Summer time is here

The new furniture of the St. Stephen Health Care Center came in this past week and it is now installed. It looks beautiful. The maker of the furniture is an almnus, and former monk and good friend of the Abbey, Cassian Heath. That is his photo in the bottom picture. The photo on the top is a general view of the sanctuary area of the chapel.

During the summer months it seems monks are sort of in and out. Some leave to give retreats at other places, some are on vacation, some are away at school. So the size of the community varies almost from day to day.

We have been having a lot of rain the last week or two so the weather has been muggy and hot most days. It seems that we get at least a shower of rain almost everyday. There are farmers who are still trying to get crops into the fields.

Front entrance of Health Care Center, St. Stephen, deacon and martyr.

Below brief film of chapel.



This Sunday afternoon, June 13, my nephew Mike and his wife Sheila and Jarrod and Katy were here for Mass and lunch. Then some of Sheila's family came and I gave them a tour. Had a good visit. We had a little more rain this morning and now it is again very hot and humid.

June 2010, another month has passed.

Sorry I haven't had a chance to put a new blog on this site since May 10. There has been a lot going
on and I just haven't had a chance to sit down and write. That being said I will try to bring you up to date.

The weekends of May 15-16 and May 22-23, I was at my home parish at Brunswick, MO to celebrate the weekend Masses. That is quite a distance to drive and then after celebrating four Masses I am pretty tired. So I usually ask the Abbot to stay over until Monday morning before I drive back. He readily gave me permission so that helped and I got to visit with my family while by doing that. Fortunately it also gave me a chance to see my triplet great grandnephew and nieces. They have really grown. They were born on my birthday last year on July 7. Originally there were four, but one of the boys died about the second day. The three are doing well. Each of them now weighs about 18 pounds. They were two pounds or under when they were born.
The one little girl in the picture above was asleep so I didn't want to wake her.

We had our community retreat the week after school was out. It was given by Father Ronald Witherup, P.S.S. a Sulpician. Father is from the U.S.A., but is the Superior General of the Sulpicians and their headquarters are in Paris so that is where he lives now. His retreat was on the theme of Paul and Benedict: The Christ-Centered Life. It was very interesting and very helpful.

This past weekend, May 29-30, is the first weekend in May that I have not been out in a parish.
On Friday evening I attended the ordinations to the diaconate at Omaha, Nebraska. Two of our alumni were ordained deacons and will be ordained priests in another year -- Andy Syring and Kevin Vogel. I spend the night in Omaha and came home Saturday. Today on Sunday I had the Mass at Clyde for the Sisters at 11:00 AM. Next weekend I have Mass at Clyde on Saturday and then at Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Joseph on Sunday morning.

We try to have a member of the community present for the ordination to the diaconate and priesthood for our alumni. This time of year that keeps us busy as many ordinations are in late May and early June.

We are working trying to landscape and get grass started around the St. Stephen Health Care Center. All through the spring it was so wet that we could not work out there. Finally we have been able to prepare the ground and sow the grass seed. We have also put some flowers outside and yesterday I added a bird feeder or two.

Publish Post

If you are an oblate don't forget to check out the latest oblate blog. Go to the Conception Abbey website -- click here. Then on the left side of the screen click on "oblates."

MAY 2010

Here we are moving through the month of May. In some ways May is a busy month for so many people. It's a time for graduation and weddings and other family events. This year I have two grandnieces graduating from high school and one graduating from Missouri University with her doctorate in physical therapy. I don't think there are any weddings in our family this year.

Our own students here in the seminary graduate and close the school year on Sunday, May 16, the Solemnity of the Ascension. Things will be a little more quiet during the summer but we will still be busy, I'm sure. Weekend pastoral assignments usually increase during the summer.

I have been on the road a lot the last month or so taking people to the doctor either in Maryville or St. Joseph, and going to parishes for weekend Masses. Last weekend (May 1-2) I was at Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in St. Joseph for the weekend Masses, then I returned to the Abbey very briefly Sunday afternoon, before leaving for Des Moines for an oblate meeting Sunday evening. We prayed evening prayer together at 5:30 PM and that was followed by a pot-luck dinner, visiting and a talk by myself. About 50 people attended the meeting.

This coming weekend, May 8-9, I again go to St. Joseph to the same parish for the weekend Masses. I enjoy this work very much and find the people always so appreciative and hospitable, but I have to say it wears me out more than formerly. I guess that is part of getting older. Last weekend at this parish I met a former classmate here at Conception, Louis Luke. I came to Concepti0n as a sophomore in high school in 1948, Louie was here already in 1947 but we spent three years of high school together. It was great to visit with him after so many years. People at the parish could hardly believe we came to school here so many years ago. At that time of course Conception had a high school, college and theology school.
The black & white picture is of the
sophomore class of 1948-49. In the 2nd row the 2nd person from the left is Louie Luke. The one on the far right in the same row is Fr. Kenneth.
The other picture was taken May 2, 2010 of the same two people.

The weekends of May 15-16 and May 22-23, I will be at my home parish at Brunswick, Missouri. The pastor is going to Ireland so he asked us to cover the parish. Naturally I was happy to go when the Prior asked me if I could do that. It's always good to go back there, although I find I know fewer and fewer of the people. I do still have a number of relatives who live in the area.

We had almost two inches of rain last night and it is much cooler today and very windy. For those who are alumni you might like to know that, yes, we do still have May Day, and this year it was moved up to April 29, since they were predicting rain for some days after that. It was good we moved it as we did have rain for a few days.

Hope all is well with all you readers of this blog. It's always good to hear from you so don't hesitate to add a comment or send me an e-mail at kenneth@conception.edu as posted on the side of my blog on this page.

To go to the Conception Abbey web site and then the oblate section click here. If you want to go to the oblate blog, click on "oblates" on the left side of the screen.

To go to my photo web site look at the left side of the screen of this blog and click on the photo site given there.

Some News Items

Spring is such a beautiful time of the year that I find myself continuously wanting to take pictures. Yet, the pictures do not really do justice to the natural beauty that is there.

ENCOUNTER WITH GOD'S CALL: This past weekend from Saturday afternoon until today (Monday) after Mass and lunch, the seminary hosted about 125 young men who came to see what seminary life is like. This event is called "Encounter with God's Call." They come from many dioceses and from many places. Usually vocation directors from the various dioceses accompany the young men who come. Many of our new students each year are men who attended one or more of these weekends.

ABBEY TRAILS: Saturday we had our annual so called Abbey Trails. It includes both a run and a walk. Again this year we had a large group in both divisions. Many of the younger ones doing the run, and many young and old alike doing the walk. Awards are given for each age group as well as the over all winners.

FATHER ANTHONY SHIDLER, O.S.B. Father Anthony moved over into the St. Stephen Health Care Center last week. Father Anthony will be 89 years old in August but has been very active, attending all our prayer, and working as porter for half a day each day. But, due to hip replacement surgery some years ago he is finding it more and more difficult to get around. He is gradually settling in to his new way of life.

Weekend work: This past weekend I again helped in a couple of parishes. On Sunday morning about 5:30 AM I left for Leon, Iowa where I celebrated Mass at 8:00 AM and then went on to Chariton, Iowa and celebrated Mass at 10:30 AM. I always enjoy doing this pastoral work but I do come back quite tired.


THE WEATHER: The weather has been great. Most days have been sunny and relatively warm. Farmers are out in the fields planting corn. So it seems like spring is upon us.

Oblates and other readers who would like to view more photos of the oblate retreat last weekend as well as other oblate pictures, click here.

If you would like to read more about the REVISED GRAIL PSALMS, translated by Abbot Gregory and other monks of Conception Abbey, go to the Conception Abbey web site, click here. And then on the left side of the screen click "news."

God bless you.

SPRING IS HERE AND IT IS WONDERFUL AND A BLESSING

After a cold and difficult winter spring has now arrived it seems -----------
and now on most days the temperature has been up into the 70's and even into the 80's a few days. That is one of blessings of living in a part of the country where we have the different seasons. You enjoy the beautiful days so much more I think. While the winter was very cold and we had a lot of snow now we can enjoy the beautiful flowers, green grass etc. all the more.















The Triduum days and Easter were a beautiful time at Conception. We had a sizable group of guests with us and even more for the Easter Vigil which we began at 4:30 AM on Sunday morning. It ended about 7:15 AM. That is such a beautiful three days and very meaningful for Christians who celebrate on those days our salvation and redemption.

I celebrated Mass at Clyde for the older and infirm Sisters at Our Lady of Rickenbach during Holy Week. This week I am the celebrant for the Clyde community Masses in their main chapel. The Sisters are preparing to renovate their monastery and so are in the process of moving into other housing, primarily their other monasteries or in their guest facilities. So this Wednesday will be the last Mass in their main chapel until after the renovation -- probably a couple of years. They will have Mass in the Rickenbach chapel during that time.

Revised Grail Psalter approved:
Word was received this past week that the Holy See has given its recognitio to the revised edition of the Grail psalter. Abbot Gregory and other monks worked on that for a long time. In the future this translation is to be used in all liturgical texts in the U.S.A. and perhaps in other English speaking countries. We are proud that it is being published under the name of Conception Abbey.

Almost forty oblates were here for the retreat this past weekend. It was given by Father Pachomius who did a great job. To see some pictures from the retreat days click here
and then go to the album "oblates 2010."

Blessings and peace to each of you.
Fr. Kenneth