An enjoyable Lord's Day

     Following a day of feeling under the weather on Saturday, yesterday was a welcome change and a day of blessings.  First of all, the day was beautiful ... perfect weather, exceptional for this time of the year.  This entire week is supposed to be in the mid 80's and sunny.  Yesterday was a promise of the week to come.
     I have been attempting to attend Sunday Eucharist in a parish setting.  We have Mass daily at the Neumann House residence, but I look forward to celebrating with a vibrant parish worshipping community.  Yesterday I attended the 10:30 am Mass at Our Lady of Grace parish in Greensburg.  Father Dan Blout is the pastor, and the celebrant at the Mass was Father Ryan Ravis, one of our younger priests.  With the gracious okay of Father Ryan, I concelebrated the liturgy.  The parish has a transitional deacon from Saint Vincent Seminary assigned to them, and he assisted and preached.  He is Deacon Brother Martinho Zevallos, O.S.B., a native of Peru who is a member of the Priory of Sao Bento in Vinhedo, Brazil, finishing his studies at Saint Vincent.  He is an excellent preacher, and following ordination will serve the Church well as a priest.  With Father Ryan's prayerful leadership and Deacon Martinho's fine preaching, and the excellent singing and generous welcome by the community, I was uplifted.
     I returned for lunch and a bit of tv in the afternoon, before concelebrating Mass with Bishop Malesic and a number of our priests at the annual gathering of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society of the Diocese of Greensburg.   The Mass was followed by a great dinner that expressed the gratitude of service provided by the Vincentians of the Diocese.
     My evening involved a unique fundraising experience at Saint Vincent College for one of its exhibits.  It was the first of five "Historical Dinner Theater Presentations" at the Fred Rogers Center on campus.  About fifty people enjoyed a delicious dinner followed by a presentation by a master storyteller named Jonathan Kruk.  Mr. Kruk, in period dress and character, tells stories of Hudson River Lore.  He is the author of "Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow and the Hudson Valley", and has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning News.  He has a web site at www.jonathankruk.com.  He shared with us the story and legend of Rip van Winkle - truly delightful.  All in all, a perfect capping of an enjoyable Lord's Day.