Coming Soon to St. Brendan – an excellent spiritual resource. Lighthouse Catholic Media makes available, in audio CDs and booklets, materials to help us grow in faith. During the Easter break, I was down at Santa Cruz and dropped in at St. Joseph’s Church and gift shop. There, I encountered these excellent materials. As I drove back up along Highway 1, I began listening to a CD I had purchased and listened to Dr. Scott Hahn’s conversion story. He was a Presbyterian pastor and militant anti-Catholic, who in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the Bible, found God leading him into the Catholic Church. I soon discovered other titles and authors and was touched by their stories and teachings. Pope Benedict has called upon the worldwide Church to make the coming year, beginning in October 2012, the Year of Faith. A year where we will take the time to re-examine what many of us, perhaps, have taken for granted. A time where we might seek to learn more about our spiritual treasure. So I encourage you to try this for yourself. As Lighthouse Media seeks to make this as available to as wide an audience as possible, the CDs are relatively inexpensive, only $3 each. And they can be purchased in a bundle of 5 for $15. They can be played on our CD players in the car or at home and I have found them uplifting in my own spiritual journey. We have the material on order and hope to be able to kick it off in early August. Look for it. It will be worth your while.
Welcome, Sr. Quiche Le – Sr. Le is Vietnamese and a member of the Congregation of the Lovers of the Cross. They are a Vietnamese religious community founded in 1670. They are both a contemplative order and an apostolic community, meaning they serve as both Martha and Mary. They are at the same time attentive, sitting at the feet of Jesus and go about meeting the needs of the poor and less fortunate. Although Sr. Le’s father was not Catholic, but her mother was and had her baptized when she was a baby. And although Vietnam is a Communist country and the Church’s freedom is limited, however, the faith there is vibrant. She wanted to love and serve Jesus, so she joined this community of religious women. She was sent to France to learn theology so she could return and teach. She has spent 6 years already in France studying Fundamental Theology and has 2 more years to go before she completes her study in Spirituality. She is here on vacation from July 3 – September 3, and hopes to learn some English. I, on the other hand, have had a refresher course in French, thanks to her and Google Translate. So if you see a stranger around the convent and wish to practice your French, you can say hello to her. Welcome, Sr. Le.
Gone Fishing – As Fr. Mike returns from vacation, I will also take some time off before school starts. I will be away from July 16 to August 17. Where the sheep go, the shepherd must follow. So I will take some time off to visit a priest friend up near Lake Tahoe and will also take some time off to be with family and friends. See you next month.
Fr. Dan
