Things continue to go well for me here in Norfolk. I enjoy the Benedictine Sisters who I serve here as chaplain and also the residents at the nursing home just across the street. For those who may have forgotten I celebrate two Masses everyday. I still rise at 4:30 AM, and after cleaning up, I pray the office of readings from the Liturgy of the Hours. Then I say the devotional prayers that I like to pray everyday. Interestingly, I have the entire Roman Office of the Liturgy of the Hours and all these other prayers on my Kindle. With my eyes not as good as they used to be, I find it much easier to read from this new gadget from Amazon. I also have many books on this machine. You have to buy them but they are a lot cheaper than the printed books.
About 5:40 AM or so I usually go over to the monastery and there do some lectio, usually using the readings of the day. At 6:25 AM I pray morning prayer with the Sisters, followed by Mass for the Sisters at 7:00 AM. Today on Ash Wednesday the chapel was filled as many people obviously wanted to come to an early Mass on this day and receive ashes on their forehead. After Mass I eat breakfast with the Sisters. Then I return to my house and about 8:30 AM go over to the St. Joseph Nursing Home, visit with some of the patients, then pray the rosary with those who arrive by 9:00 AM or so, and then celebrate my second Mass at 9:30 AM. Much of the remainder of the morning I spend visiting the residents, taking Catholics communion, who are not able to come to Mass and visiting with most of the patients.
After eating the noon meal with the Sisters I have some time to do such things as relax a while, do my own laundry, go buy groceries for the evening meals which I eat on my own etc.
Frequently I am asked to help in a parish with confessions. Last week I spent part of one afternoon visiting at the Veterans Home here in Norfolk. It is a beautiful retirement home, rather new, which is available for veterans. It is really very nice and quite large with room for about 150 people. They would like it if I could help over there but I do not wish to get over involved. When I was there last week they had 28 Catholic patients.
Veterans Home at Norfolk, NE
I have been helping the 4th degree Knights of Columbus when I can. Last Sunday I was supposed to become a 4th degree member but then it had to be canceled due to the snow and very cold weather. They want me to be their chaplain or whatever that person is called. I will probably take over doing that. The Knights of Columbus council up here has a rather large building and during Lent they have a fish fry every Friday evening. They started already last Friday and I went down there to eat. It was very good. I have been down there for a number of meals and other celebrations.
We have had a very cold winter so far, but have had very little snow. The snow we have on the ground now is about the largest amount we have had all year -- probably about three inches or so. Some of the farmers have expressed to me some concern about the lack of moisture.
I am not a big television fan, but I do have cable T.V. in the house. Just a couple weeks ago the company began the process of switching to all digital. So all of us had to install a special little box on top of the T.V. Now we receive even more channels. I just hope I can still get the Royals games up here as I could last summer. In the evenings I pretty regularly watch Fox News out of New York. They fit my conservative thinking more than most of the other channels. I also have a DVD player connected to the T.V. so can watch movies if I so desire.
Recently I had some contact with Ben Espey and his family from Nodaway County. He was the sheriff in the county when we had that shooting at Conception in 2002. After serving as sheriff for 16 years he lost the next election, but we became quite good friends before that time.
The former sheriff of Nodaway County, Ben Espey, horseback riding.
Enough for this time. I pray you all have a blessed Lenten season. Yesterday afternoon the oblates of the monastery here brought in all kinds of good food and we had a little Mardi Gras Celebration.
At Mardi Gras celebration with Sisters and Oblates
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