Weekend Masses

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, When I was growing up the first Monday in August was what we in Britain and Ireland called a Bank Holiday. Originally Bank holidays were days when the banks were closed to catch up on accounts and eventually they became public holidays but the name remained in the culture. It was the beginning of Horse Show week, which in those days was one of the big social events of the year held at the headquarters of the Royal Dublin Society or in the local slang the RDS. Nowadays it has been superseded by bigger events. Horse Show was a misnomer because it was a cattle show country fair all under the same roof and fields. My father always took a day off to take us to the show. Many of the families in our neighborhood had never been at it, because they saw it as an old British event. Both my par- ents were of farming origins and they saw it as a farming event and felt it was important for us to be there. I am eternally gratefully to my parents for the memories and the experiences they created for us, both at a secular and a religious level. They shared their experiences and their traditions and encourage us to create and continue these traditions. We need to share these traditions and experiences because if we do not, we lose something of who and what we are. To visit a beautiful church, to go to the county fair or a local fair is important . It is taking a look at the world around us and reminding us that God is in the beautiful church and at the fair. Our faith is lived in the world and in order to live it to the ful,l we have to be at home in our world and practice our faith in our world. Thank God for our parents who did that and encouraged us to do the same. The Journey continues Fr Karl LOOKING FOR CATHECISTS: We are still short of catechists for our religious ed pro- gram. Please contact Penny if you are interested

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, My mother came to Kenya the year after my father died. I was in the first mission that had opened in Nandi District. I had just taken over a few months previously. I had taken over from one of our priests who had been there a long time, and they had not wanted him to move. It was a struggle and I was not very happy. Seven years later my mother came back because Pope John Paul II was visiting Kenya. My mother was amazed at the growth that had taken place in those seven years and never stopped talking about it. I think because I had been there all the time had not really noticed. Sometimes that’s the way it is with God in our lives, we do not notice him working. He does it all unseen and unnoticed and then there are moments like the transfiguration when it is all laid out before you. My mother’s second visit to Kenya made me notice things I had taken for granted. God comes to us through our family and friends, the smile, the comment, the outreach in difficult times. God is there working with us encouraging us and walking with us on our journey. There are moments when like the poet we see “the earth charged with the grandeur of God” but there are moments when we need the reminders of others to see that grandeur and beauty. Let us give thanks for those moments as the journey continues. Fr Karl LOOKING FOR CATECHISTS – We are still short of catechists for our religious ed program. Please contact Penny if you are interested