The Lord’s call – let it be said at the outset – is not as clear-cut as any of those things
we can hear, see or touch in our daily experience. God comes silently and discreetly,
without imposing on our freedom. Thus it can happen that his voice
is drowned out by the many worries and concerns
that fill our minds and hearts.
We need, then, to learn how to listen carefully to his word
and the story of his life,
but also to be attentive to the details of our own daily lives,
in order to learn how to view things
with the eyes of faith, and to keep ourselves open to the surprises of the Spirit.
Pope Francis
Message for the 55th World Day of Vocations
2018
Recap of the week...
Last week - week 5 - was quite the week. The topic was consecrated life, which is rather broad. We looked at each of the vows. We looked at what makes religious life "radical" in our world today. We read parts of Vatican documents on consecrated life and our own Rules of Life. We spent time meditating on beautiful pieces of art each morning. We also had group presentations. Thank you to our facilitator for the week, our own Bro. Tim from New York.
The real "meat" of the week, though, came from our group discussions about cultural context and the challenges we face in living committed lives. I heard from some of our SMs about being held at gunpoint - churches being bombed - fear of extremists - religious women being raped (not our FMIs, but women they know). Priests who have been jailed for nothing more than baptizing someone without government permission. We talked about challenges to the vow of poverty when the religious live better than the candidates' families. We shared about family and societal expectations of adult children. We talked about clericalism, the sins of the Church, and how religious are misunderstood around the world - regardless of context.
No doubt, a heavy week. But so, so good. I have learned a great deal. And understand in a more complete way (although, not completely) what a commitment to Marianist life means for our Brothers and Sisters in different parts of the world. I will be unpacking those conversations for a while.
Weekend...
Saturday was a relaxing day. The afternoon was free, so I went to the mall across the street with two of our Brothers and had a lovely fruit smoothie. Then that evening we had a social with lots of dancing.
On Sunday we had another excursion. This time to Lake Naivasha. What a fun day - after the heaviness of the week, it was good to be outside, laugh, walk alongside someone and chat for a bit.
The Great Rift Valley and Lake Naivasha
The lake is about a 2.5-hour drive from our retreat center. We left Sunday after breakfast and returned about an hour before evening prayer.
About midway through the drive, we stopped at a scenic overlook. From this point, you see a beautiful view of the Great Rift Valley. This rift extends from Jordan along eastern Africa to Mozambique. According to Brittanica.com, the "East African Rift System, also called Afro-Arabian Rift Valley, one of the most extensive rifts on Earth’s surface, extending from Jordan in southwestern Asia southward through eastern Africa to Mozambique. The system is some 4,000 miles (6,400 km) long and averages 30–40 miles (48–64 km) wide."
Because of the fossils found in the Great Rift Valley, it is believed that this area is the birthplace of humanity. Let that soak in for a minute...
If this video loads, you'll see the panorama.
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| With Joel, SM and Jinu, SM |
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| With Sisters Terese and Prudence |
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| Stunning views |
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| With Terese |
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| So, also there were these very aggressive vendors at the overlook. Fr. Pablo and I resisted very well! |
Crescent Island
When we arrived at Lake Naivasha we took boats out to Crescent Island. |
| There are a lot of dead trees in and near the water. We were told that it's because of too much rainfall - roots were unable to get enough O2. |
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| Cows on the shore before boarded the boats. |
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| 7 people per boat for the 10-minute ride |
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| Another view of the trees |
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| All aboard! |
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| Another Marianist boat |
My first time seeing pelicans in person (you'll see them, too, if this video ever loads)...
On Crescent Island...
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| Lots and lots of cactus |
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| If you look closely, you can see a monkey in this tree... Super cute! |
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| The ostriches are used to people and not as mean as others |
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| Antelope |
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| Wildebeasts... Our guide called them one of the "ugly 5." They're not what I would call cute... |
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| More wildebeasts... We saw zebras and impalas, too but no pics... |
Return to the mainland... and hippos!
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| If you look closely, you can see 2 eagles. They look a lot like the American bald eagle, but they are African Fish Eagles |
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| Of course, I don't know the name of this mountain |
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| We saw many hippos... some from the island and more from the boats |
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| I was pretty proud of the timing of this pic |
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| Hippos, although vegetarians, can be aggressive if you get too close. So... we were feeling just a little nervous. |
Once we made it back to the mainland, we had a wonderful buffet lunch - I was so happy to have baked chicken and mashed potatoes! And then it was back to get ready for another week.
Thanks for reading this long (and delayed) blog.
Many blessings!
Sr. N
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