Boston Catholic Women's Conference

So we arrived in our stretch limo. That was wicked cool. We pulled in along side all the school buses. One of the volunteer guides' eyes popped out of her head, and she said, "I like your style."

We didn't like our seats, however. We were in the last seats in the cathedral. Not only couldn't we see very well, but we couldn't hear. Yes, there were speakers, but they weren't loud enough. There were large screens projecting the speakers, but they were all up front, also. One we couldn't see at all and the other was obscured by columns. :-(

The first speaker was Leah Darrow. She was good; but not what I expected. She told the story of her modeling career and the religious experience she had that brought her back to her faith. But she represents a line of fashion known as Pure Fashion, so I was expecting a fashion show. I pictured models modeling clothes down a run way with funky music rocking. I was a little disappointed.

The next speaker was Patti Mansfield. The charismatic movement started with Patti and her college friends. She presently is involved with the charismatic movement in New Orleans. Hence, I was looking forward to a rousing, hand waving, spirit slaying, speaking in tongues, Talk. She was OK.

Lunch was next on the agenda. I also went to Confession and Adoration. I saw people I haven't seen in awhile. Good experiences.

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle was the next speaker. I guess she's well known from EWTN. She's the moderator of some Mother's show. I had never heard of her. I wish I could have told you more, but I'm ashamed to say, I fell asleep. When I woke up she was telling stories. They were cute little stories.

Lastly, was Sister Olga of the Eucharist. She is from Iraq and told a heart wrenching tale of her vocation. She was opposed by her parents, bishop, the odds. But God was with her and she is now working as the Catholic Chaplain at Boston University. She is what you call a diocesan hermit. She was terrific--wicked cool.

It was all in all a good day. But next time, I'm not ordering with the parish. There was no advantage to that. The ticket prices were all the same, no matter how many you order, by parish or not. We waited until the last minute because we wanted all the women of the parish to have a chance to come. Hence, we got the worse seats.

But thank be to God, our limo was waiting to take us home. Somehow, although all ten of us fit in the back, coming to the Conference, there was no room for me in the back. :-/ So I rode shot gun.

I give thanks to You, My Love. It was a good day, and may I be able to put into practice the fruits that I gleaned from these spiritual offerings. Likewise, all my friends. Ditto, all the other women, there. You are too good. Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Kim Yu Na

Congratulations to Kim Yu Na. South Koreans have every right to be proud of her. I am happy she was able to win a gold medal in the Olympics and do her country proud.

It is said that as a child she thought Olympic champions were made in heaven. They were just placed here on earth. After winning the gold medal in figure skating, she learned that Olympic champions are made here on earth. Yes, they earn their gold through hard work.

However, don't forget that we were all made to be divine. We are all special. Each one of us is a gift for the other. We don't have to earn our uniqueness; it's God given. We are all made in heaven.

Freedom

In preparing a lesson plan for Changhun, I remembered something he said previously, that I've always intended to revisit. We were discussing clothing. Changhun said he was surprised that in a free country, we have dress codes for certain jobs and schools.

Well, we're discussing "freedom," tomorrow. I wish I could explain that complying with God's Will is freedom. That it is freedom from worldly desires that is freeing. But I know Haeyeun won't tolerate much talk about God and religion. So I can't use that angle.

I plan to partner off to brainstorm ideas, to get him started. Changhun and Haeyeun can jibber jabber in Korean and English. After a bit, we'll have a round table discussion and try to define "Freedom."

It's not that easy. I googled "Freedom" and read many opinions. One thing freedom isn't, is the right to do whatever whim enters your head. This was considered by many as "License." Freedom isn't a license to do whatever. Freedom means choosing responsibly. You can't have the freedom to hurt others, never mind kill them, as the pro-abortion people propose. So how many define freedom is really "license."

After awhile, I saw that "Freedom" needed to be defined according to societal freedom, personal freedom, and freedom within. "Freedom within" is interesting. Your mind can be free inside prison. No one can get inside you. Then the opposite, you can be very free (not incarcerated) and indulging yourself in whatever selfish wish you desire, and find yourself isolated and barren.

What good is freedom, if you've made choices that have alienated those you love?
As the song "Bobby McGee" says, "Freedom's just another word, for nothing left to lose..."
And the song "Desperado" ..."And freedom, ohh freedom.
Well that's just some people talking.
Your prison is walking through this world all alone."

How will Changhun define "Freedom?'

...to be continued.

Stylin

I wish I were a fly on the wall, when my pastor gets the bill.

You see, we're a group of 10 women going to the Boston Catholic Women's Conference. Last year, we were 18 women. We also had Fr. Dave, as pastor. He took up a second collection and that paid for a bus for us. Of course, we, being only 18 ladies, couldn't fill a 40 seat bus, so we invited all the area churches to ride with us. Great public relations, no?

This year we have a new pastor, who doesn't "do" second collections. :-/

But he said he'd pay for our transportation. I feel badly for the other churches who thought they could ride along with us. But it's out of my hands. So, since the pastor said he'd pay for us 10, I priced different modes of transportation.

Forget it! Almost $800 for a bus. A van or small bus was just as ridiculous. We even called a limo...guess what? We found a very, very, helpful, savvy customer service rep. This lady explained to us why buses and vans and taxis and limos, were so expensive. It was the down time. The drivers had to wait all day for us. So she suggested that we hire two limo trips, one way each. That way, we get a ride in. The driver goes home. At the end of the day, a new limo and driver picks us up and brings us back.

This was the most cost efficient at $ 125 each way.

But imagine the look on the pastor's face when he reads...

"You ladies took a stretch limo to the Conference!!!"

;-D

Music from the Inside

You wouldn't believe it. Nobody will believe it. But I had the most wonderful experience at a concert, today. And it was inside a prison. Think Johnny Cash inside Folsom Prison. Only think of no celebrities, only prisoners. And they were great!

It was a concert to raise money for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. How could the inmates raise money? Some of them have jobs. You know like, laundry and cooking. The pay starts at $ .50 an hour and is maxed out at $ 2.00. The inmates use the money to buy personal products mostly: their own shampoo (not prison issue), things like that. So the concert was to raise funds from the inmates, not we outsiders.

I expected the result to be $ 50, at the most.

$ 3000.

WOWZA!

The auditorium was packed. They had 12 bands scheduled to perform two songs each, in two hours. They didn't make it. We only had time for ten bands. That's too bad because every single band was excellent.

We had a couple of Latino bands, rock & roll, hip hop, jazz, an Asian band, Gospel, rhythm & blues, and rap. I could actually understand some of the rap. By the end of the time, I could see why the kids like rap. It's all about the beat. I got into it too.

I can't tell you how great it was. It definitely was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. I know you won't believe me; nobody would.

Czech Mate

Don't you just love the cross on the miter? I'm a little late in posting this, but I want to express my pleasure of the Pope's appointment of the new archbishop of Prague, Dominik Duka, OP.

Dominik Duka was once imprisoned by the Communists and barred from all priestly ministry. Is that proof of faithfulness or what? Duka is 66 years old, so just right--not too young to serve too long a tenure, yet old enough to be savvy in the politics of his country, Europe, and the Vatican, and the media.

"The Prague appointment came five months after the Pope's weekend visit to the Czech Republic, during which Benedict pondered the country's turn toward secularism as Vlk took to the airwaves to berate himself for, in his mind, accomplishing little as archbishop. Beyond the religious environment, two elusive goals the cardinal passes to his successor are an agreement for the restoration of church property seized by the Communists and still in the possession of the state, and a concordat governing relations between the government and the Holy See -- an agreement which the Czech Republic is reportedly the lone European entity to lack.

Professed into the Order of Preachers a year before his 1970 ordination, Duka is but the second religious to number among this pontificate's major appointees; the other is the 59 year-old archbishop of Rio de Janiero, Cistertian Orani Tempesta, who was named to the Brazilian post last year. What's more, just weeks after the Pope devoted an entire General Audience to recalling the community's founder, (Saint Dominic) the archbishop-elect is also the second Dominican to be given a major assignment in recent months; in June, Benedict tapped his lead American protege, the Bronx-born Gus di Noia, to become an archbishop and #2 of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments -- one of the current Curia's most sensitive top slots.

While Prague, Rio and the other archdioceses noted above are traditionally headed by cardinals, such is the backlog in the college -- and Benedict's own custom -- that the new occupants will almost certainly not be elevated until after their predecessors reach their 80th birthdays, at which point the retirees lose their voting rights in a conclave.

Said to enjoy "warm ties" with both current Czech President Vaclav Klaus and his predecessor, Vaclav Havel, Duka's installation in St Vitus' Cathedral -- one of the contested properties still held by the state -- has been scheduled for 10 April."

Hat tip to Rocco Palmo for his posting on fr. Dominik Duka, O.P.