SISTER KUNEGUNDA GASOLINE

Sister Kunegunda, who worked for a home health agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it, a Texaco Gasoline station was just a block away.

She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas. The attendant told her that the only gas can he owned had been loaned out, but she could wait until it was returned. Since Sister Kunegunda was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait and walked back to her car.

She looked for something in her car that she could fill with gas and spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful, Sister Kunegunda carried the bedpan to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried the full bedpan back to her car.

As she was pouring the gas into her tank, two Baptists watched from across the street.. One of them turned to the other and said,

'If it starts, I'm turning Catholic!'

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

STORY OF THE DAY - MIDDLE GROUND

I try & walk a line between terror &
ecstasy, she said & then she shook her
head. You'd be amazed at the people
who avoid me for no good reason, other
than that.

From StoryPeople.

AZALEAS FOR OLGA

 

DEDICATED TO OLGA SZPYLCZYN...

FOR FRAN, MARK, AND ERICA,

WITH LOVE FROM GRANDPÈRE AND MIMI

Grandpère says these are double azalea flowers. Whether they are or not, they are lovely.

FEAST OF ÓSCAR ROMERO AND THE MARTYRS OF EL SALVADOR

"EACH OF US CAN DO SOMETHING."
Óscar Romero

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (August 15, 1917 – March 24, 1980), commonly known as Monseñor Romero, was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. He later became prelate archbishop of San Salvador.

As an archbishop, he witnessed numerous violations of human rights and began a ministry speaking out on behalf of the poor and victims of the country's civil war. His brand of political activism was denounced by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and the government of El Salvador. In 1980, he was assassinated by gunshot while consecrating the Eucharist during mass. His death finally provoked international outcry for human rights reform in El Salvador.

From Wikipedia.

In the sermon just minutes before his death, Archbishop Romero reminded his congregation of the parable of the wheat. "Those who surrender to the service of the poor through love of Christ will live like the grains of wheat that dies. It only apparently dies. If it were not to die, it would remain a solitary grain. The harvest comes because of the grain that dies… We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us."

From Caritas Europa.

On December 2, 1980, four American churchwomen were killed by El Salvadoran National Guardsmen: lay missionary Jean Donovan, Maryknoll sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke, and Ursuline sister Dorothy Kazel .

On November 6, 1989, six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her daughter were killed by armed men who broke into their house: Ignacio Martín-Baró, SJ, Joaquín López y López, SJ, Juan Ramón Moreno, SJ, Amando López, SJ, Ignacio Ellacuría, SJ, Segundo Montes, SJ, Elba Ramos, and Celina Ramos.

In 2009, the General Convention of The Episcopal Church voted to add San Romero de las Américas and the Martyrs of El Salvador to the church calendar. Their feast day is observed on the date of Romero's martyrdom, March 24.

PRAYER
Almighty God, you called your servant Oscar Romero to be a voice for the voiceless poor, and to give his life as a seed of freedom and a sign of hope: Grant that, inspired by his sacrifice and the example of the martyrs of El Salvador, we may without fear or favor witness to your Word who abides, your Word who is Life, even Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be praise and glory now and for ever. Amen.

“LET THOSE WHO HAVE A VOICE, SPEAK OUT FOR THE VOICELESS.”
Óscar Romero

San Romero, ruega por nosotros.

R. I. P. OLGA SZPYLCZYN

Rest in peace dear Olga. May the angels speed you to paradise.

+Olga Szpylczyn
Born, Stuttgart, Germany May 15, 1947
Died, Johnson City, NY March 23, 2011

It was our Lord Jesus himself who said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Let us pray, then, for our sister Olga, that she may rest from her labors, and enter into the light of God’s eternal sabbath rest.

Receive, O Lord, your servant, for she returns to you.

Into your hands, O Lord, we commend our sister Olga.

Wash her in the holy font of everlasting life, and clothe her in her heavenly wedding garment.

Into your hands, O Lord, we commend our sister Olga.

May she hear your words of invitation, “Come, you blessed of my Father.”

Into your hands, O Lord, we commend our sister Olga.

May she gaze upon you, Lord, face to face, and taste the blessedness of perfect rest.

Into your hands, O Lord, we commend our sister Olga.

May angels surround her, and saints welcome her in peace.

Into your hands, O Lord, we commend our sister Olga.

Almighty God, our Father in heaven, before whom live all who die in the Lord: Receive sister Olga into the courts of your heavenly dwelling place. Let her heart and soul now ring out in joy to you, O Lord, the living God, and the God of those who live. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer)


Please pray for our friend Fran, for her husband Mark, Olga's brother, and for Erica, Olga's niece, that God may give them comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to keep their minds and hearts in Christ Jesus.

Please leave your prayers and thoughts at Fran's blog There Will Be Bread.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK

The bashing of the Episcopal Church from certain quarters of the Anglican Communion (no names, of course), and, indeed, from within our very own church, continues due to our naughtiness in extending a measure of justice and equality to our LGTB brothers and sisters, thus we are presented with an excellent opportunity for a Lenten discipline: the practice of Jesus' admonition to turn the other cheek.

UPDATE: Thanks to Ann Fontaine for the link to Walter Wink's sermon on turning the other cheek, which I think is impressive and thought-provoking.

R. I. P. ELIZABETH TAYLOR

Elizabeth Taylor is so beautiful. I remember her in "National Velvet", which I saw when I was about 10 years old. Her beauty was nearly unbelievable to me. I wanted to look like her, even then. Elizabeth grew up gracefully, never passing through the awkward stage.


Then I remember "A Place in the Sun" with the marvelous Montgomery Clift, with whom Elizabeth remained dear friends as long as he lived. Indeed, she was in love with him, but, he was gay. Monty loved Elizabeth, too, but not the way she loved him. He did a damned fine job of acting the part of a man deeply in love in the film.

Elizabeth as Maggie the Cat in "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof" is one of my favorites of her roles. She maneuvers Brick (Paul Newman) and Big Daddy (Burl Ives), until she gets what she wants.

"That girl's got life in her, alright."

Words that Tennessee Williams put into the mouth of Big Daddy have a permanent place on my sidebar.

"There ain't nothin' more powerful than the odor of mendacity...You can smell it. It smells like death."

What an emotional workout it was when Grandpère and I went to see "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" We felt battered and bruised when we left the theater after watching Elizabeth and Richard Burton verbally duke it out for a couple of hours. The movie caused us to cringe a bit, because it hit home in that we both realized that a good many of our own quarrels were unnecessary and served no useful purpose, except to upset us and those around us. For me, as a result of seeing the movie, I was inspired to try to do better.

Though Elizabeth may have been a bit confused at times about the direction of her life, as we all are from time to time, she was as good as she was beautiful. Don't fail to read Leonardo's moving post at Eruptions At the Foot of the Volcano about Elizabeth's early advocacy in the cause of AIDS. She was amongst the first of the Hollywood celebrities to jump in and call attention to and demand help for those suffering from AIDS and HIV.

Eternal rest grant unto Elizabeth, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen.

A BELATED ST PAT'S FUNNY

An Irish Man is sitting in the pub with his wife, and he says, "I love you."

She asks, "Is that you or the beer talking?"

He replies, "It's me talking to the beer."

Isn't that just like a man? And not just an Irishman!

Hey guys, don't blame me. Blame Doug.

IT'S NOT JUST THE DEEP WELLS...

From NOLA.com:

A large sheen of oil that has confounded the Coast Guard and state officials for days has been traced to a well-capping accident about 20 miles southwest of Southwest Pass, a state official said.

A state official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a continuing Coast Guard investigation, said the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries traced the emulsified oil to West Delta Block 117. He said tests by a state-contracted lab confirmed that was the source of the oil.

Wildlife and Fisheries officials found the source of the oil Monday evening and encountered workers in a boat trying to restore a cap on the well using a remotely operated submarine.

"Well-capping went out of control," the state official said.
....

At a news conference earlier Tuesday, Coast Guard officials said only between ¼- and ½-mile of beach was directly affected by oily material within the 30-mile stretch between Grand Isle and West Timbalier Island where the sheen and emulsified oil has been seen.

Why didn't the company that owned the well report the the accident? Why must the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries people and the Coast Guard play detective to find out where the oil is coming from?

Although, "only between ¼- and ½-mile of beach was directly affected by oily material", we may not yet know the end of the story.

UPDATE: From NOLA.com:

Responding to reports of a 10-mile-long slick from a second Gulf of Mexico oil spill, federal officials said "small amounts of oil" have been leaking from wells that were connected to a production platform destroyed during Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

An average of less than 14 gallons per day have been leaking from the wells about 10 miles off the southeastern Louisiana coast, said Kendra Barkoff, a federal Interior Department spokeswoman.

Oh well. Just a small leak. The truth is that oil is always leaking into the Gulf, because the well caps tend to erode in the salt water. What? Me worry?

ON PROPAGATING CHANGE

From Bishop Gregory Cameron's article in support of the adoption of the Anglican Covenant by the churches in the Anglican Communion in Search; a Church of Ireland Journal:

Whilst this report criticises those who have propagated change without sufficient regard to the common life of the Communion, it has to be recognised that debate on this issue cannot be closed whilst sincerely but radically different positions continue to be held across the Communion. (The Windsor Report, para. 146)

And who are "those who have propagated change"?

Paragraph 146 of the Windsor Report states:

One of the deepest realities that the Communion faces is continuing difference on the presenting issue of ministry by and to persons who openly engage in sexually active homosexual relationships.

Could the answer be the Episcopal Church?

I must take issue with the phrase "have propagated change". The Episcopal Church has instituted changes within our own church that certain other churches deem offensive and unacceptable, but we have not pushed changes on other churches in the communion.

prop·a·gate - To cause to extend to a broader area or larger number; spread.

In my dreams, as an experiment, I'd like to see the Episcopal Church step back from official participation in the affairs of the AC for a season and watch to see if those who have absented themselves from communion gatherings return to the fold and if perfect peace descends upon the Anglican Communion once our troublesome presence is gone.

I'm sick to death of being blamed for all the troubles in the Anglican Communion, as well as the suggestions that we must be disciplined for our wayward ways, or, as others phrase it, lets "spank the Yank".

I'll leave it to my betters to take up the rebuttal of Bp Cameron's push for the adoption of the Anglican Covenant it's entirety, but I could not resist saying my piece on the accusation of propagating changes.