Translate

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

IT'S THE CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL IN MACON, GEORGIA AND I AM NOSTALGIC FOR THE GOOD OLE DAYS!

The Cherry Blossom Festival brought thousands of visitors to Macon each year. Sometimes the cherry blossoms cooperated and were in full bloom but at other times not so much. I hear that this year the Cherry Blossoms have cooperated spectacularly!

St. Joseph Church in Macon has a wonderful team of tour guides to welcome the thousands that came through to see our splendid Cathedral, I mean, Church. 

Here are some photos of the way we were:

 Katelyn Heck (whose wedding I officiated; her husband was in our RCIA class prior to the wedding and thus a Catholic the time of it!) WMAZ 13 News Anchor and Fr. Godfred, Parochial Vicar. It rained that Cherry Blossom Festival Parade Sunday and Fr. Godfred and I were to ride with Katelyn as our Chauffeur. Sadly, we couldn't ride in the open air with the top down. But it was fun nonetheless. Katelyn gave me a gift of a crystal candy bowel with a top with a cross on top. It was so nice that now I use it at St. Anne Church as the ablutions bowl next to the tabernacle. It is just perfect!

The other priest depicted is former parochial vicar Fr. Dawid Kwiatkowski!





 Now retired US Senator Saxby Chambliss speaking after Holy Communion, a really, really nice prince of a man!

Above in the passenger's seat is a convert of mine, Nate Swan, now a third year theologian at Mt. St. Mary's and to be ordained a transitional deacon in May. Not pictured are two other converts of mine who are now seminarians at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, Lewis King and Michael Downey!






Deacon Donald Coates:







Cherry Blossom Tree by rectory back door:


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Now retired US Senator Saxby Chambliss speaking after Holy Communion, a really, really nice prince of a man!"

Not in everyone's view.

When US Senator, Chambliss injected himself into the Congressional hearings on the deadly explosions at the Dixie Crystal Sugar Refinery in an attempt to discredit Graham Graham, a former Imperial Sugar executive, who testified that Imperial had resisted efforts to make the Dixie Crystal plant safer.

Imperial was ultimately fined $8,77,500, the third largest fined OSHA every imposed. "The investigation also determined that officials at the company were well aware of these conditions, but they took no action reasonably directed at reducing the obvious hazards."

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

Be that as it may, God still loves him unconditionally, no? And isn't that what makes him a prince of a man?

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

Certainly, as an alleged priest-blogger, I can't get into the politics of things or the Catholic side of stuff.

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

only the Catholic side of stuff.

Anonymous said...

"Be that as it may, God still loves him unconditionally, no?"

Yes, but that's not germane.

"And isn't that what makes him a prince of a man?"

No, it is not. "In the popular imagination, usually associated with a medieval context, a prince is someone who embodies all virtues." A virtuous person does not defend corporations who are guilty of gross negligence.

Gene said...

Exactly how do you clean a "crystal candy bowel?"

Carol H. said...

ROFL, Gene!

Anonymous 2 said...

Very carefully.

Matthew LaHood said...

We had quite the all star line up of priests at that time!