RBWords - Volume 37 - Number 2: February 2024
Something to Think About
RBWORDS – VOLUME 37 – NO. 2 – FEBRUARY 2025
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT –
As I write this I am on a quick overnight visit to my hometown of Natchitoches, LA, about 2 hours’ drive east of Lufkin, TX, where I am currently assigned as chaplain for the cloistered Dominican nuns at the Monastery of the Infant Jesus. I have not lived in Natchitoches full time since I went away to college in New Orleans in Fall 1960! The changes in the town (about 19,000 in population) are apparent whenever I visit. The lines, “There used to be a …….in that spot!” come to me often. I still have a lot of family here since our roots go back to the late 1700’s. My parents, an older sister and a younger brother are buried here. Nieces, nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews live here. The whole experience reminds me that a lot of time has passed. I have just turned 82 years of age and trips back home get more and more challenging. Lufkin TX is the closest I’ve ever been assigned to home. I will soon (early summer) be moving to a “new” assignment in Houston at Holy Rosary priory, where I lived 2011-2015. This could be my last official assignment, given my age.
Aging brings challenges and rewards. The challenges include growing older in a gracious and grateful way, forgiving oneself as God does for mistakes of the past, and thanking God for the blessing of years, family, friends and the Dominican Order. My general health is quite good and I expect to be as active as I can in Houston either in a role of “grandpa/wisdom figure” in a campus or young adult environment or as spiritual director for clergy. We shall see what opportunities are available. The rewards are best expressed in the love of family and the friendships that have developed in the course of 30+ years of campus ministry. When people say I look good, I tell them I have a great team of taxidermists who keep stuffing me with love. Many elderly suffer the loss of friends by outliving them. I am blessed with many friends younger than I am. A visit home keeps the family ties going. Visits in person or by FaceTime, Googlemeet or Zoom keep me in touch with friends near and far. Please pray for this next transition and chapter in my life! IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
It Has Been Said
I don’t think spirituality is confined to a life lived in relative silence in a mountain monastery; nor is prayer only the recitation of set formulas or participation in public worship. Rather, prayer and spirituality are lived daily in our work our play, our deeds, our relationships – with God, with loved ones, with friends.
From VESPER TIME – THE SPIRITUAL PRACTICE OF GROWING OLDER by
Frank J. Cunningham
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