July 8

The week before last, we had a group of 30 volunteers who came to us from Chickentown, PA (I kid not). The group was really lovely and worked very hard for four days. They were able to help out five different families in total, two of whom live next door to the sisters. They did everything from patching a roof, to painting, to cleaning and weeding gardens, fixing a fence and just spending time with the people they were serving. Unfortunately, one of the men whose home they helped to tidy up (he has only one leg and so is in a wheelchair and cannot clean up well himself), fell out of bed just last week and had his house robbed while in the hospital and so much of the volunteers' work was undone. In the evenings, we would eat with the volunteers and I was put in charge of evening programming for them, which included poverty awareness activities and prayerful reflection on their week. On Tuesday of that week we had Mass as usual, and something possessed me to help out by singing. For those of you who have attended Mass with me, you will understand why this is unusual. Luckily Aaron, the seminarian who has been living at the rectory with Father Jerry for the past year, had chosen all songs with which I was very familiar, and the result was, I think, not a complete disaster.

Also during the week while the volunteers were here, I was able to volunteer with the local 4-H club at the "Livestock Club." This meant that I got to help wash and shear a lamb, a very new experience for me. We also were able to spend a lot of time with a woman who was visiting for that week and also last week from Cincinnati with her son. A friend of one of our parishioners (who was on vacation with her family), the woman is in a very abusive relationship and is trying to find the courage to move down to Kentucky. We were also able to foster a friendship between two boys whose house the volunteers were working on and the woman's son. In doing so, I found myself sprayed many times with water guns, being thrown into a pool and riding through the mountain on the back of a four-wheeler driven by a thirteen year old. All terrifying experiences.

Since the volunteers left, we have been able to focus on our Bible/Catechism class for the three young Catholic boys nearby. Each class, the boys get more attentive. We also had the opportunity to visit Omer, a 94 year old man who was born in the house (built by his grandfather!) that he lives in today. Omer's memory is excellent and he is full of stories about his life in Menifee county.

We of course also celebrated the fourth of July. There was a music concert and fireworks just down the street, which Sr. Kathy and I attended with Cory, Cody (two of the boys from the class), and their mother Barb. I had attempted to purchase a coupel of sparklers, but found it impossible to buy less than twelve boxes! Since I had so many, I was able to hand them out to many of the children at the celebration, who lit them off all at once and created huge clouds of smoke because of the rainy weather. While lying in the grass watching the fireworks display with Cody, he turned to me and said, "Hey Caity? Do you know that you are my sister in Christ?" This was a nice moment, since Cody can sometimes be a bit wild. It is nice to know that at least some of the religious teaching he is getting (at Church, in our class, and also from the Bible Camp he had been at for a few days) is sinking in.

Finally, last Sunday Aaron (the seminarian) and I drove to Lexington to attend the Traditional Latin Mass. Afterwards, Aaron said, "Well, I understand why they had to put the fear of Hell into people because otherwise there is no way they would ever stay in Church!" Nevertheless, he said he learned a lot, and it was good for both of us to spend some time in the company of somebody else our own age.

On Thursday, my father will be driving through on his way to Missouri and will come visit us, and on Friday Steven will come to visit for a few days. Next week, I will go to Asheville NC and then return to DC for a few days before heading down to visit the families I served last summer in Morgan County.