Oh, hi!

In case any of you saw an alien in town a couple of weekends ago, it was me. I was there with my friend, Bev, attending a silent retreat at Queen's House. Once I got there I realized I would not be able to phone anybody, because I couldn't talk, until the last meal, and then it seemed too late to call around. Bev and I went together in her car.
On Sunday she phoned her daughter to say hello and her grandson asked to speak to her. Her daughter said to him "Grandma's at a silent retreat at Queen's House, she can't talk." Then her grandson said "Well...couldn't she go out to the Queen's car and talk?"
It was an excellent weekend, led by the same priest and brother who will be looking after the boys' camp next summer, so it was a good opportunity for me to meet them.

Oh, hi!

In case anybody spotted an alien in town last weekend, it was me.
I was accompanying a friend of mine from Fox Valley on a silent retreat weekend at Queen's House. I didn't phone anyone ahead of time and didn't even think till I got there that while at a silent retreat I would not be able to phone anybody. I called home just to let Peter know I made it there safely, and my voice reverberated throughout the whole building.
It was a good weekend. The legionary priest and brother who led the retreat are the same ones who will be looking after the boys' camp next summer, so it was a good opportunity for me to meet them.
Ate too much, no exercise. I could have gone for a walk on Saturday afternoon, but I was exhausted.
Fr. Shane has a very profound way of putting things. One thing he said was "When Peter ran away after Jesus' arrest, he had to run away on the feet that Jesus washed."
At the end of the weekend, I told my friend that she should just drive home without me, I needed a bit of a jog.

Organ-izing

I feel a little torn tonight. We spent the early part of the evening moving the organ from our parish church into our house. Peter's dad bought the organ to prevent it being sold on e-bay to who-knows-where, and now we get to keep it in our house. This will come in handy because I can practice it, and because our sons and nieces have expressed an interest in learning to play it.
However, I feel a little disappointed that our parish has chosen the trendier electric keyboard over a classic instrument. Sure, you can buy an organ for a song at the moment, because they are not trendy. But they are classic - a few years from now the price will likely go up again, and they will not get a song for their electric keyboard. Also, there has been more beautiful church music written for the organ than almost any other instrument. It has a long tradition in a church filled with gorgeous old hymns that ought not to be forgotten. For example:

Godhead here in hiding, Whom I do adore
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at Thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God Thou Art.

by Thomas Aquinas

Now try playing that on an electric keyboard!