Saturday, February 21, 2009

I'm checking in briefly because I am headed out the door to go to a diocesan choir rehearsal. There are storm warnings out - there have been since yesterday. I hate winter driving, but there is no sign of the storm yet. I am so ready for winter to be over.
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Claire's quilt is coming along nicely. I am hand quilting it now. The actual hand quilting is my favorite part. I love seeing the flat patterns come to life as it becomes 3 dimensional. Claire was disappointed that she couldn't take the quilt home with her the other day. Our grandkids love things that are made for them. Their Aunt Nina drew them pictures for Valentine's day and they were totally thrilled. I hope the appreciation for things handmade stays with them through their lifetime.
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update: 1:00 pm
I got to Saginaw safely. I was half an hour early and there were lots of people there. Fr. Bessert was there and explained that the Cathedral parish along with the Methodist church and another church in the area sponsor a breakfast for the people in the area. It is an extension of the soup kitchen. The Cathedral is in a depressed area of Saginaw - probably not the safest neighborhood around. It's one of the reasons I was nervous about driving out there. I didn't want to get stranded there. There was a murder of a young girl in Saginaw several years ago and her car was found parked behind the Cathedral so you can guess how scary it can be there.

There have been some changes since I was last there. There are signs of renovation going on. The Cathedral is being restored to its former traditional state. There are some definite grumblings, but I am thrilled. The modernest "no pew" moveable altar, choir in the old sanctuary look has never been to my liking. The older I get, the more traditional I tend to be. My perception is that before Bishop Carlson came to us, there was a high focus on performance in the liturgy. We seemed more focus on us and our "holiness" than our need for God. Applause after Mass was the norm at every liturgy I attended. I thought it curious. Whom were we applauding, and why? I was caught up in the whole performance aspect and used to wait with baited breath to see if I would get to lead the psalm or some other piece in the Mass. I was way too focused on that. These days I tune in a little more to God and I hear him say to me, "I can hear you just fine - solo or not."

I left today's rehearsal an hour early because it started snowing really hard. It took me less than an hour to drive to the rehearsal and over an hour and a half to get home. Sr. Chris probably wasn't too happy that I left, but I have driven home from Saginaw twice in very bad storms and I wasn't looking forward to doing it again. I have driven worse roads than today, but still I don't like it.

Word of the day:
Saturday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel
Mk 9:2-13

Jesus took Peter, James, and John
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
"Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
then from the cloud came a voice,
"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."
Suddenly, looking around, the disciples no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what rising from the dead meant.
Then they asked him,
"Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
He told them, "Elijah will indeed come first and restore all things,
yet how is it written regarding the Son of Man
that he must suffer greatly and be treated with contempt?
But I tell you that Elijah has come
and they did to him whatever they pleased,
as it is written of him."




God bless our troops!

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