Happy Father's Day

Fr Kenneth.  Photo taken on June 14, 2014 by

Sister Madeleine, osb.

Yes, today is Fathers' day.  Certainly I remember my own father and appreciate him more than ever everyday.  All my brothers and I were born in the 1920's and 30's.  Those were not days when people had a lot of money.  I know both of my parents worked hard to feed us, cloth us etc..   I can honestly say I never remember going to bed hungry.  So today we all take this day to give thanks for the fathers we have or had in the past.  

The day when I begin my vacation is fast approaching. Father Pachomius, from Conception Abbey, should be driving up here on Wednesday of this week to take my place while I am gone.  I plan to leave on Thursday, June 19, and drive to Conception that day.  After spending the night at Conception I plan to drive on to Brunswick on Friday.  

Next Sunday, June 22, I am planning to celebrate the 10:00 AM parish Mass and then the Knights of Columbus will serve dinner.  I am celebrating this year my 60th anniversary of profession of vows. I made my first profession of vows on September 8, 1954.  I will not be able to go to Missouri on that date so will celebrate a little early next Sunday.  It really doesn't seem possible but the years do fly by and we cannot stop them.  I give thanks to God for these sixty years and want to say they have been good years.  Of course we all have our ups and downs in life, but we work through problems and continue to love God and appeciate the many good friends we make.  

For my first profession there were seven of us who took vows that day.  Four of us went on to make final vows in 1957.  Of those four I am the only one still living. The others have already passed on to heaven.  My Dad and Mother were there for my first vows and my brothers Raymond and Ed.  They too, as well as my brother Jim, have passed on to the heavenly kingdom.  Only one brother, Harold, is still living.  

Last night, Saturday, I was invited to the home of Paul and Kathy Moser here in Norfolk for a steak dinner.  It was a very enjoyable evening.  As many of you know my grandmother (Frances Reichert) was a Moser.  As far as we know there is no relation.  I managed to get home just as the rain was beginning and then throughout the night we had 3 1/2 inches of rain.  The most moisture we have had since I arrived here a little over one year ago.

I won't be writing on this blog until after I return to Norfolk on July 3.  Hope to see many relatives and friends while I am visiting in Missouri.  I do have a cell phone:  402-750-9684

God bless you all.
Fr. Kenneth

Missed Feast of Ascension This Year

Interestingly, this year, 2014, I missed the solemnity of the Ascension.  Yes, in the Province of St. Louis, which includes the entire state of Missouri the feast has been transferred to the following Sunday.  In the Province of Omaha, which includes the entire state of Nebraska it is still celebrated on Thursday.  So last week I was at our monastery, Conception Abbey, for our community retreat.  I returned here to Norfolk on Friday, May 30, and so missed the feast this year.  Kind of unusual I thought. 

We had a very good retreat last week.  The conferences were given by Monsignor Kevin Irwin, a priest of the archdiocese of New York, but who has spent much of his life in Washington, D.C. and in Rome.  He has his Doctorate in Liturgy from Sant' Aselmo in Rome and presently teaches at the Catholic University of America.  So the theme of the retreat was the Liturgy.  The conferences were all very interesting and helpful.  

As most of you know the monks have all moved out of the monastery at Conception and today, Monday, June 2, they should be starting with the demolition and then renovation of the monastery.  On one day of the retreat all the monks went to the monastery and the Abbot conducted a little prayer service, thanking all of our predecessors for all their work in building the monastery and asking God's blessing and protection on the workers who will renovate the monastery.  I am posting a couple pictures:

 This is Fr. Kenneth taken in the room and almost the exact

spot where I was shot on June 10, 2002.  The room is now empty

in preparation for the renovation.

Abbot Gregory conducting the prayer service with

the community gathered around him.  When Fr. Norbert and

I were shot in 2002 it was just inside the door you see in

this picture.

Another blessing the community received at the conclusion of the retreat was the ordination to the priesthood of our confrere, Father Macario.  The ordaining bishop was our own Archbishop Jerome Hanus, O.S.B., who just retired after serving as bishop for 26 years at St. Cloud, MN and then as Archbishop of Dubuque.

Left to right:  Father Macario, Archbishop Jerome

and deacon who is a seminarian studying for the

Sioux City diocese

Many guests were present for the ordination including some good friends of mine.  Among those present was Jeremy Long, an alumnus who now lives in San Francisco.

Jeremy Long and Fr. Kenneth

When I left Norfolk to go to Conception there were over forty novice directors and novices from Benedictine women communities throughout the United States here for workshops.  They were still here when I returned on Friday but left then on Saturday.  They seemed to all enjoy their time together.

I believe that Sister Pia Portmann, the superior here at Norfolk, who has been gone most of the month of May, returns tomorrow.

Finally in closing I want to refer my readers to a blog written by Father Paul Sheller, O.S.B., vocation director at Conception Abbey.  All the pictures I have on this blog were taken by him and he regularly posts on his blog.  He includes many photos.

Go to:  http://listenmyson.wordpress.com/

God bless you all.