Farewells and Dads

Saturday evening, we said goodbye to our favorite Sister, Sr. Beverly Martin. She had been with us in the Clifton and Clyde parishes for several years, but as with most good things, it had to end. Bishop Vincke decided to move her to another parish. 

It has crossed my mind that the reason we got Sr. Bev in the first place was possibly the deteriorating health of Fr. Steven Heina, our former priest. He needed help, so Sr. Bev stepped in to help him. Then they moved Fr. Steve, and we got Fr. Andrew. We loved Fr. Steve, and we adore Fr. Andrew. He's young, with boundless energy, ideas, and he's computer savvy; even has his own vlog online.  So perhaps we didn't need Sr. Bev. Or at least that's what the Bishop believes.

Originally, Sr. Bev had a destination, although we still don't know where that was. But then there was some sort of plan change, and so now Sr. Bev is in a holding pattern at the Motherhouse in Concordia. Like an airplane circling an airport during a storm. She's in limbo, just doing whatever they need her to do. I believe she has accepted this much easier than her parishioners.

Last night, the combined parishes put on a farewell party for her, a potluck supper, and visiting with her with lots of hugs and many teary smiles. Sr. Bev became emotional, I believe it was difficult for her to leave us too. She was such a good fit for our communities. And I do believe that we still need her. 

Fr. Andrew is young, energetic, and a strong leader. He is trying to bring our parishes back to the Catholic Church of long ago with the same Eucharistic prayers (the long version, not the shortened ones that many priests use today), and some customs that we have not used in many decades. He is an excellent educator in our faith, and I wished I could continue taking lessons with him for a long time more. Even Dennis said he had learned more about his faith than he had in over 75 years. He started out as my ride to my OCIA classes and ended up asking many questions and also wishing for more.

I think Fr. Andrew is working toward educating us all in the catechism of the Church by including sections of the catechism in the bulletin. I like that. I was not raised Catholic. I was a confirmed Lutheran until I met him and when we became seriously involved and headed toward marriage, we decided that I would convert to Catholicism.

The class I took to learn and join the Church was not an optimal class. The priest was teetering on the brink of leaving the priest-hood, and seemed to want to talk about social gatherings more than the lessons we were supposed to be learning. I know we are not supposed to verbally attack our priests but pray for them. when they fail, and I do pray for them, but the truth is that I was ill-prepared for joining the Church.

Today we celebrated Father's Day with family and friends. It was great attending Mass with our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. It was mostly Becky and Rusty's family, although we did get an unexpected but very welcome visit from our oldest son Josh. I wish we could have seen or heard from others in our family. 

Hopefully, we'll see more family on July 3, when we meet at Josh's house for his annual patriotic holiday and gumbo feed.

I do know I'm totally exhausted and headed for bed soon. It's been a crazy long weekend. But I've loved every moment.