MID-AUGUST 2013 REPORT

On Thursday, August 8, Br. John facilitated the opening of the school year faculty and staff retreat for Holy Rosary Academy and High School in New Orleans.  The group included faculty, administrators and staff, a little over 30 in all.  Their theme was discipleship: “With Each Other, For Each Other.”  The school is in a transition time, with about one-third of the faculty new this year.  There was time for introductions, and a lot of guided discussions to enable the school community to speak and listen to each other about who they hope to be as a Catholic school community with a common mission. 

Bob has been going in to St. Joe’s preparing for their major fundraisers—parking for the Saints games!  Since the Dome is nearby, and there are 140+ parking spaces in a fenced lot, this can be an important support for the parish and its good works.  Some folks sign up for the season, and there are some who take their chances.  Bob has good stories on the nights he returns from these sessions. 

Charles was working hard getting the mail organized for the many homeless and poor who use Lantern Light as a ‘home address.’  The center closes for two weeks during August so there is a fair amount of preparation beforehand.

On Saturday, the 10^th, Anthony LaRocca dropped off a ‘gently used’ stove to replace the one in the first floor back kitchen.  Bob volunteered to hook it up to the gas line, and volunteered John to clean under and around the old stove before the replacement was installed.  Dawn Degreaser isn’t just good for dishes.  Colleen and Anthony continue to take an interest in this Volunteer Community and this parish.

On Sunday, the 11^th, Charles left bright and early for a 90 mile drive to Chatawa, Mississippi for a week of retreat at Our Lady of the Pines Retreat Center which is administered by the School Sisters of Notre Dame on a rural property where 55 of Sisters live in retirement.  Did we mention ‘rural?’  But Charles noted the property was lovely and big enough to get lost in—which he did, but found his way back home.  He also noted that the food was good—even if healthy.

Bob was ‘home alone’ the week of the 12^th as John flew to Miami on Monday to facilitate the opening of the year retreat at Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School on Wednesday.  Our Brothers have ministered there since 1984; three of the six Brothers living there are in the school.  While Holy Rosary and AC-ND are quite different, there are similar needs.  AC-ND is also experiencing change in the curriculum and faculty make-up.  The opening session involved finding your partner by matching names of characters like ‘Ricky and Lucy’, ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, and ‘the Lady and the Tramp.’  The pairs answered several questions and returned to discuss what they heard.  It was quite interesting and allowed the faculty to experience the diversity among themselves, let alone among the students.  In the category of ‘It’s a small world!’ one of the administrators remembered meeting John at Rice HS Christmas parties when she taught St. Charles Borromeo School in Harlem.  Another teacher had lived in the same town in Northeastern Pennsylvania where John’s mother lived.  

John was back on Thursday, Charles came back on Saturday.  Saturday evening was mild and there was a cool breeze on the second floor balcony where John and Charles sat out for awhile.  John sent texts to Travis , John and Matt from the spot they had all enjoyed when they lived here.  Travis replied from his vacation that after a four day cruise from Jacksonville, FL with Florida family members he is now with his Schenectady family in the Finger Lakes region of New York State.  Matt Beben sent word that he has just completed the orientation program with the Salesians and feels good about it.  He leaves for Ethiopia on September 5.

Now we are making last minute preparations to welcome Lauren Zanfardino who is arriving with her parents at the end of the week.  A new year will begin.

ONLY IN NEW ORLEANS: 

The New Orleans City Council set out to douse concerns that there is a conspiracy to deprive Crescent City drinkers of go-cups.

“We write to clarify a misconception that there is a collective or concerted effort to ban to-go cups. For over ten years, the City Planning Commission and City Council have adopted provisos regulating to-go cups on a case by case basis when the requesting businesses are located in or adjacent to residential districts. These provisos protect nearby residents from unnecessary trash in front of their homes by patrons of restaurants and bars. But again, there is no blanket prohibition of to-go cups.”

The council issued the statement in the aftermath of a flurry of social media and press attention when it became clear that go-cups are no longer a given in Crescent City drinking and dining establishments. New Orleans is one of the few places in the country where leaving a bar or restaurant with an alcoholic beverage in a disposable cup is allowed.

If you don’t know what a go-cup is, y’all come down to visit  us!

COMINGS AND GOINGS: Late July 2013

During the last weeks of July, some of us went on vacation, some to retreat and some vacated 4219 Constance as they concluded their year as members of this volunteer community.

Charles was on the West Coast until the 24^th visiting family and friends in the Pacific Northwest and California.  It was his “Jubilee Tour.”

On July 18^th Matt Beben and Travis Wain completed their commitments to Americorps, but remained in New Orleans for awhile.  

On the 22^nd Bob left by car for a vacation in Minnesota and Chicago and retreat with a Sisters community in Iowa. John left on the 22^nd for a directed retreat at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Covington, LA, returning on Saturday the 27^th.  

Br. Lucian Knapp came in on that Monday evening to meet up with Br. Tom LeJeune who was in Destrehan, LA visiting from Seattle.  Travis was host; Lucian left on Wednesday, the 24^th.  Charles returned home on that same evening, joining Matt and Travis.

Matt Beben left on Saturday morning, the 27^th, headed to an orientation program for folks joining a Salesian volunteer program; he is planning for next year in Ethiopia.

Travis devoted his days before he left us to cleaning the third floor; he steam cleaned all the carpets—they needed it after six years.

On the 30^th of July  Charles, John and Travis hosted Sisters Mary Ellen Schroeder, Kerstin Maria Deuben, and Mary Nancy Vance, Sisters of Notre Dame [Toledo, OH] who run the Mirabeau Learning Center which does remarkable work in early childhood programs in a number of Catholic elementary schools as well as running an after school program.  They make an important difference and are volunteers like ourselves.

John drove to Madison, MS on the 31^st to facilitate a faculty retreat at St. Joseph’s High School on August 1^st.  The Brothers have had a commitment to the Diocese of Jackson for 16 years:  Br. John Brennan, Ted Dausch and Dan Lauber have been there for all those years.  John returned to NOLA that afternoon for dinner with Travis and Br. Charles on Travis’s last day before he took off to visit family.  He is returning at the end of August for a second volunteer year.

Br. Bob returned on Sunday, August 4^th to the ‘empty nest.’  On Tuesday we had Sr. Nancy Hale and Sr. Pauline O’Reilly and Pauline’s nephew, Eoghan [Owen], a young Irishman visiting New Orleans.  Sisters Nancy and Pauline are members of the Congregation of the Holy Faith and volunteer several days a week where Br. Charles works.

Now Charles, Bob and John are back at work.  We look forward to our three new volunteers coming at the end of the month, even while missing the three young men who continue to be a part of our lives.

A THOUGHT AFTER A RETREAT AT A BENEDICTINE ABBEY:

The Benedictines chanted much of the Divine Office at Vigils [6:00 AM],  LAUDS [7:00 AM], VESPERS [5:30 PM] and COMPLINE [7:15 PM].  

Participating in those Offices, in the beauty of the Abbey church, one is reminded of a line in THE EMERGING CHRISTIAN WAY:  “… worship is of God; it is for us.”