P.RIEKE, EVELYN,RIP, CHURCH UNITY, LAURENCE..

21 JANUARY 2012 P.RIEKE, EVELYN,RIP, CHURCH UNITY, LAURENCE.
A visit from P. Rieke, Germany, that had been postponed before Christmas, began on Monday, when Srs. Mirjam and Amira met him at the airport and drove him here. He was amazed to see Korce under a thick blanket of snow and very slippery everywhere! Later, Lalini and I walked with him to his hotel and I ventured down to walk with him here on Tuesday morning. His brief visit was really worthwhile.

Midweek, the sudden but not unexpected death, of Sister Evelyn Fitzsimons,CGS.RIP, came as a shock. We were good friends and I grieve for her. Some consoling lines, sent by Sister Brigid Lawlor a few days earlier, were really a source of support in this new moment of sorrow.

When chatting about Church Unity Week and regretting we do not mark it publicly here in Korce, Lalini suggested that we invite a few friends for a brief service. So, today right in the middle of the 18-25 special week, we did so. We invited fourteen that included Orthodox, Muslim, and Evangelical Protestant, as well as Catholic, We then shared an "Our Father" and sang the Taize - "Ubi Caritas" or, I should say the "Ku ka Dashuri" as it is in Shqip. Short but meaningful. Then we shared a coffee and, as we finished, we had a tiny farewell for Maltese Laurence. He returns to Malta next Saturday, after 13 years teaching here in Preca College. Again a Gaelic blessing, from our Province Christmas Card, expressed our thoughts, and it sounded well in both English and Shqip! -

"May God bless you and keep you
May God's face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May God give you the grace not to sell yourself short,
Grace to risk something big for something good,
Grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for anything but the truth,
and too small for anything but love.
May God take your eyes and see through them
May God take your lips and speak through them
May God take your hands and work through them
May God take your heart and set it on fire."

Laurence was very appreciative and he was also delighted to receive a copy of Paulo Coelho's - "The Pilgrimage", as he begins his new journey in Malta.

I now extend this blessing to each one of you today!