A Gift

 

Easter Monday: 5:16 PM

 Snow is disappearing. A lot of the ground is clear of it, but there are piles that still mar the landscape.

I don’t know if I will be making quote videos again.  It is nice to not be making them.

That Easter Vigil is the highlight of my return to Canada.  It was the culmination of many, many years of reading and prayer.  It is the one thing that I can realistically say went well as expected in my return.  Staring at the candles during the Vigil, there was a feeling, while focusing on its flame, that I had a glimpse of paradise. Hokey, as the previous sentence seems on rereading, I mean it.  That moment would better described with poetry…

Easter Monday: 7:05 AM

 Now what?  Saturday was such a high that it I am finding it hard to get back to business.  That is, working and dealing with my commitments.  And I got to be more charitable and giving; less about me.

Easter Sunday: 2:49 PM

 

A dull afternoon.  My son Tony wanted to get out so we walked to the Mall where he was so appalled by the prices that he didn’t want to look at anything.

After yesterday’s intense Vigil, I walked about feeling almost hung over.  

So many great moments from the Vigil that I will spend a few entries recounting them.

As I was saying, the lights were turned off in the Church at the start of the Vigil.  Everyone attending was given a candle.  From a fire set outside the church by the Priest, a candle was lit from which all the other candles were then in turn lit, producing a magnificent effect.

My taking of Communion was the culmination of a long spiritual journey.  

Writers helpful in my journey: CS Lewis, Chesterton, Simone Weil, Josef Pieper, David Warren, Evelyn Waugh, Belloc, Chateaubriand, Sea Blogger, Pope Benedict,

https://www.youtube.com/live/mRsRT1KURbY?si=YfhGo_zElpf-hzrC

Easter Sunday: 8:22 AM

 Boy. Did I sleep in this morning! Three hours past my usual wake up time.  But I had an excuse.  The Easter Vigil kept me up past midnight.

Simone Weil:  “ I must love being nothing. How horrible it would be if I were something! I must love my nothingness, love being a nothingness.”  During the Vigil, I thought how I was nothing.

Easter Vigil

The Church was darkened at the start of the Vigil.

I received my first communion 

Father John.

My sponsor Antonio Simard.

 This fellow took the photos of my first communion.

My RCIA group.  Nine of us joined the Catholic Church.  It was a magnificent evening.

Asked how I felt about it, I could only answer: everything!  I was excited, moved, ecstatic, sad, lonely, ashamed, thrilled, humbled, proud, reflective, defiant, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  Never had I felt so appreciative of Christ’s suffering on the Cross.

Poetry could better describe how I felt at the Vigil.

I had a few around of the world: in Brazil, China and Winnipeg appreciate what I have done.

Saturday 3:27 PM: Garage Door Opener Saga.

 The automatic garage door opener is now working.  I had assumed that eventually a new one was going to be purchased and installed.  One day — one evening actually — it stopped working.  This was a few weeks ago. Examining the opener and consulting Grok, I determined that it needed a new circuit board.  Given its age, maybe it was best to get a new one.  So I thought.

Rare readers may not be aware of this or had not been aware of this because I may not have mentioned this in a previous entry.

Any who.  My brother, who is in Brandon for Easter, looked at it and was able to get it working.  I greeted news of this with a sense of relief — Money was saved — and also a sense of shame: why couldn’t I have fixed it? My brother told me that he disassembled the unit and tapped the circuit board with a hammer and it was working again.

I went out to examine the opener which was working fine using the button mounted in the garage.  However, the remote wasn’t working.  I then pressed a button on the unit and that got the remote working.

So, everything is fine with the garage opener again thanks to a combination of dumb luck on the part of both brothers Kaulins.  Also, perhaps a prayer was answered…

Holy Saturday: 6:46 AM

 A beautiful morning again.

Here’s where I was yesterday afternoon:

Soon, I will talk to Beijing and Santiago.

Good Friday: 12:00 PM

 I can’t say I attended a Mass at Staug today. I suppose it was instead a service for the Lord’s Passion.   Text of the Lord’s Passion were read. 

The cross was brought out for the parishioners to do acts of adoration.  I found it moving.

For the last time, I joined in the Communion line to receive the blessing of the Priest (Who was Father Oliver today).  For as one older lady asked me: you’re going to be received into the Catholic Church tomorrow?  I said: definitely.

Good Friday: 6:26 AM

 A good start to the day. This is why I like rising very early.