SAINTS

The Saints
On the last Sunday of October, at the end of liturgy everyone started singing, When the Saints Go Marching In. For about a second and a half I thought it had to do with a fast approaching holy day, then I realized that the parishioners could not possibly be that excited about All Saints Day!

This city truly loves their football team.

Last week, I received a phone call from one of the Marianites while I was at work. She invited me to go with her and another sister to a Saints game. I did tell her that if anyone is really really into it, that she could give that person the ticket instead, because although I think it would be fun, and I would enjoy it, I am not a big fan of the game and recognize that others are likely to want it a lot more than I do. She said someone else could go another time, and I that should go since I have never been to a professional football game.

Apparently, every time there is a home game on a Sunday, the owner of the team has a priest come to preside over mass prior to the game in a private suite located in the Superdome. The sister who invited me, knows the owner, so we attended mass, where we were also given passes which allowed us to go onto the field just before the game started, while many of the players were warming up. The whole experience seemed somewhat surreal. It was really exciting to be there. The marching band which played before the game and at half time was also very impressive. Caught up in the excitement of the game, I enthusiastically cheered for the Saints (although not quite as enthusiastically as some others.) They lost, but I had a great time anyway. The Sister who had invited me, said it was embarrassing to bring a visitor to a game when they did so poorly. I could not possibly have had more fun even if they had won.
(This is a not so great picture is of the very impressive marching band.)


Saint Jude's
This past week I spent a lot of time at St. Jude's. St. Jude Community Center, which is across from the parish church we typically attend, became a shelter after Katrina because there was such a need for emergency shelter. The second floor is home to about 17 women at any given time; I began doing some case management/counseling with some of the residents this week. The first floor is a large multipurpose room, which now serve as a "freeze night" shelter, which means when the temperature is predicted to drop below 38 degrees people who reside on the street can come in at night and stay until morning. There are a few other shelters in the city which will also open extra space on those cold nights, however most of them do not have sufficient staff to be able to accommodate the extra people. Everyone in my department at Unity, was asked to stay at one such shelter so that they could open on freeze nights. On Monday and Tuesday, it got cold (especially for New Orleans.) A coworker and I stayed at St. Jude along with (13 on Monday, 20 on Tuesday) people experiencing homelessness. On Thanksgiving day, I was back at St. Jude, this time at noon, to assist with serving a meal.

Being at St. Jude has given me an opportunity to hear people's stories, to sit with them, to learn from them, and has left me feeling enriched. Early one morning after a freeze night, I said Good morning to an older gentlemen who has been homeless for many years; he smiled a big bright smile even though he has fewer than half of his teeth, and said to me, "aren't we are so blessed to be alive for another day!"

Thanksgiving day
After serving the meal at St. Jude, I went with two other sisters to the home of a Baptist Minister who lives in our neighborhood, for another Thanksgiving meal. He had met some of the sisters at a Katrina Memorial and told his grown children about them and they suggested that he invite the sisters to his house for Thanksgiving. He is the pastor of a small racial and ethically diverse congregation. He has several children and many grandchildren all those we met were kind and hospitable. It was truly a delightful experience.

When I arrived back at the convent I made phone calls until it was too late to call people. If you are among the community members, close family and good friends and I did not get a chance to speak with you, know that you were in my thoughts and prayers anyway. I enjoyed hearing from so many of you. I missed being with family and/or my community, but had a strong feeling that I am where I need to be at this moment, which has eased my mild homesickness.