Here is the link to a couple of videos I have made for the retreat center. The first is a mashup of the Missionary Sisters saying thank you to Noreen, our director, and the rest of the Cabrini staff after they stayed a week for their annual retreat. The second is a slideshow I made, mostly of pictures of the CMC missioners, for the volunteer fairs we are going to be going to next week. I like the slideshow better, even though when I converted it to youtube it got a little messed up. Monday we'll be in DePaul, Tuesday we're going to Marquette and Wednesday to St. Mary's and the University of Notre Dame. I'm gonna take MAD pictures of touchdown Jesus. Ha ha! I can't wait to check out that library. And I've never been to Wisconsin or Indiana, so I'm super excited, as always. :D Enjoy!
During orientation we were supposed to have a talent show on the last night, but it got canceled because we high-tailed it off of Staten Island before Irene hit. However, our director did manage to capture this video of us practicing. It's in its early stages- we don't know all the steps, and we don't know all the words. The line we fumble over most is, "Sing now of David's Son, our neighbor and brother. In all of Galilee was never another."
...and it was inspired by Stephen Colbert's rendition, which was 100x's more fabulous. And you should DEFINITELY watch. It's hysterical. It reminds me of John Cleese's (or Basil Fawlty's) "funny walk." lol.
Labor Day was my one week anniversary here in Chicagoland! The holiday weekend started off with Colleen and I on a perpetual high, as we were excited and busy hosting our first group of retreatants!
The retreat was for a young adult group from Nuestra Senora Del Monte,
"Our Lady of the Mount," which consisted mainly of kids born in Mexico or first generation Mexican-Americans. So far it seems that when
groups come in and take there meals here, it basically means that I will
be stuck in the cafeteria, kitchen, or dish room all day. It takes about 2 hours to clean up after a meal, and by the time we're done cleaning up it's already time to start preparing for the next one. I enjoy it, though- time in the kitchens means time hanging out and talking to LC and Dirk, our two cooks. They're Chicago born and raised and between them they have so many quirks and funny stories that I'm kept thouroughly entertained. Dirk also likes playing blues and jazz music in the kitchen. He DJ's while I dance. Or, you know, "dance." Right now he's trying to teach me the difference between "real jazz" and "commercial jazz." It's a good time.
When I'm not in the kitchen or dish room, I like to be a wallflower at meal times and listen in on the
conversations of the retreatants. This time 'round that was particularly
difficult, as they were all speaking Spanish, but I enjoyed trying to figure out what they were saying. Also, I trust that in time the Rosetta Stone will work its magic on me and make such things a lot easier.
My first group of retreatants! A Hispanic community of young adults from Our Lady of the Mount.
As it turns out, most of my
hospitality ministry will be done in the cafeteria during meal times. After dinner on the second night, Father A and two seminarians, Martin and Luis, sat down
with me, Colleen (my fellow missioner and roommate), and Noreen (my director) and began talking to us about the kids,
their church, their enthusiasm for working with young adults, and some
tentative plans they have for their parishes. We had a casual conversation about the idiosyncrasies of language and our favorite places to travel before moving onto more interesting topics. Luis and Martin shared some of their experiences in the seminary and Luis moaned about how in Rome all they taught was, "Thomas Aquinas this and Thomas Aquinas that, and Summa this and Summa that!" I could certainly understand his frustrations, especially if scholastic theology wasn't particularly his thing, but I couldn't help but imagine how awesome it would be to take a class on Aquinas in ROMA!
One part of the conversation between
Colleen, Luis and I has me very excited. I started to describe the desire to be a member of a small, intimate, and intentional Church community that led me to the Cabrini Mission Corps and the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Luis responded, "Could you say that again?" At first I thought I had been speaking too fast for him, but he said that he, too, felt that love and intimacy were missing from the Church and that people just don't understand and don't see how Christ works in us. Huh. Aren't we all a little lacking in that department?
He said he's trying to get a project off the ground in which small groups of 6 or 7 people come together regularly to share their thoughts and feelings about where and how they experience God in their lives. Colleen and I volunteered to be guinea pigs. Unfortunately, it takes about 2 hours to get to Our Lady of the Mount from here, but Colleen and I are hoping to go at least twice a month for the 6pm Spanish mass! :D I have a feeling that that Church will be one of my favorites, but Old St. Pat's is competing for our love and attention as well...
Colleen really wants to get involved at a church that has a lot of energy and a lot of young people. Old Saint Pat's is located in the heart of Chicago and consists almost entirely of young adults. They have camping trips, a choir, trips to the Arizona/Mexican border to realize immigration issues, weekly yoga meditations, women's groups.. you name it, they've got it. The Church itself isn't quite my style. I like old, dark, gothic churches that have seen a lot of ware, and this place is the exact opposite. It's ... well... SUPER Irish and the stained glass windows were PASTEL colored. Think Easter. I didn't take pictures of any on the ground level because I didn't like them. Sorry.
Statue of Mother Cabrini inside St. Pat's.
The view from the balcony.
This is a small part of one of the stained glass windows that I liked. The rest were too pastel-y for me.
Old St. Pat above the altar there, with Mary and baby Jesus on the left and St. Joseph on the right.
Aside from the fact that I don't actually like the Church building too much, the music was excellent and the homily was even better. Colleen and I think we'll try to get involved here as well as at Our Lady of the Mount, but ... ah! We have our local parish that we haven't actually been to yet, either. Ahh!!!
After the 5 pm mass at Old St. Pat's we walked through Millennium Park lookin' for some jazz music, as the annual Chicago Jazz fest was taking place all weekend and we had to miss the first 2 days because of the retreat. Walking through Millennium Park, we encountered these popular works of Chicago art, some innovative architectural pieces, and a beautiful sunset.
When their mouths turn into an "o," water shoots out of it and the kids come runnin'. I couldn't believe they did, though- it was cold!
The Art Institute of Chicago
"American Fare, Irish Hopsitality"-- What?!
The view of the city from Grant park.
And this is for all my friends in Baltimore who never went to a jazz bar with me. I present Roy Hargrove, winner of two Grammy's ... not sure who the second dude is. According to Walter, this isn't "real jazz," it's commercial jazz. But I don't think he knows what he's talking about. It was the last act of the night. Enjoy!
All these wonderful events led up to Labor Day. Colleen and I got up early, prepared some food-offerings, and headed next door to Sr. Bridget's house for a BBQ. Noreen warned me that Sr. Bridget has a habit of planning BBQ's only to discover the morning of that she does not, in fact, own a grill. Colleen and I made some polite inquiries, ".. so... you definitely have a grill, right sister? Do you need coal or gas or anything?" Walter ended up coming to our rescue and took over grill responsibilities.
Meanwhile, the sisters had Colleen and I rolling in the grass we were laughing so hard- they wanted to pick themselves some peaches from Bridget's peach tree, but couldn't reach so they started smacking the branches with a stick. One would hit the limbs of the tree while another would stand beneath them with a shallow box, hoping to catch one before it hit the ground and split open. On the off chance that one did land in the box, it would just pop right back out and onto the cement driveway because it wasn't deep enough. Colleen and I watched them go at it for a while before I climbed the tree and retrieved the nearest peaches for them.
Sr. Bridget also has a little garden with tomatoes and peppers, among other things. She picked a few peppers for Sr. Alfonsina, who then went to put them in the plastic bag also containing Sr. Benigna's peaches and Benigna cried out, "Not with my PEACHES!!!"
Sr. Joaquina is funny too. And she gives god hugs. Sr. Bridget tried to pawn off a dozen cans of beer on Colleen and I when we first got here. We said, "Sorry, we don't really like beer," so she went and brought us something "refreshing"- carrot juice. Collen and I drank some. Yup. JUST like carrots. .... delicious.
Anyway, Bridget was happy that Joaquina turned up- she does enjoy the occasional brewsky. At the end of the day, Colleen went to take the leftover drinks away and Joaquina exclaimed, "Don't take away my beer!"
The last time we went over to Sr. Bridget's she pulled out another "refreshing" alternative- rice milk. Yup. You guessed it. Tastes JUST like rice. I told her I think she's trying to poison us. She appreciated the joke.
Walter comin' to the rescue at the grill-front!
Sr. Benigna whackin' away and Sr. Joaquina on pick up.
Sr. Bridget takes her turn while Sr. Joaquina gets fancy with the box as a catching instrument.
I decided to help out.
Sr. Benigna, Joaquina, and Walter.
Srs. Benigna, Joaquina, Alfonsina, Bridget, and Joan Marie. Oh- and me, too.
Me, Sr. Alfonsina, and Sr. Joan Marie makin' a bee line for the chips.
I had the presence of mind this time to add the Feta.
Oh America. Pink Lemonade, BBQ sauce, mustard, ketchup, and relish.
Colleen and Dirk
Colleen and Sr. Benigna.
I had an awesome holiday weekend and was so happy to finally meet all but one of the sisters in Chicagoland- Sr. Joan McGlinchy is currently in Rome. They are so sweet and adorable I can't wait to get to know them better. And their accents and the phrases they use leave me and Colleen in stitches.
Next on the agenda is to visit the sisters where they live. And my cousin too, still. All day Saturday we're going to be at a workshop with representatives from the Arch Diocese of Chicago on how to minister to young people who are 1st and 2nd generation immigrants. Then Sister Joan Marie wants us to go to a free opera performance with her Saturday night and we've got a "Meet the Missioners" mass and reception on September 11th, so ... we've got a lot to do! And the Loyola Academy kids will be keeping me busy this week here at the Retreat Center.
Oh, an I'm going to NOTRE DAME and DePAUL to represent CMC at volunteer fairs at the end of this month! I wonder if Dr. Pecknold remembers who I am. ? I guess I'll find out soon.
Love,
Gina
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Suggestions? Violent displays of emotion? Leave it.
I just wanted to write a quick apology for those of you who are getting notifications that say I've added a new post when I haven't. I'm still trying to figure out how to work Blogger. Apparently the "enter" button publishes whatever draft you're working on. I'm gonna figure it out soon! I have 3 different entries I'm in the middle of and I hope to publish at least one of them soon. Sorry again!
You turn off of Golf Road onto our driveway, and these are the first things you see.
The entrance from Golf Road.
Front lawn.
Front entrance.
The retreat center is shaped like an "L." When you walk in the front doors, the quests floors (3 floors, 72 single rooms in total), cafeteria, chapel, lounges, and rec/meeting room are to the left.
So to the left is:
Statue of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
One of three lounges for the guests.
The cafeteria!
My favorite room- the Kitchen! This is LC and Dirk's territory, but I hope to spend a lot of time in this room. So far so good! :D
Colleen and I admiring the facilities.
Our first pizza made from scratch in our reliable ol' oven...
It cooks better than it looks.
And THIS is my absolute favorite room- our giant walk in freezer! It's not my favorite just because it's where the Italian ices live, but because when you close the door a long, loud whirling noise escapes that makes you feel like you're walking through an arctic wind. It cracks me up every time. Noreen says I'm easily amused.
The Main Hallway:
Main hallway
If you go right, you have a couple of our offices, a personal kitchen, and the "fireside suite" which is rented out to the guests and doubles as my living room and dining room. Up the stairs from the fireside suite is where Colleen and I live. The fireside suite, the kitchen, my office, and the bedrooms upstairs were all apart of the original convent. Colleen put a welcome sign on the stairs for us so that we feel like we have a front door. Lol.
The Fireside Suite/My Living Room:
My apartment:
The stair landing. Welcome to our home!
The yellow carpet seems a bit much at first, but I have already grown quite fond of it.
My bedroom:
The closet is huge!
The view from my window to the right.
The view from my window to the left.
the hallway from my bedroom door, which leads to the bathroom, a few closets, the living room and prayer room.
Colleen in the living room. :D
The prayer room.
We are trying to learn Spanish, so Colleen has started labeling things.
Our CAR! ... for official business only, unless I'm fillin' the tank m'self.
Outside there is a fountain, a little gazebo, a bunch of secluded benches, stations of the cross nailed up on trees in a great circle (the sun was glaring so I am not going to put pics of them up now, but I'll get to it). The Cabrini Retreat Center LOVES statues, too. They're everywhere. When I'm feeling mischievous I think I'll move some of them around and hide them in places Noreen and Colleen wont expect to find them. Mwah ha ha..
St. Anthony
St. Joseph and baby Jesus
Mary's Shrine.
View from where Mary is, inside the shrine.
Pear tree!!! We also have peach trees. :D They're delicious.
The pool: We have a heated pool. Colleen and I have made a pact to go swimming every day. And she's gonna teach me water aerobics!
Colleen doin' some laps.
The only other things I haven't got pics of yet are the chapel and of Sr. Bridget's house, which is also on the grounds. But I'll get to them soon!
This weekend is going to be very busy for us. There's a new group of young adults coming in who pretty much only speak Spanish, so this is going to be a test for Colleen and I to see how much Spanish we can remember. Unfortunately, every sentence I make in my head is half Spanish and at least half French. ... but practice will make perfectly. Chrissy, one of our staff members, speaks Spanish fluently so she will be here tonight to help us with check in but for the rest of the weekend we're on our own! I'm pretty excited about it.
We've been up to quite a lot, mostly of an exploratory nature.Colleen and tried to get library cards at two different libraries but were rejected because we don't have a utility bill with our names on it. :'(. We went shopping for our uniform polos, went out to eat with the staff member, assembled my bike which came in the mail yesterday, moved a bunch of furniture around and we hosted "Taco Wednesday" for the Loyola students. Noreen had assigned Colleen and I a parish and a school to look after. I don't know what parish I have yet, but she decided that because I'm a Loyola grad I can take Loyola High School, which is the group of kids that comes most often to the Retreat Center. They've been coming for over 40 years and think they run the place, Noreen says. Ha ha. Typical, typical. Anyway, I'm excited to be working with their campus ministry department and just got awesome news from Gina Scarpello, the CMC Director- at the end of September Colleen and I will be going to represent the CMC at the University of Notre Dame AND DePaul! This means I am going to South Bend! I think I'll try to stop in and visit Dr. Pecknold! :D
Ah.. and that isn't even the half of it.
Colleen and I plan to join an adult group at Old St. Pat's in Chicago and we hope to go visit the other sisters in the area someday soon. We've met Sr. Bridget and Sr. Alfonsina, but we have still yet to meet Srs. Benigna, Joaquina, Joan McGlinchey and Joan Marie. Sr. Alfonsina and Benigna live in the Guadalupe Community of southwest Chicago and work at St. Anthony's Hospital and the other sisters live in Our Lady of Grace Community in north Chicago in Lincoln Park (a BEAUTIFUL area). I know a little less about them, but I believe they work at St. Joseph's hospital and work in immigration offices.
Also, turns out I have a long lost cousin who lives right across from Loyola University Chicago, not too far from Our Lady Peace community, so I hope to meet up with him and ... lots of catch up. I haven't seen him since I was 4.
