April 30, 2018

Here we go again, trying to catch up. We have had several meetings regarding the church that we would like to build whose name is St. Therese of Lisieux. Our architect redrafted a shrunk down version of what we think is more possible than the first, rather ambitious plan. The first plan had a rather good sized church (maybe able to hold 500 people), built on a hill, so that the main church would be upstairs, and underneath a part of it would be the hall. As the costs escalated, it would have come to something like R2,000,000.00, way out of our range (even is we could get Bill Gates and Warren Buffet on our side). We took where we are now and designed a much smaller church that would hold 140 0r 150 worshippers, with  a small room tacked on for a security person, and a couple of rooms for storing things or sacristy or whatever and some toilets. We figure that it shouldn’t cost more that about R500,000.00

Even that much is pushing our limits. We are now waiting for a couple of our team to come back with an assessment as to how much for bricks (or blocks), windows, doors, roof, etc. so that 13 awe can put this figure before our fund raising committee so that they can get our second fund raising venture started. We have about R100,000.00 in the bank now, and have been pledged another R175,000.00 so far. With that we can start with the surrounding wall, nd maybe a foundation. We also have a volunteer builder who has agreed to take on the job of doing the actual building. We have lots of people who are willing to help, but it depends on us getting started so that they can see some progress, and then the help will follow (hopefully).

    I got a parking ticket for R100.  It was unfair because, although there is a sign indicating that there is a parking machine that has to be paid, the sign is so obliterated that you can’t read it at all. I took a picture of it and was determined to go to the court to fight the case, but it was during our busy, busy, time and I have been there before with the same complaint, and I had to wait, and wait, and wait, and I just didn’t have time any more so I just went to the municipality and paid it (sob, sob).

    There is a young girl who has been looked after by our parish leader. But, she was giving so many problems, even getting her boyfriend to go to the police to report that her surrogate parents were abusing her. She sneaks, lies, uses her cell phone to arrange love trysts, etc. and it finally got to the point where she was refusing to even be in the house so that they had to go to the social worker and have her put in the custody of the social worker ( in writing, leaving the family off the hook) and it was then up to her to see what to do with her. She is 17 and is determined to do her own thing, like spending time with her boyfriend. It is a recipe for disaster but it had gotten totally out of hand at home and she just had to go. Maybe the equivalent of a reformatory, as sad as that is. She was corrupting the other little girls (13 and 9) who were also in the house with her.

     I didn’t have time to bring communion to the sick until the week of the 15^th after Easter. There are elderly people who can hardly walk and Mike Pillay organized a whole morning when we could bring them communion and pray with them. They would have loved to be in Church but it was out of the question because of their poor health. Mike also takes the pensioners to get their pensions and some to the hospital who can’t find a lift otherwise. He is dedicated.

     An old blind lady who lived with her daughter and care-giver, passed away that week. She was blind and they say that she was about 85 yrs. Old, born in ’33. Two years older than I. These two and the care giver were kind of isolated and had no other family or friends around so Mike tried to help out by taking them shopping and for other things too. They were Anglicans, but had no way of knowing where the Anglican church was or how to get there so we got the permission of our parish priest to bring them our communion and consider them a part of our catholic family. Ecumenism at a low level.  I was asked to do the funeral and they said it should be in English. Ha. I hardly do funerals in English, so I had to go the Paulines to get a funeral booklet in English.  Our faithful parishioners gave full support by providing a choir (there is no possibility  of having any service in Africa, without singing) , chipping in for expenses (even though they are poor themselves) and helping with the catering afterwards (in the garage of the church where we did the funeral mass.  It was only when the reader told us about her life that I heard that she had been a member of the Congregational church, and now we were bringing her communion as an Anglican and now was sent off and laid to rest in a Catholic ceremony. Ecumenism at a grass roots level.

     I got my last medicine scrips filled and had to go to the doctor, Dr. Mlungisi Kheswa, to get a new scrip good for 6 months.

      In between, I got a few days of grass cutting in and went to visit Mpume at here home. She is the one who went blind in one eye a few weeks back. I had taken her to an ophthalmologist who said there is nothing wrong with her eye but it must be an infected nerve or something. (I may have told you this already) Now she went blind in the other eye and when I visited her in her one rented room  her young cousin was helping her. I reminded her that she had to go back to the eye hospital to have them check her out again and if she needed help I would take her there. (she managed with the help of her cousin to get there----McCord’s hospital). She was admitted and was sent to a specialist hospital for attention by a specialist.) I visited her in McCord’s on the 20^th and she said that they put her on a drip and put something in her eyes with a needle, and now she could, with the right eye, read the top two lines. Progress. When I went back a week later, she could now read the top 4 lines and could see your hand waving in front of her left eye. I hope that that is progress.

     I also got my new ID, finally, and am very happy because the picture there is more like a normal human being (old man) than a terrorist, like the last picture.

     I have been trying, with the help of the donations you give, to help a poor woman to get her house roof repaired as it leaks like a sieve. I already paid for the material, but now we needed the person who would do the actual repairs. So I took her home so that I could see for myself what had to be done and took pictures of the leaking roof with my cell phone. I asked to see the builder and, when he came, I told him that I would pay him R2500 to begin with, and when he was finished, I would come and have a look, and if I was happy, would give him the other R2500. That is about $500 for labor. It will take him about 4 or 5 days I am guessing. We shall see.

     One day, after cutting grass in the morning, I went to take a shower. One of the ladies had cleaned in my bathroom and the tile floor was still wet. I didn’t notice that. So when I walked in, I just went flying and landed flat on my back on that hard tile floor. Ha. It was like a cartoon you might see in a movie. But, nothing broken or even hurt or strained, but I must have banged my hand somewhere when I went flying because is was bleeding healthily. I didn’t dare to try to dry myself off with our WHITE towel, so I patted myself down a bit, put a bandage on (with a good smear of Watkin’s Petro Carbo Salve to do it’s healing thing and to prevent the bandage from sticking to the wound) and then came back and got my self dried and blessed. I thanked the Lord. It could have been bad.

      A few days ago, a friend who moved to Ireland came back for part business and part to visit family and friends. He is a musician, and, soon to be 76yrs. Old, and is well known in our parts from his younger days when he played in a famous band. In the meantime, after starting the charismatic movement here in SA, (he is a catholic in his roots), he started his own ministry using music to evangelize and heal people. Although he is full time in Ireland now (not far from Cork), he comes back here from time to time to do some services here as well as to visit friends and family.

    He was asked to support an effort to raise money for a Sport’s club that helps physical training of physically challenged children in more than 20 schools. Since he is well known in music circles, his name was like a draw card for people. There was a dance to raise those funds and he did some playing and singing himself in support of the effort. I was also invited, and was only too happy to shake my bones a bit. (As you probably know or guessed, I inherited my love for dancing from my mother.) The band could see a lot of gray-heads and aimed lots of the music towards us old timers which made is super enjoyable. In between I was able to visit a lot of friends since we move mostly in the same circles and since I say Mass at their parishes from time to time. Well, I really enjoyed myself and got plenty of exercise that afternoon sliding into evening---    at least 15 dances. Enough for and old guy like me. All with friends and some with kids whom I helped to grow up and who now have their own families. I also managed to make a contact through one of these friends with a young doctor of ophthalmology in training who is working at the same hospital as Mpume. She promised to check the doctors who are taking car of her and then will let me know what is going on and will visit her as well. Nice. (That was on Saturday the 28^th of April)

     On Sunday night (April 29^th) after a 10am mass and after a visit to a community of the sisters of Mother Theresa to check with dates they want me to come and celebrate with them,   I went to one of the families who are hosting my friend from Ireland and his daughter (who I danced with at least three times. She was born with deformed feet and hands and has had a tough struggle to get to where she is now, able to use her hands and feet and to dance. She is an inspiration to us.) There was a Braai (a cook out) and when we sat down at the table together, our friend  began to share some of his experiences with bad spirits who had to be forced out of some people, always, In Jesus’ Name. It was an informative and spiritual evening and we were all grateful for the sharing that took place that evening. There are some things that I have to think over but there is no doubt that people came closer to Jesus because of the witnessing that evening, and the challenging to Christians to shape up and be not dead but living Christians.

    Well, that’s it for now. This morning, last day of April, I topped up the oil in my little Hyundai, and bought some coolant and topped up that too so that it continues to run nicely. I would be dead in the water without wheels.

Love and Peace, Cas. (Mon. evening, 8:30pm, April 30^{th, 2018})

April 9, 2018, (now drifting into April 11th)

    Finally, I get around to collecting my thoughts for the blog. Always dragging my feet. Well, let’s get started. We are now talking about Holy Week. First, the car still wasn’t here. Bad. Promises, promises. It was taken for road testing, after putting it back together after the accident, but, would you believe, the system was down. It passed everything but couldn’t spit out a document. I still don’t have it, but at least it passed. I waited and waited on Holy Thursday, and, finally, about an hour before the service was to start, it was returned. But the dim lights didn’t work, so the brights were set so they wouldn’t go in the back window of the guy in front, but at least they worked.

     We started the service about 7pm and I had already suggested that, because of my troublesome knee, kneeling could be a problem, let me wash hands instead of feet. The people knew my problem so it was accepted and worked rather well. I was able to look straight into the eyes of the one whose hands I was washing and it was a kind of moving experience for both of us. It was and act of love. There is a saying in Zulu/Xhosa, that says, “the hands wash each other”, which is the message of love from the gospel. Help one another, reach out to each other. So I think it connected. The Mass ended with a procession with the blessed sacrament, a parting gift to us and an ever present gift of the Lord…always accessible. We stayed and prayed for about a half hour and then all went home. Me too. It was about 9:30 or so. Hosts had been consecrated for tomorrow since there would be no Mass, just communion from the hosts consecrated on Holy Thursday.

      Good Friday was a typical overcast day where the rain managed to just hold out, with a few leaks here and there. We started the Stations of the Cross at about 1pm. Children had been stationed about 30 yards (metres) apart with a picture of the station held up for the crowd to see. One in Zulu and one in English, so that everyone was catered for. The rain, miraculously, held off, but with a few minor leaks. Then came the usual service. Readings, the Passion, the veneration of the Cross, communion and then removing everything from the altar…really the total absence of any sense of Christ’s presence. Sadness, mourning.

     Holy Saturday started, after breakfast, with the final grass cutting for Easter. I used the morning to do that, and it gave me time to think and meditate. It is an African custom to have a kind of revival (wake) at a funeral or in connection with a big feast. People sing and pPray and preach and do, informally, what they never have a chance to do formally. So We started at 8pm and about 11:30pm took a break, had a cup of tea and a scone, and then we started the Evening service at midnight with the blessing of the fire, and the lighting of the Candle, representing the Jesus who shattered the darkness of sin and evil by his Resurrection, and came bringing us himself as the Light of the World, lightening our way through life, showing us the way, the path to life. Lots of readings, as usual, recollecting the history of God’s every presence with the people of Israel from the creation of the world, through Abraham, the Exodus, the prophets and kings, etc. right up to the time when all was fulfilled with the coming of Christ, as had been promised.  The Easter candle was sung to and praised, the bells were rung, the Gloria was lustily sung, with great joy, after the long and sometimes depressing events of Lent, especially that last week.  Hope came into our lives once again.

    We finished about 3:30pm on Easter Sunday and people then made their way home to get a few winks before the feasting, visitors, etc of the families, as usual at Easter, began.

     I decided to attend the 9am Mass at the Monastery chapel, and there met a good number of friends and it was nice to celebrate together. Lots of Joy.  I was proud of our people who did the readings and the passion and the singing to perfection so that everyone felt touched.

     But there was a sting in the tail.

Easter Monday I went to Vodacom to get a program whereby I could start using the internet again at the old folks home but at my expense. I had almost nailed down a good deal when I needed some information from Br. Tendai. I managed to get him on the phone and he talked to the Vodacom rep and in the end it was decided to get 1GB of data for the time being, rather than commit myself to a 2 yrs. Contract, since he was working on getting the problem solved for Mater Dolorosa (our old folks’ home).  At least that was a step forward but still, as far as I am concerned, in the dark.

     I joined the Pillays as they celebrated the birthdays of their three adoptive daughters for lunch and a birthday party. Then, in the evening was the traditional braai vlais (cook out) at the monastery celebrating Easter. A full day.

     Tuesday,  the mechanic came to take the car and correct the few things that needed correcting, so I was carless for the day, which was fine. Already on Easter Sunday, I felt something in my throat that was just beginning, but by this time on Tuesday, it had developed into a nice and persistent cough. The car was brought back in the afternoon and I decided that tomorrow, Wednesday, I would go to see Dr. Kheswa. Which I did, on Wednesday morning. He gave me a shot in the bum (ouch) and gave me some antibiotic capsules (a full five days worth, don’t stop in between, right to the end) and some cough mixture and some other things. Too many bloody pills!!! But, wow,. After lunch, on Wednesday, I laid down on the bed and was zonked. I think I went down for supper but came right back and climbed back into bed. Thursday morning, I sent a message at 4:30am to sister at the hospital, and to two other nurses, that I wouldn’t be coming for Mass that morning. Ha. I spent the whole day in bed. When did that ever happen before, Cas, in bed. Never. But there you have it. I was wiped out. Coughing like made, feverish, weak as a little lamb. I manged to surface on Friday and went to the hospital for Mass but then went off, later in the morning to  stay with a couple down the South Coast, kind of a laid back weekend. Still coughing but, little by little, easing off and improving. I also stopped to see what was happening at our Retreat house, Coolock House, which is undergoing renovations, thanks to our Confrered, Fr. Matthew Kim, who has harnessed the Korean community to help with the renovations. In fact I discovered that he is presently at home in Korea, probably organizing some funding so that the work and continue. We had a laid back Saturday, with only a nice walk  to the sea and an very captivating movies called “Silence”, about the persecution of the Christians in Japan (Macao).  Gruesome, but makes you think about how we romanticize persecutions and martyrdom.  The reality is what Isis is doing today.

   Sunday we had a home mass, just the three of us, and then went to the golf club where there was a fund raising event for the St. Vincent De Paul, society, to put some money in their coffers to help people in need. I left about 2pm and headed for home. I did a lot of lying down, as I felt pretty weak, but eventually it paid off. I Managed to have mass at the hospital Monday, Tuesday, and today,  and feel that I am getting my strength and energy back, after spending too much time lying down.

    Tonight we have a meeting of the fund raisers for St. Therese of Liseaux. I will let you know how things are going and what our next venture will be. We are hoping that we can have a simple church built by Christmas. Keep fingers (and toes) crossed. Stay well till next time. Cas

March 29^th, 2018

I have been battling to keep in touch since we have had no internet or phone line for more than three weeks now. I am at the Monastery since they happily allowed me to get their password so that I can get over here twice a day to get my emails and send out messages.

    The car seems not to be finished yet though there is hope that maybe, maybe, maybe today, it might be ready. I will believe it when I see it.

    This is just a short message for you all. I can’t get out of my mind the thousands of Syrians who have been blocked from food, water and electricity for 7 yrs. Now because Assad calls them (mothers and children) terrorists. They have been relentlessly bombed for weeks now and there is nothing left…no food, no water, no medicine, no hospital care for the sick, etc. etc. etc.  This is Jesus continuing to suffer today in his body here on earth. Then there is Yemen where the situation is more than critical, especially for children. Then it is an unknown what Trump will say and do when he meets Kim Sung Un in North Korea. What a Lent and Holy Week.

    In any case, amid all the killing and dying and cheating and conniving, I want to wish you all a very happy, joyful and peaceful Easter. We must try, in this upside down world, to be Easter people, bringing love and hope where it seems to be in such short supply.

    I will be at my usual community at Savannah Park, mostly in Zulu, and today, I think, because I have difficulty in getting on my knees because of my bum knee on the left side, and because, once I get down, I can’t get up easily without a crane. Ha. So I will be washing hands and not feet. Peter wanted his hands washed too, so we will give it a try.  Loads of love to you all, and HOPE. Neve give up.  Cas.

Mar. 15, 2018

Look at the that, would you, a whole month has passed. Holy Moses. Well, we had Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent on the 14^th and we kept the ashes for Sundays after as well as every day at the hospital. I think that people think it is important to celebrate, outwardly, what they are determined to do (try to be better persons) inwardly and the ashes kind of encourages them to do just that. We did a couple of hospital visits at the beginning of Lent and also brought communion to the sick who are housebound and can’t get out of the house to get to church. They are grateful that someone takes notice of them and, I am sure, the tell the Lord that they appreciate his concern, which comes through us, the servants of the people.

   WE had another meeting at El Arish to keep moving forward on the plan to build the church to St. Therese of Lisieux. The fence to go around the property (with a kind of nice to look at low wall across the front at what will be the entrance) is first on the agenda. But we need someone to find the boundary pegs first, so it was decided to start there.

    I have been using a rental car (to replace the damaged vehicle which still isn’t finished, Ugh.) I had to return this vehicle on Friday the 23^rd and a friend gave me a Toyota pickup truck that I almost need a ladder to get into to use in the meantime. The driver’s side window doesn’t open, so I have to open the other side to get some air inside, but at least I have some wheels.

     We had a memorial Mass for Ted Rogers on that Friday and celebrated the memory of a very special person, not just because he wrote the book explaining the lives of the Rhodesia / Zimbabwe martyrs, many of whom are our confreres, but because he was a remarkable person into many things, including being the Jesuit representative for AIDs work throughout Africa, in his old age. He died at 92, just after finishing the book. He never stopped.

    The next day I took the “tank” to Mthatha for a Board meeting of Sabelani (Fr. Guy’s guys). That thing moves, but is also eats. I was afraid to put things in the back of the pickup as they have a way of disappearing before you get to where you are going. I filled the passenger seat to the brim with the old (but beautiful) clothes that had been donated for the poor. I went straight to Landsend and brought them to Nothemba, who looks after the house and grounds. It was sad to see the place slowly deteriorating, No one goes to the outstations any more so people just drift to any church that offers some attention. I can’t blame them for that.

   That afternoon (24^th, Saturday) we had the meeting and decided to take on some more students and others who need help while looking after the one who had already arrived. There was still hesitance on their part to accept that we need an NPO to replace the present situation where the three main members of Sabelani are the ones who have the power to act with regard to the account, the house and the movable property. It was decided that Thembekile, the one with the most experience and knowledge, would come and explain between three possibilities, which would be best for us for the future. I was satisfied that some good decisions were made and the spirit among the guys was good. Fr. Guy’s teaching and guidance has gone into their bones and spirits. Hooray. We closed the meeting and then shared a meal and after the meal we paid our respects to the ancestors for being with us by sharing a drop or two of Uncle Jack Daniels. Nice way to end the day.

     I was able to say Mass with the CPS sisters, who are our partners and with whom we have worked, when they, and I were younger.  I visited a few people to keep up the friendship and headed back to Mariannhill on the 28^th. The whole time I was there there was no internet, so I was way behind. (One gets so used to communicating by email and WhatsApp, that it becomes like oxygen. When you can’t connect, it is like not being able to breathe.) I come home to find that our internet it also not there most of the time.

     I had lunch with an old friend from the States, Dr. Brant Barr, and obsteretician, (I used to be a good speller, now look). He had had a mild stroke and was trying to lie low here in SA for while before going back to the States with a stop in Tanzania with a friend to do some more charity work. I meet some of the greatest people, including his friend from Tanzania.

     As I may haver shared with you, I had a contract with Vodacom for R75 a month for 1GB. For almost 3 yrs. I never paid more, and never went over that 1GB.  33months. But suddenly, in Nov. 2017, I get a bill for over R2000. Holy Moses. Of course, I queried it at the bank and had the bank return the money to my account, while I also went to Vodacom to ask why? Of course, it would have to happen just then, that their computers were down and could I wait till they came back on line. Phooey! I can’t be sitting around the whole day for them so I just left and told them to contact me about it when they got back on line. This was Tuesday the 6^th. On Thursday, my friend, Manuela Carida, from Rome came for a visit and stayed till Saturday the 9^th. We did some planning around my home leave trip which will start in Rome next year, 2019, at the beginning of June. Manuela had agreed to be my chauffeur and take me around in lower Europe (Italy, Switzerland, Germany) and we had to decide which places we could hit in the small time frame that I had.

    On Friday, we went back to Vodacom (she also wanted to get some air time for her stay here in SA.) and I then tried to settle with them my queried account. I was informed by one of their reps that Vodacom was graciously giving me the benefit of the doubt by offering to deposit R1400 back in my account, out of the more than R2000 that they had charged me. I figured that I wasn’t going to get a better deal than that and took it. But then told them to re-arrange the contract so that when the R75 was used up, it automatically shut off so those charges wouldn’t happen again. That’s how we ended up. In the meantime, they re connected my mobile modem so that I at least have some way to get on the internet at least to check the emails. We have had another frustration for the past week in that there was no internet at all. Bad, bad, bad. Two days ago, 13^th, I managed to catch Br. Tendai and he gave put the password into my computer for the wi fi at the monastery. So for the last two days I have been able to catch up on emails and WhatsApps. Amen.

     IN the meantime, one of our house mothers, Mpume, phoned to say that she has no sight in her left eye. Wow. So I told her to go straight to the doctor. There is an eye clinic here and she went there but they only gave her some drops in her eye. So I made and appointment for her to see my Ophthalmalogist. I took her there on Monday and he said there is nothing wrong with her eye. It is perfect. But it is the nerve leading to the eye that is causing the problem and that we should see a neurologist. His secretary phoned one and when she asked what was the charge for a consultation, it was R1000. Holy Moses. And if he decided that she had to be hospitalized….. I told them that I didn’t have the wherewithal to make a commitment to pay for all that and she only earns R2200 a month.

So the Doctor wrote a note to our local (in Durban) eye special hospital, McCord, to explain what and why. I took her there and there were about 2 million people already in queues, but…. So we finally got someone to read the note and then the process started by getting her registered, in the system, and back to Room 8, where she got into the queue. It was about noon then. So, I left her and told he to make her way home on her own and gave her some money for the taxi fare (the registration was R 65, about $ 6.50…you can’ t beat that), but it is just the crowds and crowds of people. I phoned her again at 4pm and she said that she was still in the queue and there were still 6 people in front of her. I told her to phone at 6pm if she was still there and I would come to fetch her and take her home. For the poor it is easier to die than to live since they can’t pay. Bad. I phoned her later that evening and she said that when the doctor finally saw her he only put some drops in her eyes and said that her sight would probably return in two weeks. Now that I had access to the internet, I sent an email to Dr. Pearse, who was concerned about what could happen and he responded by advising her to go within 10 days back to McCord’s for a check up. Which I passed on to her. I will take her there if necessary. And, in the meantime, we keep our fingers crossed.

    I have been able to use my Skype once and am a bit relieved that I can get to the monastery a couple of times a day to follow up on emails and whatsapps. I will have to change my schedule. I am getting lazier and lazier since I cant get the internet during the day here in my room and in the evening when I used to do lots of things on the internet. So, that’s it for now. I think I want to go back to Vodacom and see if I can get a different deal since I am afraid to over use my mobile router now. I have been able to make a couple of brochures for memorial masses and funeral masses by using pictures that are available on the internet so I feel much better now. It has been very hot here and I have been using the fan at night to be able to sleep with the air stirred up a bit. That’s my life now.

See you at the next session. Cas.

Feb. 19th

This just came in from my cousin in Livermore, CA.

orida student to NRA and Trump: 'We call BS' 11:40

(CNN)Emma Gonzalez, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, addressed a gun control rally on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, days after a gunman entered her school in nearby Parkland and killed 17 people.

Below is a full transcript of her speech:

We haven't already had a moment of silence in the House of Representatives, so I would like to have another one. Thank you.

Every single person up here today, all these people should be home grieving. But instead we are up here standing together because if all our government and President can do is send thoughts and prayers, then it's time for victims to be the change that we need to see. Since the time of the Founding Fathers and since they added the Second Amendment to the Constitution, our guns have developed at a rate that leaves me dizzy. The guns have changed but our laws have not.

We certainly do not understand why it should be harder to make plans with friends on weekends than to buy an automatic or semi-automatic weapon. In Florida, to buy a gun you do not need a permit, you do not need a gun license, and once you buy it you do not need to register it. You do not need a permit to carry a concealed rifle or shotgun. You can buy as many guns as you want at one time.

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I read something very powerful to me today. It was from the point of view of a teacher. And I quote: When adults tell me I have the right to own a gun, all I can hear is my right to own a gun outweighs your student's right to live. All I hear is mine, mine, mine, mine.

Instead of worrying about our AP Gov chapter 16 test, we have to be studying our notes to make sure that our arguments based on politics and political history are watertight. The students at this school have been having debates on guns for what feels like our entire lives. AP Gov had about three debates this year. Some discussions on the subject even occurred during the shooting while students were hiding in the closets. The people involved right now, those who were there, those posting, those tweeting, those doing interviews and talking to people, are being listened to for what feels like the very first time on this topic that has come up over 1,000 times in the past four years alone.

I found out today there's a website shootingtracker.com. Nothing in the title suggests that it is exclusively tracking the USA's shootings and yet does it need to address that? Because Australia had one mass shooting in 1999 in Port Arthur (and after the) massacre introduced gun safety, and it hasn't had one since. Japan has never had a mass shooting. Canada has had three and the UK had one and they both introduced gun control and yet here we are, with websites dedicated to reporting these tragedies so that they can be formulated into statistics for your convenience.

I watched an interview this morning and noticed that one of the questions was, do you think your children will have to go through other school shooter drills? And our response is that our neighbors will not have to go through other school shooter drills. When we've had our say with the government -- and maybe the adults have gotten used to saying 'it is what it is,' but if us students have learned anything, it's that if you don't study, you will fail. And in this case if you actively do nothing, people continually end up dead, so it's time to start doing something.

We are going to be the kids you read about in textbooks. Not because we're going to be another statistic about mass shooting in America, but because, just as David said, we are going to be the last mass shooting. Just like Tinker v. Des Moines, we are going to change the law. That's going to be Marjory Stoneman Douglas in that textbook and it's going to be due to the tireless effort of the school board, the faculty members, the family members and most of all the students. The students who are dead, the students still in the hospital, the student now suffering PTSD, the students who had panic attacks during the vigil because the helicopters would not leave us alone, hovering over the school for 24 hours a day.

There is one tweet I would like to call attention to. So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities again and again. We did, time and time again. Since he was in middle school, it was no surprise to anyone who knew him to hear that he was the shooter. Those talking about how we should have not ostracized him, you didn't know this kid. OK, we did. We know that they are claiming mental health issues, and I am not a psychologist, but we need to pay attention to the fact that this was not just a mental health issue. He would not have harmed that many students with a knife.

And how about we stop blaming the victims for something that was the student's fault, the fault of the people who let him buy the guns in the first place, those at the gun shows, the people who encouraged him to buy accessories for his guns to make them fully automatic, the people who didn't take them away from him when they knew he expressed homicidal tendencies, and I am not talking about the FBI. I'm talking about the people he lived with. I'm talking about the neighbors who saw him outside holding guns.

If the President wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy and how it should never have happened and maintain telling us how nothing is going to be done about it, I'm going to happily ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association.

You want to know something? It doesn't matter, because I already know. Thirty million dollars. And divided by the number of gunshot victims in the United States in the one and one-half months in 2018 alone, that comes out to being $5,800. Is that how much these people are worth to you, Trump? If you don't do anything to prevent this from continuing to occur, that number of gunshot victims will go up and the number that they are worth will go down. And we will be worthless to you.

To every politician who is taking donations from the NRA, shame on you.

Crowd chants, shame on you.

If your money was as threatened as us, would your first thought be, how is this going to reflect on my campaign? Which should I choose? Or would you choose us, and if you answered us, will you act like it for once? You know what would be a good way to act like it? I have an example of how to not act like it. In February of 2017, one year ago, President Trump repealed an Obama-era regulation that would have made it easier to block the sale of firearms to people with certain mental illnesses.

From the interactions that I had with the shooter before the shooting and from the information that I currently know about him, I don't really know if he was mentally ill. I wrote this before I heard what Delaney said. Delaney said he was diagnosed. I don't need a psychologist and I don't need to be a psychologist to know that repealing that regulation was a really dumb idea.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa was the sole sponsor on this bill that stops the FBI from performing background checks on people adjudicated to be mentally ill and now he's stating for the record, 'Well, it's a shame the FBI isn't doing background checks on these mentally ill people.' Well, duh. You took that opportunity away last year.

The people in the government who were voted into power are lying to us. And us kids seem to be the only ones who notice and our parents to call BS.Companies trying to make caricatures of the teenagers these days, saying that all we are self-involved and trend-obsessed and they hush us into submission when our message doesn't reach the ears of the nation, we are prepared to call BS. Politicians who sit in their gilded House and Senate seats funded by the NRA telling us nothing could have been done to prevent this, we call BS. They say tougher guns laws do not decrease gun violence. We call BS. They say a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun. We call BS. They say guns are just tools like knives and are as dangerous as cars. We call BS. They say no laws could have prevented the hundreds of senseless tragedies that have occurred. We call BS. That us kids don't know what we're talking about, that we're too young to understand how the government works. We call BS.

If you agree, register to vote. Contact your local congresspeople. Give them a piece of your mind.

(Crowd chants) Throw them out.

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.