why do I wait so long to keep the blog updated. Now I have to do some packing. Good night. Cas

Now it is Sunday the 18^th of Feb.

     I have been reading the biography of Dorothy Day the past week or so and I just came to the point where she passed away, quietly, “like turning a page” one described it. She has been challenging me to rethink who I am, what I have done and am doing, and what are my deepest convictions. She has been on my mind and in my heart a lot these days. In a way she reminds me of Thomas Merton, whose life in “ The Seven Story Mountain”, also touched me. People who live a normal, even unchristian life, so to say, with plenty of what we would call sin, and yet, drawn deeply in their spirits to a more meaningful and Godly life, involving the renunciation of most the material things that meant so much to them before, and finding life in spiritual things, but involving many sacrifices.

   But let me get back to the things at hand here.

   On the 12^th of Feb. I had to take the rental car back to Avis and was prepared to do some more walking to the hospital every morning for Mass, and to cut down on my wanderings. However, when I got to the desk, the guy said why are you bringing the car back so early. It isn’t due till the 22^nd. Holy Moses. Sharon, our insurance agent, had persuaded the insurance company to extend the time for another 10 days. That came as a relief to me because, as you may have already noticed, I am definitely addicted to my “wheels”. That meant that I could go to the bank to deposit the gifts I had received in Chicago meant for the poor. I could also go to Vodacom to find out why I was charged more that R60.00 for air time from the 2^nd to the 10^th of Feb. How could that be because I was in the States that whole time and never used to phone for phone calls. He discovered that some company  was taking off R7.00 each day for something that I had signed up for without even realizing it. Wow. I also queried the bill I got for R2037.00, for one month when, for the whole year previous, I had always paid R75.00 for my mobile router which I use only when I am away from my home wi-fi. They have cut me off service until this matter is resolved. I argued that it is clear that for 12 months, and more, I never went over the R75.00 so how could it be that in the next month, I racked up a bill for over R2000 when I didn’t do anything different. Maybe it is like the Russians who are interfering with American media. But Why me? I haven’t been colluding with anyone, not even the Russians.

     Ash Wednesday was special because it was also Valentine’s day. They actually go together because they are both about love. And love, as we all know, is about sacrifice. There is no lover who is a true lover unless he or she is willing to sacrifice for the loved one. Tell me this isn’t true! And the ashes are a sign that we appreciate the sacrifice that Jesus made for us when he gave up his life on the cross for us, a thing that he didn’t have to do, for sure. And the ashes are a sign that we are willing, during lent, to make a few sacrifices in return and in appreciation for what he has done and taught us to do, if we want to be real lovers. The little church was packed and there were many teen agers and smaller kids. I was happy because it gave me a chance to explain to them what both Ash Wednesday and St. Valentine’s day were all about, at least what they mean to me.

    Trying to put into practice what I had preached about on Wednesday, on Thursday I managed to visit 5 people in 3 different hospitals, to bring them a bit of love and consolation since it was the last place that they really wanted to be.

   I hadn’t seen my friend Shirley for a long time so I decided to pop in and see how she was doing. She is past 83 and works full time as a painter, teaching, giving workshops, etc. She wasn’t home when I first stopped so I thought I could use the time to check at Avis about my bringing in the vehicle the next day, the 16^th. Ha, he said, no, it has been extended to the 23^rd. What, again!!! Well that makes it easier for me. But I am going to get more and more lazy or do more and more traveling if this keeps up.

   ON Saturday, I had mass with the sister postulants. It always my heart happy to see young girls who are still willing to give up their lives in service to God’s people in a variety of ways in a religious community. However, I also pray hard for them because I know from experience that it ain’t going to be an easy life. Like all of us, we have to be prepared to take the good with the bad, if we want to be faithful to our basic commitment, especially as Christians, but also as good, decent human beings, to try to make this a bit better world for our having been here. The temptations to go the opposite direction are strong.

     Well, here in our part of the world, South Africa has a new president. The old one, Jacob Zuma, finally agreed to resign “with immediate effect”, and the take over of the new one, Cyril Ramaposa, was a smooth and orderly one when there could have been disorder and even violence. He made the usual promises of all politicians when he gave the State of the Nation Address, but, coming from him, it sounded better than it has for the past 10 years. We now have to pray for him because it is a mammoth task to try to deal with all the problems that face us, among them huge unemployment among our youth, deep and serious corruption, improving our sagging economy, dealing with the water crisis (you probably heard that Cape Town is only a few months from day zero, no water in the taps….that is for 4 million people. And Cape Town is not the only one. We are a desertifying country and everyone must do their best to limit our consumption of and use of water.) These are just a few. Infrastructure, agriculture, a limping education system, a health system that needs a total overhaul, the possibility of a national health system to make decent health care a real possibility for the poor who are locked out of the system now, for the most part, not able to afford the best health care in the world in the private hospitals.

     I pray that America may find a way to deal with Trump as Zimbabwe managed to deal with Mugabe and South Africa managed to deal with Zuma. But that’s enough for now. Love you always. Cas.

Monday Feb. 19^th

   I think I was dreaming last night. I don’t know if this happened really or only in my head. A Mexican migrant, pleading for his life, don’t shoot, bang, by a border guard, one less Mexican migrant, now we can feel more secure. Another family starving without a breadwinner, driven by the hunger of his starving wife and children to try to find a source of income. Where, America, is your compassion, mercy, justice even. When I grew up America was loved by the whole world. Everyone wanted to come here, and many did, including my grandparents, from Poland on the one side and from Denmark on the other. Migrants. Now America is hated and feared. We should send the Statue of Liberty back to France and put up a statue of Trump, with his arms outstretched and his palms turned up, with the saying. “Go away, you are not welcome here. Especially you Muslims”.

Jan. 28^th (a bit more)

Jan. 19^th and 20^th checking what happened while I was gone. No progress on the car. The assessor still hadn’t come so we don’t know what the insurance will say, but probably write-off.

Jan. 21^st  Mass at Savannah Park followed by birthday celebration for Bishop Lobinger. The ACTS group brought tons of food and a cake and good company. It was a delightful day. The food from the monastery we ate for supper. We had some drinks and a long conversation till about 3:30pm. Lots of things discussed. Nice. (Bishop Lobinger loaned me his vehicle to go for mass. After mass I went to the store and bought him a birthday cake)

Jan. 22^nd  Sister was kind and fetched me with a car from the convent to save me the walk to the hospital in the morning.   About 25 minute walk.

                                                                                                                                                    

Jan. 23^rd.   Got the OK from insurance to get a loaner from Avis. Good for twenty days. Hope that the car will be finished by that time.

Jan. 24^th. My turn to fetch sister and then to catch up on all the stuff that I was unable to do when I was carless.

I killed many birds with one stone. Pharmacy to fetch my medication for the month (an old folk’s chore)---Stop at ATM to take out some cash… Rajes the travel agent to make sure that all is OK for the trip to Chicago…Pavilion shopping mall to get a pair of shoes to protect my delicate feet in the cold and snow of Chicago…haircut at hairdresser.  All in one go. Wow.

Jan. 25^th Cut grass the whole morning and got a call from the insurance at 17:20 in the evening. They are going to write it off , as we thought, what do I want to do. I am too poor to buy another vehicle so I will keep the car and use whatever the insurance pays out to repair it. Probably not enough but what can I do… Called the insurance broker in Mthatha and she says they will send a report. Who knows how long that will take.

Jan. 26^th.   Not much, more grass cutting before I head off next week. Also started packing my suitcase. Less than half the weight allowed but I will only be there for a few days. So I put a box in to take up the space so that they don’t crush my suitcase. Ha.

Jan. 27^th. Cutting the whole morning, the last part that needed cutting. Visit by aunt and child (9^th grade) who is asking for help in buying school things. I looked at the items (over R4000 worth…I don’t know how they expect people to be able to afford this stuff…. It is probably more than two to three times what a person might get in a month…. Holy Moses)… There was an item, something like Ties X 2 R30.00  I asked if each tie cost 30 rand or if that was for both. No it was for both. Then clarify it for me. Then I asked the girl how much is 15 plus 15. She looked at me with a blank stare. She had no clue. She is in grade 9. What did her teachers teach her. What is her future like. The kids here are terrified of maths and it becomes a block. No one gives them a foundation. I once asked something like how much is 25 and 10. After a long while someone was brave enough to give an answer    47. Again, no clue, just take a guess.

    I phoned Shirley in the afternoon (my friend since I was chaplain at St. Mary’s hospital when she gave birth to her last born in 1967) if I could come over and use her internet since ours was on and off, mostly off , and I had some important missives to get off. We had a chance to chat for a while then she was off to Mass and I came hope to prepare my sermon for Sunday, in Zulu, mostly.

Sunday Jan. 28^th. Mass at Savannah Park again. Big crowd. We are growing, even young people. Then lunch with the Pillay family. They are looking after three young girls who have dysfunctional homes. One of them is actually an orphan. But she is of an age where the boys are heading for her like to a pot of honey and she is, of course, responding in kind. It is causing a crisis in the house and may end  sadly with her going back into an institution. She is an angry young girl, grade 11, quite attractive, and angry at the world that has dealt her a lousy hand. That is how I see it. And her anger comes out in very destructive ways to the point where it may come to getting the social worker to remove her. Sad but I understand. Pray for her. Life has been tough for her and she has been tough on those who were kind enough to try to give her a loving home.

That’s it for now. Cas.

Jan. 10, 2018

     Not much but some very important things happened since the last blog.

Dec.28-29^th, still holiday time, so lunch at two families. Nice to see the kids and parents together. Lunch because a late supper often bring acid-reflux

Sat. Dec. 30, lots of grass cutting and bush chopping. There has been a good bit of rain, and the grass is delighted, of

course.

Sun. Dec. 31, Holy Family Sunday – what is family today. It used to be father, mother, children, grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, mostly. But today, it has taken on a different meaning, as far as I can see. Family is where you feel at home, where you are loved and accepted and given some kind of basic respect. There are so many dysfunctional homes where there is no love so, for many street kids, family is the kids who sleep together under the bridge. They are accepted and loved as they haven’t been at “home”. Or, drug addicts, who just can’t shake the habit, hang out with others who are in the same boat, where no questions are asked, you are not judged, just accepted for who you are, a wounded human being, like all the rest. Or it is the gang where you are somebody, where you feel attached and at home. So, I think that for many, family is where you feel at home, and accepted, not always scolded, loved in a certain kind of way, etc.

    It was also New Year’s Eve and there were invitations to join a party here or there to welcome in the new year. I did some praying and was in bed by 10pm. I guess that at my stage in life, starting the new year right is getting a good sleep. Ha. Would you believe. What is happening to me in my old age???

     Mon. Jan. 1…Mary Mother of God feast, as usual, at the hospital at 6 am. Not many customers, as you might imagine (the morning after the night before). Grass cutting and removing logs and branches that had been left bedhind by those who were cutting our Christmas trees.

   Tues. Jan. 2…A 2018 calendar for the hospital from the repository which opened after the new year. I had supper with a family who wanted to have a proper, party but also prayerful send off for a son who had gotten a job in Joburg and we were celebrating his farewell. It was amusing because his parents were invited, earlier, to his school where he teaches the young kids, and who heard what a great son they had raised who was loved by kids and staff who were really sorry to see him go. The parents said they wondered if the school was talking about the same guy whom they called their son. Ha. After the home mass (probably about 50 people) was the party. I had to get up for the 6am mass at the hospital the next morning so I tried to get someone to take me home. I was home sometime after 10pm. Not too bad.

    Wed. Jan. 3…After Mass I went looking for a pair of shoes for my trip to Chicago in Feb. for my Aunt Rose’s 100^th birthday. I have no shoes, only sandals, and I heard on the news that the temp. in Chicago, with that cold wave, was like -20C. I was cajoled by a super salesman trying to get me to buy a pair of boots for R1000. Ha. I said I would have a look around. I eventually picked up a pair of light shoes for R300, just enough to get me through the trip for a few days and then back to the sandals.

     Thurs. Jan. 4, A surprise visit by a former student nurse who knew me when I was chaplain at St. Mary’s hospital for ’67 to ’69 . She, like me, is now retired. She was visiting from Joburg and popped in with her daughter and her husband and grandkids. Nice. The last time I saw her was in 1969 when I left St. Mary’s hospital. Wow. That’s 45 years ago. She got my cell phone number from someone and followed up on it.

     Fri. Jan. 5…More grass cutting and visiting the hospital at a reasonable time (not at 6am) to wish members of the staff a happy new year. Hugs of course. And it was Mpume’s birthday (she didn’t say how old she was but I am sure it is more than 16).

    Sat. Jan. 6…. A fateful day. I went to the pharmacy to pick up some Movicol, which helps people who, like me, have chronic constipation---I hear that it goes with the old age territory. I filled up with petrol and on the way back from town (about 7 km.  about 4 ½ miles) I had an accident (again, but not my fault). As you know, we drive on the opposite side of the road to what people drive on in the States. So, as I was approaching a junction where people get on the expressway, I had a green light so I cruised on as usual, maybe 30Mph, or so, and, without any warning, a guy coming from the opposite direction, made a right turn, right in front of me, trying to get onto the expressway, and, I couldn’t stop in time and banged into him, and demolished my front end. But he never stopped, He just kept going and disappeared onto the expressway. Judging from the damage to my car, he must have some serious damage to his car too. WE suspect that he was either drinking or on drugs or didn’t have a driver’s licence or was driving a stolen car…some reason why he didn’t want to be seen by the traffic police.

    Of course, the vultures were there to hurry and tow me away and I had to fight them off telling them that I had phoned a friend who was coming to my aid, which was true.  IN the meantime the traffic police came and had a look, but didn’t do anything, and an emergency vehicle came to check me out to see if I was OK, which I was, but they insisted that I get into their vehicle to have my blood pressure taken. He said it was a bit high. I laughed and said I’m not surprised, under the circumstances, and I am very angry at this idiot who spoiled my entrance into the new year. Damn! Sorry about that.

   My friends came and found that they were able to drive the car to the same friend who fixed it las time. But then they took me home, without a car now.

    Sun. Jan. 7… 8am mass at Savannah Park, but with a twist. A couple from Joburg, who were spending a few days down here by the sea, asked if they could come for Mass with me to S.P. I was delilghted. So I waited for them and they followed me in the vehicle that Bishop Lobinger loaned to me for the day to the place where we celebrate. They had had no breakfast and I wanted to go, immediately after Mass, to make an accident report at the police station, which was on the way back to our house. They followed me and we went to the police but I told them to go back to Mater Dolorosa ( the old folks home) and have a cup of tea and a snack and as soon as I was finished with the police, I would come and we would go out and have a bit to eat (sort of brunch).

    However, the police room was full, full, full and, after 5 minutes (this was about 10:15 in the morning) I could see that, if I was lucky, I just might get out of there shortly before sundown, so I came back to MD. Then we went out for a bite to eat at a Wimpy’s (they have a son Lihle who likes Wimpy…he is going into the 1^st grade this year.

     When we were finished (catching up on lots of things) they went back to the place they were staying at by the sea, and I went back to the police station near Mariannhill. It was about 1:30pm by this time. There, I was told that I had to make the report at the Pinetown station as the accident happened in Pinetown territory, and because the other guy escaped, they would send their detectives to see if they could track him/them down. There are usually CCTV cameras at places like that junction, so they hoped they might get his licence number. So, back I went to Pinetown to make the report there. Thank goodness, it only took about 45 minutes.

    Then, on the way back home, I stopped at the home of the guy who fixes cars to get my stuff out of the car, but he wasn’t answering his phone, so I had to call it a day. The whole evening I spent filling in the accident form for the Insurance with the police accident report number and sent all this stuff off to our insurance broker in Mthatha.  

Mon. Jan. 8…Besides Mass at the hospital, and the insurance stuff, emails and WhatsApps going back and forth, another problem cropped up. I was told that if I want to celebrate Mass for my Aunt Rose’s 100^th birthday, I have to get a letter from my provincial saying that I am in good standing and am not a criminal or child abuser, etc. So we started that process and my cousin Jeannie and also my cousin Rick tried to get information as to where and to whom to send the document. Again, there were emails going back and forth and it was a hectic day at the office between the things needed for the insurance and the things needed from the provincial, who, incidentally, happened to be on vacation but was kind enough, understanding the urgency, to take time to draft a letter and send it to me to be sent to Chicago, to someone, but who?

     I also used Bishop Lobinger’s vehicle to go to the travel agent to finalize the ticket for the trip to Chicago for the     birthday celebration on Feb. 4^th. Rajes also was kind enough to book an overnight stay in a hotel in Dubai so that I wouldn’t have to stay in the airport overnight. She is very kind and thoughtful.

Tues. Jan. 9… Yesterday, I still had Bishop Lobinger’s car so I could drive to the hospital. Today it was a nice healthy walk. The whole day was spent between re-sending insurance stuff and stuff for the archdiocese of Chicago. I don’t think I have ever spent so much time in an office all in one day. We had intermittent trouble with the internet and the electricity was playing tricks on us most of the evening and night, so it made things more exciting.

Wed. Jan 10… (that’s today). I wanted to cut some more grass after doing some reconnoitering  but felt that I really didn’t have time for the luxury of working outside for a while. I was right. Some of the material didn’t go through and some of it had to be resent because it wasn’t readable, and just tonight, my cousin Jeannie managed to get the name of the person to whom to send the document with the email address. Hooray. However, it must come directly from the Provincial’s office (of course, he is presently out of town) and I am leaving for the airport for a trip to Cape Town tomorrow at 6:45 in the morning, so I can’t go to an office physically to see if I can find someone who can do the job. Interesting. Life is never dull around here. So I did the best I could, under the circumstances, and sent an email to him (provincial) and a couple of other people who may be authorized to operate on his behalf when he isn’t here.

I just keep my fingers crossed now.

     I finally got around to packing today and hope that I am prepared for the trip tomorrow. It is almost my bedtime and I am glad to have finished all this stuff, including my monthly financial report which I did this morning after the internet returned and I could get my bank statement.

    The requests for school fees, school uniforms, etc. has started. Thanks to some friends who have contributed to the socio-pastoral fund, we are able to give a hand to some who otherwise would not be able to get on with their education. I have to stop here now and recheck the suitcase to see if I have everything that I need. It is sweltering hot in Cape Town so it will be “shorts” attire. Ha. I will be back next week and will share with you what has been happening in CT, where there is a severe water shortage. We who lived in the bush know how to survive, even if the odour is not always so beautiful. Ha. God bless you all. Cas.

Dec. 26^th, 2017

   Holy Moses, another month has almost gone by. I am just off now to do some weed Whacking but when I come back, I will try to pick up where I left off. Boxing day, as they call the day after Christmas here, is a national holiday so things are slow today and it is a good day / time, for using the weed eater. See you a bit later.

     It is now Dec. 27^th, I spend almost the whole of yesterday cutting grass (weeds) with the weed eater, morning and afternoon. I was tired and after our Braai Vleis (cookout) at the monastery where I got stuck into a nice hunk of beef and a fat sausage, I came back, watched the news for a while and then hit the sack about an hour earlier than I usually do since I was tired. I am just back from the hospital for the 6am Mass and am heading down for breakfast with the others. After breakfast, I will come back and pick up where I left off.

   Lots of interesting and good things happened in December. I thought that I was putting them down as they happened but…. So here goes.

Dec. 2^nd, 2017  Book Launch.  During the liberation war in Rhodesia, which later became Zimbabwe, some of our Mariannhillers were murdered as well as some of our Precious Blood Sisters. Fr. Ted Rogers, a friend and colleague during my Zimbabwe days working for IMBISA ( Interregional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa), the refugees (exiles) from various countries under siege (Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia) ( I was looking after the South African Exiles who had to flee from South Africa to Zimbabwe or Zambia)…is now retired (he is 93 yrs. Old, a Jesuit) and has serious health problems…he decided to write a book documenting and telling the stories of the religious who were murdered at that time by either the guerrillas (Zanu..supported by the Chinese…or Zapu, supported by the Russions,) or the Rhodesian Army, or the Selous Scouts ( an ugly bunch), for various reasons. There were others besides the Mariannhillers and Precious Blood Sisters, but because it concerned our community, the book launch was here at the monastery with some fan fare and some speeches and entertainment and refreshments. About 70 people came, mostly from our communities, but also a choir from Zimbabwe. It was interesting too that  ZAPU is mainly Shona, and quite a few, and ZAPU is mainly Ndebele, and not so many, the armed wings being Zanla and Zipra, respectively. Since a lot of the fighting took place in Matabeleland, The Zipra guys were often known by the missionaries, where some of them went to school, or worshiped, and who were often helped by the missionaries, and were less inclined to kill the missionaries (unless there was a reason like one of the people being a spy and reporting their whereabouts to the Government authorities). But the Zanla guys were mostly from the Shona part of what is now Zimbabwe and there was less sympathy, and because there was a kind of rivalry between the two guerrilla groups, were more likely to find a reason to murder the missionaries, priests, brothers, sisters, that the Zipra guys. The point is that of the 31 missionaries that were murdered, 29 were expatriates. The bishop had told them that it was dangerous to continue to live in the missions and that they were free to leave without being accused of being cowards. The all chose to stay with their communities and paid the ultimate price for it. They are considered to be martyrs for choosing to remain with their people even though they knew there was a good chance that they would die because of that choise. It was inspiring and encouraging at the same time. The books sells for R150 here but was selling for R120 at the launch. There was also a launch in Johannesburg and may also be one in London, because there were a good number of Jesuits who also experienced the same fate. Fr. Rogers, SJ, wanted to finish the book before the Lord took him home but he is still with us in a retirement home in the UK and was very happy about the launches.

Dec. 3, 2017—Dinner Dance to raise funds for the ultimate building of St. Therese of Lisieux parish ( my outstation at Savannah Park). Tickets were being sold for donations, R150, for a dinner dance that included a meal, doing a good deed, a health component, and some good music, all for only R150, or more if you choose. I sole 41 tickets out of the 250 tickets that were printed. The venue was El-Arish, a very nice restaurant, cum conference center, cum B&B, on the Bluff here in Durban (you can see the sea—Indian Ocean—from the windows). All tickets were sold out and the place was full. Even the whole African community that had attended our morning Mass at Savannah Park were there (to my surprise because I think it was beyond their means but they really tried hard to show their support). Of course the meal was excellent and I moved around greeting all those people to whom I sold tickets as well as others. There was a good spirit as people got to know on another.  Of course the hightlight, to me, was that I exhausted myself on the dance floor. Ha. I think some people got a look at a side of Fr. Cas. They didn’t know existed. I only sat down to catch my breath when they stopped playing the slow ones and started on the hippity hop ones. Ha again.  The final tally for the evening was that we managed to raise R57,000.  00. Wow, that is a lot for us. I guess you could say that a good time was had by all, especially by our parishioners who had never, I believe, seen anything like this before. Very fancy. Thanks to the owner of the venue who put everything in the kitty and didn’t keep anything for himself. That gave us a good start.

In between there were classes with the novices again, and some hospital visits, and on the 8^th of December, joining the CPS sisters, one of whom, Sr. Florence, after waiting a looong time, finally was given the OK to make her final vows. She is studying nurseing and that is how I got to know her.

I also got a message from the Bank that they were deducting some R2000 from my account having to do with Vodacom. Holy Moses. I went to the bank (this is always an adventure for an old guy. I stood in the queue for over half and hour and when I finally got to the teller to explain, she told me that I had to go to Vodacom first to find out what it was all about.) Thank goodness, Vodacom is just upstairs so I went up and managed to get someone to explain what this deduction was all about. He said that it was because I used up a lot of data that came to that amount. I explained that for several years now I have been paying R75 a month for a mobile router which I uses on occasion when I have to be away from my home wifi, but in all this time I never went over the amount (1GB). Suddenly, to jump from R75 to over R2000. Didn’t make sense to me as I hadn’t done anything different from what I usually do. But when I asked him to check on his computer, he said that the line was down and that I could wait. Ha. Wait? What a joke. I told him that I was going back to the bank to have them reverse the charge, which I would query, and Vodacom could inform me later what they decided and I would then make my decision.

A few days later, after my Internet access to my bank account is blocked because I can’t remember my password (This really irritates me because I think I have a whole Yellow Pages of passwords that I can hardly remember, and which, for one reason or another, I have to change, so that I wind up confused. Of course, if  you try too many times with the wrong password, it gets blocked …I won’t say what I thought, but I had to go to the bank twice to get it unblocked, and each time if took over an hour. ) I eventually went to the bank manager who turned out to be a very nice lady, and I suggested that she go out to observe what is going on in her bank, that they really need more tellers, since having to wait for over an hour is not acceptable and the bank will get a bad reputation. She said that she already did that but she had 6 people who were off sick and when she asked headquarters for more staff, they said they didn’t have any to send to her so she was stuck. At least it was good that I now have a good contact in the bank if more problems arise in the future.

Dec, 10, 2017---I joined the community at St. Paul’s Church since it was family day in the parish and the parish priest is recovering from an operation to his leg (some strange doctors said he might have to have his right foot amputated, and this was in a very expensive private hospital).  A haematologist was called in and said that all that was needed was to borrow a vein from somewhere else and get a blood supply to that foot and all would be well, which is what they did, and it is working fine but is still a bit painful. In any case I took the Mass and he sat with me up at the altar and I asked all the kids to come up and get a blessing from their father, which they did and that made him and the kids happy.  I joined a family  at home after Mass and then came back to meet the rest of the parishioners who were each coming bringing their own goodies. It was a nice time and a good spirit, a real family spirit.

Dec. 16, 2017…I was invited to a birthday party of a friend who celebrated his 70^th. It gave me another opportunity to cash in on the health component with a bit of dancing. I mean, after all, one has to look after his health.

Somewhere in here I did a dumb thing. I was parked (parallel parking) next to the front door of the hospital and when I came out of Mass and climbed into the car, there was no one next to me on the driver’s side, But as I started to pull away to my right, bank, I bumped into a car that had pulled along side of me to drop off his wife in front of the main door of the hospital. Although I was probably only going about 5 Mph, it gave a nice dent to the side of hid bakkie (pickup). He wasn’t impressed and I think that if I hadn’t been a priest, he might have said and acted differently. It was just before Christmas and I really felt stupid. I didn’t want to admit that since I have glaucoma, my peripheral vision on my right side is very limited, and that, I believe, is the reason that I had no clue that he had pulled up along side of me. I think that if I had nomal vision, I would have noticed, out of the corner of my eye, as it were, that he had come along side of me. I still felt dumb.

But that meant informing the insurance company and getting a police report (the system with the police is about the same as the bank. It was over an hour waiting, Ha. There is no escape). However, in the end, I was advised not to report to the insurance company because the deductible amount would be more than if I got someone to repair it whom I know, and that is how it worked out. My friend Anthony told me to bring him the car when I go to Cape Town in January, and he can fix it up for probably a quarter of what the other panel beaters would charge. I am super abundantly blessed.

17^th Dec. 2017… A group of ACTS ( a spin off from the Cursillo) came to us old timers and prepared a special lunch for us. We ate like pigs. It was very thoughtful of them. They do it once in a while especially for those who rarely if at all have a chance to get out of the house. We are spoiled.

Dec. 21, 2017---I went for my annual prostate checkup. I had already gotten my PSA done at the lab. They take  a blood sample and can tell if you have cancer in your prostate. Mine was 1.3 ( the doctor said that two years ago it was 1.1, last year 1.2, this year 1.3. He said it gradually goes up as one gets older. The cut off, he said, is 6. Well, by the time I get to six (1.3, 1.4, 1.4, 1.6, etc. 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc. I will be long gone).

Dec. 22^nd, 2017… We had a home mass for some ladies ( the daughter who is about 55 yrs. Looking after her mom, about 90 yrs. And totally blind…haven’t had a chance to get to Mass for years and years. So it was special for them. Some members of the community came and joined up and provided some music which was very nice. There is a good spirit in our community and when someone is sick or there is a death in one of the families, the rest are there to offer support. I also picked up some candles and incense for our Christmas celebrations that morning.

The rest of the time building up to Christmas was preparing for Christmas itself, doing a lot of grass cutting in between, helping out with confessions at the neighboring parishes, and having a special penitential service for our parish on the Third Sunday of advent, when Fr. Macarius came along and helped to hear confessions to let everyone get in shape, spiritually, to celebrate Christmas.

Dec. 23, 2017…After picking up a 5 litre box of red wine for whoever graces my doorstep, I spent the morning and afternoon cutting grass and felt happy that it is mostly under control now.

Dec/ 24^th, 2017…4^th Sunday of Advent and also Christmas Eve day / night. I knew that no one was going to come to Mass twice, once in the morning and once in the evening for the midnight mass, which, by the was was at 6pm. Since there was no Mass that morning, Mike Pillay organized for us to bring communion to the sick, who would not be able to get to church on Christmas day. Then, in the evenng we just combined everything. Mr. Pillay, the community organizer and catechist, umshumayeli, had managed to find someone to bring his keyboard along. That is all you need for an African community who love to sing, to turn them on. It was like magic. The music was great, and as you know, it is clear that an African can’t sing and stand still at the same time. S/he must move, so everyone was moving to the music and the Holy Spirit took over. A real family spirit. We finished about 8:30 and then I went up to Net and Mike Pillays for bite to eat and to wish each other a blessed Christmas. I got home about 10:45 and to bed by 11:30pm. Not bad.

Dec. 25^th, 2017. Since there was no Mass at Savannah Park ( I think that most of them would go to the Mass at the mother parish, St. Charles Luanga at 8am), I had Mass at the Hospital where we prayed for all the patients to get healed and home in time to taste a bit of the Christmas seasonal spirit.  I had intended to move around the hospital from ward to ward to just pray and bless everyone, but at the last minute, I received a message that an old friend was coming to bring her mother from America and wanted me to meet her. We met but then I had to change my schedule. I wanted to visit 4 families so now I had to be satisfied to visit only three. My spirits pick up when I see families together, enjoying each other’s company, and the kids getting good example from the elders, usually at least three generations or four coming together. I came home about 7:30 and was pooped, so by 8:30 I was under the sheet for a nice quiet and peaceful Christmas.

Dec. 26^th, 2017…I cut grass the whole morning and afternoon. The weather was warm and a bit overcast which was just right for that. It is called Boxing Day here but I don’t know why. I seem to remember something called the Boxer Rebellion in China but I don’t think it has anything to do with this Boxing Day.

At the end of the day there was vespers in the church where the novices led the singing (5 of them) and I was surprised at how well they sang and harmonized. I taught them in class so I didn’t know they had this hidden talent. Some of the youngsters were cooking the meat and lots and lots of other goodies were on the table. Besides our Mariannhill community and the sisters, there were also some visitors who joined in the celebration. I saw a young lady I didn’t know so I sat next to her to find out who she was. She is the real live sister of the new Bishop of Port Elizabethe, A Zungu. Interesting. We started with vespers at 5:30 and the braai was ready right after that, so by 7:30, I felt tired after spending most of the morning and afternoon cutting grass (mostly on the side of a hill) so I headed for home, watched to news for a while and then hit the sack again by 9pm. I think that I am slowly but surely adding on my sleep hours. I used to turn in by 10 and get up at 4, now I turn in a bit earlier, and get up at 4:30. Does that say something to me. I am still trying to decipher.

Right now, I am waiting to be picked up for a lunch with another family. I will tell you about it when I next add on to my blog. I think I am finished for the time being. I wish all of you a happy, healthy, fruitful new year, and when it is not so happy or healthy or fruitful, but sad or disappointing, and health challenging, or frustrating, that you are given, from above, the courage, strength, determination, patience, and, most of all , Love, to deal with all of that, and keep on moving till next Christmas. Love and Peace, as always, Cas.

Dec. 1, 2017

Hey, but life has been busy the last few days. Always busy on weekends with one or two masses, most often in Zulu.

On the 27^th, we had a meeting of those involved in planning the dinner dance to raise money for a church at Savannah Park. I managed to sell 41 tickets. The plans were more or less put in order, e.g. who is going to welcome, who explain what and where is the Savannah Park church project (me), who is going to bless the gathering, who is going to bless the food (the bishop---he usually takes a long time for his sermons so it was thought better to make it something short like grace before meals), how many are coming (more than 200), how many tables, how about the DJ, there is a picture to be reaffled off (R10,000), who will be the MC, etc. etc. etc. Got home very late, almost 10pm and had to turn the alarm off before I could let myself into the house without waking up the neighbourhood.

28^th, of course, my birthday. Too many people have gotten wind of this day and I have been deluged with birthday wishes and blessings, many of them via Facebook and something called Messenger. Hey, I avoid these things and tried to answer, tapping “comment”, and then looking where to send and there is now where to send. So I just gave up. A few days later, I went to our travel agent whose son I depend on the explain what I don’t know. He explained. But, I advise all of you who read this blog to avoid Facebook, please. Just send me an email  ( frcascmm50@gmail.com) and I will answer. The trouble is that once you get onto Facebook and all those other things, it hijacks you for hours and eats up your data. So please.

30^th, St. Mary’s Nursing College graduation. I was invited because I used some of the money you guys sent to help some of the poor ones with their school fees. It was nice to see these youngsters and their rejoicing parents with an education that hopefully will help them to earn enough to raise a family. However, I keep reminding them that there is not just a “Profession” but is a “vocation, a calling” which goes well beyond just doing a professional job, although that is also important.

I had to leave early because when I tried to buy some air time, after trying several times on the internet banking page of Standard Bank, they blocked it. Darn passwords. I need a Yellow Pages of passwords. In any case, I went straight from the celebration to the bank and it took over an hour to get things right again. I blame the bank for having a confusing web page. In any case, it is done now and this morning I got myself some more air time.

Now I have to start working on answering all those hundreds of Facebook messages. I think they will have to be short and sweet.

Today, I was supposed to have been at the hospital for World Aids Day, I typed out  a kind of service with readings, responses, alleluias, etc. in Zulu for the sister that I work with at the hospital. I will be taken out by a friend for lunch as a birthday treat. That was nailed down some weeks ago after going through several changes and cancelations, so there was no way I could cancel it again.

I forgot that my second cousin (Jerry and Barb’s daughter) Leah, invited me to the birthday party of Aunt Rose on Feb. 4^th, 2018. She will be 100 and the family are organizing something.  I told her that I would love to be there and would be able to come only if the family were able to pitch in to pay for the air fare, which would be around $1100 to $1200, at the present exchange rate. However, I know that everyone is up tight with stretched budgets so I am quite prepared to stay home and join with them in spirit and in prayer.

That’s enough for now. I am off to the pharmacy to pick up some medicines and then off to , I hope, a lovely lunch. It will be a Greek restaurant, and I am looking forward to it, especially the Baklova (Maybe some Ouzo too!)  LOL . Cas

November 23, 2017 (Thanksgiving Day)

I started updating my blog on the 21^st and got almost finished a day later when, by some freakish thing, I deleted the whoooole thing. Ugh! So I am starting all over again. Can you imagine starting thanksgiving day by updating my blog.

Oct. 24---I started my trip to Mthatha with several tasks in mind. Fr. Macarius backed out at the last minute because he feels more and more unsure of himself as his eyesight fades. On the 25^th I saw Nomaza, NOmonde’s daughter, who has started a school for the autistic. She had a sheaf of papers to fill in applying for help from the government and asked for help. Holy Moses. You would almost need a lawyer to go through all that stuff. Then it was off to Landsend to bring a lot of (a whole trunk full of) used clothes, some still brand new. She was happy. Also saw Sinovuyo, the tailor, who is happy as his business in doing well, he feels. Next, friends Sandra and Phemeza, working for Mike McNamara, who helped Guy a lot. Sandra even bought a ticket for the dinner dance to raise funds for a new church at Savannah Park. Visited Graeme who collects the rents for our project at Bedford who explained some of the ups and downs of that job but now most of the flats are occupied. Hooray. He also gave me a give of some wild game meat (which is being prepared as I type, for a Thanksgiving surprise at our table. It will be a mince curry for lunch and some sausages for breakfast. We are spoiled).

We had a home blessing for one of our friends who had been our insurance broker for many years. Nice family.

26^th, Visit to the sisters CPS and a trip to Sabelani Home to tell Mona that because of his continued drinking the bursary will be canceled. He has been given a new start so often and lots of money has been wasted on him when he continues to go back to his drinking again. Also visited Nomanyano, an activist in the local parish and saw the parish priest for about 10 seconds as he was just off to say mass for the sisters. Then had supper with Liz and Raj, old friends from way back. Raj now has his PhD and has been promoted at the university.

27^th. Saw Sr. Nokwanda, teaching nursing at the school where Mona was to go. She pleaded for him and said that all had already been paid for for the whole year by Fr. Winfried, so I had to relent. I will have to tell Mona that he has been given yet another reprieve, but Fr.Winfriend will cut off his bursary and supplies if there is the least reason to do so.

28^th. The BOM meeting (board of management) at Sabelani Home. Big discussion about what to do about the money from a grant that Fr. Guy had organized before he died. How it is to be used, and that it must be faithfully reported on, openly and transparently, every penny. It was decided to take on 5 new boys to live in the house and be mentored by those who are still there and to find five young women and see how they can be helped, but without living at the house which is only for males. We will see, after Christmas, how that is going. I joined them for supper after the meeting and we had a toast to the ancestors to close the day (Uncle Jack Daniels). We also had some ordinations of new deacons that day but because of the importance of the BOM meeting I was unable to attend.

29^th. I left Mthata at 4 :30am to get back to Mariannhill in time to do a lot of things. I stopped to see Fr. Kim at Coolock house, our retreat house near the sea, and had breakfast with him and discussed our formation program for our young members in training. I spent the afternoon and evening pushing tickets for our dinner dance and wound up having supper with friends Ernest and Mala, who also bought two tickets.

30^th. I had decided to have a wheel alignment for the car since it hadn’t been attended to since after the accident and repairs. Ha. When I checked to see if I had used any oil for the long trip to Mthatha (it is only a 1.1 litre engine, and I don’t slouch) I discovered that the oil cap was missing. So that gave me another important thing to do for the day. The same day, Rose Mene, the wife of Wally Mene, an environmental activist who passed away suddenly, came to ask if I would take a service for him at their home with mainly members of the family and some close friends. She had been told to ask me by a friend from the Grail, a group that tries to uplift women wherever they are. I surely agreed. It was Monday and it was to be on Wednesday.

Nov. 1—Most of the day was taken up for the memorial service for Wally. He was well known as a passionate defender of mother earth and was an intrepid foe of all who would dare to desecrate or abuse our beautiful mother earth. It was a pleasure to be able to lead such a meaningful service. He didn’t belong to any church but was a deeply religious person, as is his wife Rose, who is the CEO of Biowatch here in South Africa.

Nov. 2^nd, of course, all Souls day, so we remembered all of our deceased relatives and friends. ( I still have Mass every morning at St. Mary’s hospital, even though it is now a government hospital. A few nurses come in the morning at 6am. Sometimes they are quite late but I still give them communion because it is not their fault. They have to depend on public transport and that means you just have to wait. It is no like just jumping into your car when you feel like it. Again, we are spoiled.

Nov. 3   We held a bigger service for Wally at the Botanical Gardens in Durban where members of many organizations were present that had worked with or benefited from the wisdom and support of Wally. Several organizations were given the opportunity to pay a tribute to him and I was asked to say a prayer (many people are not church goers but are deeply religious) and the service was closed by Toko Makhanyo, a now retired member of the Grail, who also knew and benefited from Wally who gave a final blessing.

Nov. 6--- a visit to Dr. Khewa to get help with a very itchy rash on my left upper arm. He decided that it is an allergy of some sort. Gave me stuff (ointment and lots of pills). It is gone now. Thank the Lord.

Nov. 7---Class with the novices. The Spirituality of Justice and Peace.  A power point program. One of them fell asleep. What does that tell me? I have the novices for all of November on Tuesdays. This was the first class this month. Hmmm..

Nov. 9—visited a friend at Parklands Hospital. She had just had a hysterectomy and the removal of a cyst that had caused here to fill up with liquid, 8 litres. Wow, that’s a lot. She was still in ICU. I noticed an African lady in a bed across the aisle who looked in not too good shape so I went over and prayed for her in Zulu and she responded, expressing thanks for the prayers. I mean, what else was I supposed to do.

Nov. 10---After breakfast I took one of our house keepers to a school for kids with special needs. She wants to see about getting her child in. It is quite far and out of the way. I don’t know how, if the child is accepted, the child will find transport to get there.     After that I visited an elderly lady (Indian—95 yrs. old) the granny of my eye doctor, who thought that it was time to anoint her as it looked as though she was not going to make it. However, we found her bright and chipper. The only problem was that her hearing is about 1%, so you have to shout into her good ear. Not too good for conversation. Lots of hand signals. We prayed but no anointing.

On the way back I stopped at the Catholic schools office to greet people. Lourdes, the secretary, has had both breasts removed because of cancer and is really down. Hard to think positively. Lionel, the director, reminded me that I was on the roster for next year to give a workshop on Laudato Si again. I can pick the date that suits me. I am sure that there are other workshops waiting in the wings.

11^th—I finally got around to making my financial report. Each month I make a copy of my income and expenditure and give it to Br. Tendayi, our bursar, along with the bank statement. He handles my  pension money. If he thinks I am squandering money or misusing it, he can let me know and make me pull up my socks. It is usually between $200 and $400 a month, most of it being for petrol as I move around a lot.

I also made photocopies of my The Joy of the Gospel presentation to be given to the Novices for reviewing later and also gave them a few other handouts regarding J& P.

Nov. 16---This was the day when the fund-raising team got together to see how far we had gotten with the tickets and what had to be organized for the night of the dinner dance. Mark, the owner of the venue, and the one who is sponsoring the whole thing, said that there would be a full complement of 250 people. At R150 a person, That’s R35,700. He is putting it all in the kitty for the future church. He is very generous, as are all those who are offering their time and their skills, as well as some financial help.

I spent a good part of the week, from the 12^th to the 17^th going around and collecting for the tickets that were still outstanding. I got them all before the meeting. I had sold 41 tickets. One of my doctor friends also kicked in R500 as a donation towards our new church ( We need about R900,000.00 at present rates, which comes to about $65,000---can you build a house, much less a church, for $65,000 these days. But, I am sure that by the time we have enough money to begin the project, it will have gone up to over a Million Rand. Will I ever see the day when the church will be completed…. Only God willing.

It was also a good week in that I was able to track down people in the States, in Germany, in Switzerland, in Zambia and Zimbabwe, since I had lost information when everything was stolen. Hooray for making fresh contact.

Nov. 21---I had to get Br. Tendai to help me to get the DVD, An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore regarding climate change, able to see and hear it. I was able to get the picture going but couldn’t get sound. He solved the problem by organizing the TV room in the monastery that has a machine that takes DVD’s. I still want to know how to get sound out of the projector I was using.

Nov. 22… This day was the funeral of Sr. Kathleen, a wild Irish Cabra Domincan with whom I lived and worked together with her colleague St. Carmel, in Tsolo for several years. It was a great experience and adventure. Among other things, they wanted to be independent so they were teaching the taxi drivers who wanted to finish grade 8 at night, and I was the one, when they were teaching (from 8 to 10 pm on certain nights), to cook the supper. It was total teamwork. One day someone came and wanted to talk to the “superior”. We looked at each other and asked “are you the superior”. Ha. No superiors or inferiors in our house. May the Lord give her a warm welcome and a place of peace.

Nov. 23---today is Thanksgiving Day in the States. I announced that at Mass this morning at the hospital, and invited them to give thanks for whatever they felt they needed to thank the Lord for. After Mass, I visited a sick man, Mr. Malinga, and anointed him with the sacrament of the sick. He has 4^th degree cancer and needs a bit of help and encouragement to get out of his negativity. I had, earlier, gone to the store to get a cake and some ice cream, for our Thanksgiving lunch. Then I went to the home of Mala Gabriel, to whom I had brought what I thought was a roast of some wild beast that had been given to me by a friend when I was in Mthatha. It turns out that it was mince (hamburger) so she made a mince curry. Delicious.  I picked it up and brought it back home in time for lunch. It was a hit. Between the Mince Curry, the wine, the cake and the good company, I can say that “ a good time was had by all.”.

I just finished printing out the handouts for next week of Laudato Si and have now almost finished the entry into the Blog. I always wait too long.

In between, I have Mass every morning, except Saturday, at the hospital, and bring communion to the sick there in the hospital as well as, on certain days, to sick people in their homes, who can’t make it to church. I do a good bit of visiting in between time and am busy every Sunday with one or two Masses, usually in Zulu. I also help out at different parishes sometimes during the week and on Saturday nights or later on Sunday. I also had a service on the 20^th of November at Diakonia, an ecumenical group trying to respond to needs in a Christian way, as, for example, when people were experiencing Xenophobia and being attacked by stupid South Africans (I say stupid because it is the people in the countries who are now exiles in South Africa, who helped us and gave us a place to stay and helped in many other ways and this is the gratitude we give to them). I keep in touch with Diakonia, because I want them to know that the Catholic Church gives them full support. I first met them in 1967 in Durban.

But that is more than enough for now. I am getting ready to hit the sack. I have a Mass a the hospital at 6 and another at 9 in the Pinetown Parish, so I want to have a look at the Scriptures to see what they are telling me for tomorrow.

I hope that you all also had a good thanks giving if you follow the American custom. Love and peace, And good night. Cas.

October 23, 2017

Hey, it is more than a month that has gone by already and lots of things to share. Well, let’s get started. On the 18^th of Sept. I collected my new passport. Hooray. Next is to get to Home Affairs to have my permanent residence stamped in my new passport. I dread it. It probably means the whole blessed day. But….. I also went to the Catholic Bookshop and picked up 5 copies is The Joy of the Gospel, and Laudato Si, the two latest encyclicals of Pope Francis for the novices because I will be giving them classes on those two in November.

I did some home and hospital visiting that week and wound up with two masses on the 23^rd, one for the postulants (the like to sing and me too) 6am, and an evening mass at 5:30pm at a mostly Indian parish. They are nice because the appreciate my jokes.

I wanted to take Shirley to lunch for her birthday (long past, Aug. 17) on the 28^th, but she got terribly sick and fell down (She was 83 then) and was taken to the hospital by her son. She was bleeding internally and they couldn’t find it. But, after some time, a few days, the bleeding stopped by itself. The scan showed no sign of anything ever being wrong. We had been putting off her birthday lunch for at least three of four times so I told her that next week Friday, in October now, either she is well enough to let me take her for a birthday lunch or we just forget the birthday this year and catch it next year. She agreed to come for the lunch. We both love curry and it was so delicious that she ordered a sea food curry to take home with her as well.

The day before, on the 5^th of Oct. a friend had organized to take me to one of his friends at a further away Home affairs office. Ha. We left at about 10am, got there at about 11:10, and by 11:50 we were finished, including an application for a new South African ID (mine is shredding). Holy Moses. A miracle. Others could hardly believe my luck. Thanks to those who organized it. I felt a bit ashamed when I saw all the others there, some mothers nursing babies, waiting and waiting, but my shame wasn’t powerful enough to stop me from being the favoured one that day.

Earlier in the week, on the 2^nd, I took the car to Urban Radio, because they had installed the alarm system, and the automatic locking mechanism, after the car had been broken into twice. The automatic locking mechanism stopped working so one had to lock by hand. They discovered that the small motor that operated the locks was dead so they replaced it without and argument since I had the original receipt with me. It was only a few months old.

On Sunday, the 8^th of Oct. I took the place of one of the neighboring priests who was in the hospital. At Mass, we celebrated a 25^th anniversary of Marriage of a couple, a 13^th birthday of a young lady, and then, after the Mass and Brunch at the 25^th anniversary couple’s, I went back to Savannah Park to join in the celebration of the marriage of Mark and Dolly, parishioners of Savannah Park. The marriage was performed by the real parish priest (not by me, the mercenary).

I helped out with confessions at St. John’s parish (the Indian parish) as people were getting ready to be confirmed and wanted to be in good spiritual shape.

On Saturday I had the closing Mass of the Catholic Schools Office at 10am. The run courses (some of which I give) during the year, to increase and deepen their knowledge of the faith.  I also had another evening Mass at St. John’s parish, and got invited by my friends Estie and Rami to come and have supper with them. MMMM delicious. Curry.

Somewhere in there, one Sunday, there was a terrible storm in Durban, like a mini-Irma. On the main highway going down the coast, cars were underwater up to their roofs. In the low lying areas of town, it was the same. Cars washed away, people drowning in the rushing water, rushing down the street and at the bottom, no place to go but to get caught in the water running from the side and swept away. Holy Moses. There was also a terrible wind that destroyed buildings and tore off roofs, and damaged many homes. Sink holes that swallowed up cars. A nightmare. And then it was over. We here at our place felt the wind but no damage. However in the township next to us, there was plenty of wind and water damage.

On the 15^th of October, the team that is going to help us get the church built (project manager, fund-raising committee, The guys who do the measuring, the architect, and the priest who is helping us by contacting all his friends, were there to meet the community and explain that they were willing to help but that the community had to help in its way too. Tickets had been printed for a dinner dance to start the ball rolling, R150  covering a meal, music, healthy exercise (dancing), and for a good cause. A normal restaurant will charge more than that just for the meal so it is a good deal, but out of the generosity of one of the team who owns the restaurant which will be the venue. I took ten tickets.

Tuesday, 17^th, we had 7 bishops and a host of volunteers to pack food parcels for starving children here in KZN. They discovered that there are close to half a million kids who go to bed every night hungry. I stayed for a while, helping with the packing, but then left to attend a lecture in town, I was told that they packed 10,000 food parcels that day.

I had lunch with a friend from Germany at a beautiful restaurant which overlooks  trees, streams, flowers, etc. Helps the digestion. He works for Pfizer, the pharmaceutical firm, and because of the extreme pressure of work, when he gets a chance, he comes down here for a break and for some nicer weather and the sea. That was on Thursday the 19^th.

 On the 20^th, my friend and mechanic, Musa, checked my car to see if all was well (it hasn’t been checked since the accident back in June) and, after tightening up a few loose things, he gave it a thumbs up.

Saturday, the 21^st. was a very interesting day. I was to take a funeral at 11am at the mother church from our branch at Savannah Park. I like to be a bit early just to make sure. I was there by 10:20. I found ladies cleaning the church who knew nothing about a funeral. Hmmmm. The sacristy was open but I couldn’t find any books or hosts or wine or whatever. Eventually I found a chalice and one big host  but there was not water or wine or small host. By this time it was almost 10:45. So I told them I was going back to the Monastery to fetch my things (always have some water and wine and hosts and chalice, etc.) realizing that I should have done that in the first place. By the time I got back it was 5 past eleven and the casket had already been taken into the church. But then, lo and behold, another hearse pitches up and disgorges another casket. Now what. Two funerals. I use my wine and water and holy water because there isn’t any at the parish but, thank God, the catechist is there. So we go to plan B. He know who is in the one casket and I know who is in the other so we just forge ahead. I was proud of our small but powerful choir from Savannah Park. There can never be a service without singing.

After the Mass, we go to the cemetery. There is no road near the graveside, so the old men have to carry the coffin on a very rough hilly and pot-holey ground for about a football field away.  Some day I will describe how an African is buried, but I will jump over that for now.

After the filling in of the grave we all go to the house for a meal and to meet some of the family of the deceased. I finally came home late in the afternoon and I am beat.

But, all this time, I say Mass every morning at the hospital and do lots of things like cutting the grass with the weed eater so the time is filled in completely. Since I had 10 tickets, I started to email, what’s app, and sms people and managed to sell all ten.

Now it is Sunday, yesterday, the 22^nd of October. I had two masses in Zulu, one at 8am at Savannah Park, and another at 11:30 at the Pinetown parish, not far away.

After mass at S. P. I debate whether I should go home for a bit or go straight to the other church. I decide to go to the church. I look at my watch and I think it says 10:45. There are still lots of cars from the previous mass filling the parking lot and I park mine in one of the few empty places.  I head for the sacristy and start looking for the mass books in Zulu and can’t find them. Also I am worried again about the sacred vessels, water and wine and tabernacle key, etc. Not it is 10 past 11 (or so I think). At 25 past 11 (or so I think) I am panicing, and am asking were are things and were are the people who are supposed to be running the show. Ha. They say, Father, it is only 25 past 10. You are more than an hour early. Ha. Old bloody age.

Although the sacristan for the English Mass told me that there were not so many Zulus at the Zulu mass, I found the church to be pretty full, and, of course, the music was, as always, outstanding.

After Mass, it was about 1pm (I missed lunch at our house which is at 12 noon on Sunday), so I gave in to temptation and drove by the McDonald’s on the way home and took with me a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Ha. Decadence.

I was tired and sat in my recliner chair for a while trying to decide what to do next. I wanted to visit a sister I know who had a stroke and was learning how to walk again. I had seen her twice in the hospital and heard that she had been discharged. When I phone her convent, I was told that she was taken to their home quite far away for recuperation. In the neighbourhood, was a friend who had said that she would take a ticket for the dinner dance so I phoned and told her I would bring the ticket. As it turned out, her daughter and son-in-law also took two tickets. Since I was on the way to that part of town, I contacted another friend and went over to his house. After catching up on each other’s lives, he said that he would take 4 tickets. Hey, great! His sister, who live clear the other side of town also had said that she wanted some tickets so we phone her and told her I would be coming. I had left home at about 2:30pm and got to her house at 7pm (on the road the whole time.). She, praise the Lord, took 6 tickets. By this time I was poohed out and headed for home and was in bed by 9:30 to be up at 4am.

Today, after Mass at the hospital, I contacted some more people and wound up selling another 7 tickets. Good day.

I filled the back of the car (seats down) with the old clothes that we will take with us to the village near Mthatha and filled the tank with petrol and we are ready to head for Mthatha (a six hour drive with my little thing) first thing in the morning,after Mass at the hospital and breakfast.

Whew, why do I wait so long to keep the blog updated. Now I have to do some packing. Good night. Cas