Retreat & Candlemas

 

Last week was mostly taken up by our annual clergy retreat at the Jesuitical Montserrat on Lake Dallas. I tell you, it was a veritable snow-bound Narnia of a place this year, beautiful, if cold. Many of our priests couldn't make it, for fear of ice, but a good crew turned up and all had a convivial time.

There's a powerful rhythm to the event, shaped by the Mass and, for us, three-fold Office of Morning and Evening Prayer followed by Compline and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. By the end of it you could feel the Spirit move, a well needed reset.

Then it was back to the country and an annual meeting at Mission #2. Again, most convivial and a great congregation to serve amongst. There being no rest for the wicked, today was all about driving to Fort Worth for the Society of the Holy Cross' local chapter meeting and Mass, Candlemas.

What a good body of faithful priests, and I felt privileged to address them on "Prayers For The Departed," which sounds like an epitaph for the Anglo-Catholic Movement but is, in fact, the eighth part of our Rule. It concludes thus:

O Saviour of the world who by thy Cross and precious blood hath redeemed us, save us and help us we humbly beseech thee, O Lord.

 

And the Collect for Candlemas:

Almighty and everliving God, clothed in majesty, whose beloved Son was this day presented in the Temple, in substance of our flesh: grant that we may be presented to thee with pure and clean hearts, by thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

Bless you all,

LSP

Winter Wonderland!

 

It started off as cold, sleety rain, and then our Old Adversary the Weather escalated the fight. Yes, it began to snow. "Well that's exciting," I thought as I fired up a Mission for Mass, "Snow, in Texas." But here's the thing, it didn't stop, on the contrary, it intensified.

By the time Mass was over and we opened the doors of the church and looked outside, there it was, a veritable winter wonderland. "Haven't seen anything like this in ten years," said one churchman. "This is more snow than we had in Oklahoma," said another, mysteriously. And I agreed, we haven't seen this much snow here since the great Global Warming blizzard of 2010. Exciting.

Back at the Compound I started getting calls from Mission #2. Like, "We've had to turn around, padre, sorry about that," or, "We fishtailed on 56 and headed back, didn't want to risk it." Also the power was down in the area, so we called a snow day on the service and I emailed the crew with a "make your Spiritual Communion" reminder. Then what?

Brush the snow off your rig and take a recce through town. No small thing, I tell you. It was like the Kharkov Front, or maybe Narnia. Still, I wasn't complaining, it's rare to see anthropogenic global warming like this in the great state of Texas.

I know, same-old, same-old for everyone living north of the border, but a big thing here. So too, apparently, with the Corpse and the Whore's incoming ascension to power; all the shotgun ammo was gone at Walmart yesterday, no fooling. Never seen such a thing before, make of it what you will.

In the meanwhile, snow continues to fall.

LSP