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Everything Else,

Back again

I arrived home late yesterday.

The drive home was miserable from a weather perspective. It was made better by my iPod and good thoughts.

The funeral went as expected. I appreciate the generosity of the Rev. Robert Wardenski of Immaculate Conception R.C. Church in East Aurora, NY who allowed me to sit in the sanctuary for the funeral liturgy. My cousin’s family appreciated me being there and participating in that way.

My cousin’s friend Eleanor did indeed pass while still at the funeral home. I was blessed to be with her to pray and give her a blessing in her last moments. Her husband subsequently asked me if I gave her last rites. I was factually honest with him and told him that as a deacon I could not do that, but that I did what was in my authority. He was comforted by this.

Regarding Immaculate Conception R.C. Church, the most interesting thing I observed was – prominently displayed in the sacristy and apparently ready for use, an Altar card containing the Canon in Latin, pre-Vatican II.

Everything Else,

Be prepared

Besides the normal sadness at wakes, and the normal greeting of people, family members who are only seen at such events, an unexpected tragedy occurred at my cousin’s wake today. A woman who stood up for my cousins at their wedding passed out, and may have died.

The funeral director handled everything pretty well. The police and paramedics were there within 5 minutes. Everyone was moved to another room. While we waited for the emergency crew, I stayed with the woman, her husband, and another of the mourners who was a retired nurse practioner. I held her hand, prayed for her, and blessed her. Once the paramedics arrived I went into the next room and led family and friends in prayer for this woman, Eleanor.

Eleanor’s husband then asked that I go back and stay with her. Things did not look good. It was tragedy upon tragedy for my cousin’s family. Please keep them and Eleanor’s family in your prayers.

Everything Else, ,

Will be away

One of my cousins passed away yesterday and I’ll be going out to Buffalo for couple of days for the wake and funeral.

I’m going to take the laptop with me, but don’t know what connectivity will be like. I expect blogging will be lite.

Please say a prayer for the repose of my cousin Joan and for her husband, children, grandchildren, family and friends.

Krzyz.gif

Eternal rest grant unto her O Lord and may the perpetual light shine upon her.
May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.

Wieczne odpoczynek racz jej dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj jej świeci.
Niech odpoczywają w pokoju. Amen

Everything Else,

Apple does it again

I’m a pig when it comes to acquiring new technology. The new Apple iPhone looks phenomenal and I want one. It’s thin, does the work of my iPod nano, phone, and Palm and all managed through the ITunes interface… and takes care of the problems people typically experience in using such devices. Intelligent design. Nice!

The AppleTV box looks nice as well.

Current Events, Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia,

Priorities, priorities

A person’s priorities are often defined by the sort of upbringing they receive – not an absolute truth, for people can reject anything – but a general truth derived from the nature (God given) and nurture we receive.

The following article from The Warsaw Voice: What Poles Prize Most illustrates the power of a culture where faith, and its integration into the culture, leads to family being a priority.

Family happiness is prized above everything else by Poles, a new survey has found. Work is the second most important value, according to the study by the CBOS polling center. Nearly 75 percent of respondents said family happiness was the most important for them. Work comes second (50 percent of those polled). Other issues Poles find important include good health (49 percent); peace and quiet (48 percent); honesty in life (47 percent) and respect from other people (43 percent). These are followed by having a circle of friends, religious faith, national prosperity, education, wealth and freedom of speech. Last on the list are success and fame.

Professional work is most often included as one of the five most important issues by people running their own business (83 percent), young people (70 percent of those aged 25-35) and people with a college education (62 percent).

Nearly all respondents (92 percent) agree that work lends meaning to life, that it is worth being a hardworking person and that any job should be performed with commitment, regardless of its importance. Almost 90 percent say that hard work is a necessary condition for success in life. Eighty-four percent believe that working is a moral obligation toward oneself and other people; 80 percent say that good work brings reward or success.

Nearly half of those surveyed (46 percent) say that satisfaction from work is not necessary, while “material benefits” are the most
important. Some 66 percent say that the primary goal of work is to earn money. Interestingly, 55 percent of respondents say that one cannot become rich from honest work.

The poll was conducted in early November on a representative sample of 979 adults.

I believe that the same can be said for immigrant communities in the diaspora. The people I grew up with, or their parents, who were second generation, still held the same values. I remember the good Felician Sisters saying God, family, country. It stuck. Would that it were so for the world.

Holy Family of Nazareth hear our prayer.

Current Events, ,

Life imitating art

From Dean at Deanish: Monty Python Becomes Real

I was just checking on the news this morning and I catch the following headline: —Llamas Enlisted to Thwart Biological Weapons—. Is it just me, or is that more than slightly reminiscent of a wonderful line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail in which King Arthur asks, —Explain again how you may employ a sheep’s bladder in the prevention of earthquakes?—

Check out his entire post – and a related screen cap from Monty.

I also like his site design (Word Press of course). It’s very clean and easy to read. Dean features lots of posts and information about Nintendo. I’ll be checking his site out more fully after I get my hands on a Wii (and yes, I’m waiting till after Christmas).

Christian Witness, Perspective,

Signpost – the desert experience

desert ahead

In the spiritual life, the desert experience is a time of preparation, a time where the Spirit works within us, tearing out the old man and building up the new.

During those times of darkness and abandonment in our lives, especially when we get the sense that we have been abandoned by God, our prayers become just words and time spent in contemplation seems to be an empty torture. Sometimes it seems quite difficult to stick with God.

I often reflect on the times I felt this way. When I saw the sign on Huw’s site it was the first thing that came to mind. I offer up my prayers this evening for all who are experiencing this time of darkness.

If you want to make a custom sign thingy – check out Custom Road Sign.

Everything Else, ,

Thanksgiving menu and happenings

I started last night with the prep for my famous stuffing. The recipe for those interested:

Need:

  • 1 bag plan breadcrumbs (do NOT get anything with flavorings, spices, etc. – buy them from your local bakery – I get mine from Freihofer’s)
  • 1 1/2 Tb sage
  • 1 3/4 cup golden raisins (or other dried fruits – this year I used a mixture of golden raisins, dried cherries, and dried cranberries)
  • 5 crisp stalks celery
  • 1 large onion – sweet onion preferred
  • 1 package regular pork sausage (Jimmy Dean works fine, don’t get the hot or sausage with other flavors)
  • 1 1/2 quarts chicken broth
  • 1 stick butter (1/4 lb)

Procedure (one day prior):

Empty the breadcrumbs into a LARGE bowl – and I mean big, you’ll need it.
Bring the chicken broth to a boil and reduce heat to low. Leave it on while you prepare the rest.
Chop up the raw sausage as much as possible and fry. As the sausage fries continue to chop at it with a non-metal spatula. By the end you should have a finely crumbled, nicely browned bunch of sausage. Throw it on top of the breadcrumbs and mix.
Return your frying pan to the heat and melt the butter. Finely chop the celery and onions and mix together. Fry them in the butter until they are translucent. Once cooked, throw them on top of the bread crumbs and sausage and mix.
Thrown in the sage and the dried fruit.
Blend everything together.
Pour the broth over the mixture. Pour slowly and cover the mixture. Stop and stir everything together every so often.
Refrigerate overnight to let the flavors blend.

Bake apart from the turkey in a casserole (400 degrees for about 1/2 hour, till hot through).

Experiment with your own spices and other such things. Good luck.

Our family began arriving at about noon. Everyone pitched in with the prep and the clean-up (for which I am very grateful) and we ate at 2:15.

Today’s menu consisted of turkey, white and sweet mashed potatoes, rutabaga, corn, rolls, apple sauce, zucchini bread, jambalaya (with andouille sausage and shrimp), the stuffing noted above, gravy, cranberries (jellied and whole).

I served a Valpolicella Classico Superiore – Danese before dinner and a Moscato d’Asti – Saracco with dinner.

All-in-all a successful repast.

Everything Else, ,

Time for beer and wine

I’ve been drinking selections from the Samuel Adams seasonal collection recently – Winter Lager, Old Fezziwig Ale, Cranberry Lambic, and Holiday Porter. I enjoyed them all except the Cranberry Lambic – too many high notes – it was harsh.

I just picked up a case of Leinenkugel’s Holiday collection made by the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. It’s new in the area and after trying it I adjudge it a welcome addition. Even the bottle styling is traditional. Reminds me of Buffalo’s favorite – Iroquois (careful of the pop-ups). I’ve tasted them all – Honey Weiss (a non-cloudy wheat honey beer), Red, Creamy Dark, and Sunset Wheat (a traditional wheat with orange overtones – very refreshing).

I’ll be opening the wine tomorrow morning after I get the bird in the oven. I’ll be starting with an Armenian Pomegranate wine – very nice, but takes some getting used to. I have a nice Sauterne (not Sauternes) which my mom used to mix with Squirt. A pretty good combo, I’ll give it a go tomorrow in memory of mom.

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