Community Sunday – Part Two

Dedication Ceremony

It’s amazing how things will fall into place if one just let go.

My worries and anxieties of how the day will evolve were all for nothing.  It’s not that everything turned out just the way it should, but it played out much better than I could imagine.  Case in point:  I anticipated a few people to be at our Celebration Mass, and a small Blessing from Father Bob.  We ended up with two full pews of friends, including two rarely-out-of-the-convent Missionaries of Charities sisters!  Way more than what I ever hoped for.  And to top it off, Father Bob expressed his faith and support in our community by giving a memorable Blessing, calling us Father & Mother of our fledging community — titles that hits home the moment that he said it.  We are now the “Spiritual Parents” of these young girls.  Oh, God help us!

I should also note that this community would never have materialized if not for the strong support that we received from Sister Teresa, Lovers of the Holy Cross Religious order.  Sister Teresa believed in us even when we did not believe in ourselves  Truly a woman after Christ’s Sacred Heart.  We are blessed to have her as co-Founder of our community.

Pray for us, St. Augustine!

Community Sunday – Part One

Sunday, August 24, 2008.  Loni woke up at 6 a.m. Unusual for any day, especially more so for a Sunday. But this wasn’t just any Sunday. This was to be our community opening day. Personally, I felt so inadequately prepared, not only for the day, but for the whole community. Loni had worked late into the night, trying to solidify the talk for this first Sunday. I thought to myself “It got to be either stress or the Holy Spirit that got her up at this ‘unGodly’ hour.” I hoped it to be the latter, as I really don’t want to wake up to a stressed out wife. And with that hope, I prayed silently for the Holy Spirit to take over as I dragged myself out of bed, thinking hazily about the day to come.

The house was quiet, since the girls haven’t came back from their Saturday “Community Breaktime”.  I took the opportunity to survey the house, walking from room to room, taking mental notes of various items needing refilled or cleaned.  It’s strange, even though we opened our house to the community only for a couple of weeks, I felt a certain sense of longing.  Loni and I thought and said it almost at the same time after Saturday morning mass:  “Empty Nest”.  We both laughed at the thought at the time, but now, I felt the meaning.

Opening Sunday

Our community is set to begin the year long Christ centered journey. On Sunday August 24th, 2008, we will officially begin with Noon Holy Mass at St. Anne in Seal Beach. Lunch will then be served at the House. Afterward, we will begin the first session: “Getting to know You, and Your Spiritual Life”.

Please pray for us and our community as we begin this Journey to Christ.

Catholic Community Orientation

Loni delivered an orientation talk on our lay Catholic community. Here is the video of the talk given Wednesday July 30, 2008.