The Goodness of God

The Goodness Of God Is Unending
A Reflection On God’s Gifts To Me On The Anniversary Of My Ordination
By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA
Mission Saints Sergius and Bacchus
www.missionstsergius.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverlastingLoveOfChristMinistry
I thank all who have included me in their prayers on my anniversary and for all the affirming messages I have received from so many. It is heart warming and uplifting to know that your humble attempt to serve Almighty God is being received and making a difference. Your prayers give me sustenance and courage to do my best in the service of God by proclaiming His mercy and love for all people and His desire for them to come home to Him by actively participating in the One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church and claiming their place in the Mystical Body of Christ.
This past weekend has been filled with numerous gifts from God some amazing, others very subtle and still others, the little things we in our busy day to day lives often overlook.
I had made plans to visit the Abbey at Weston Vermont for a weekend retreat in preparation of celebrating my first anniversary as a priest and to ask God’s help and guidance for the coming year. The abbey is the place where God directed me to the icon of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, who I had never heard of before finding it there, even though I have worked and ministered in the church for more than 30 years and thought I knew most saints.
The weekend started off with beautiful cooler weather which made the trip through the country roads most enjoyable. No need for air-conditioning. The country villages glistened with the sunshine bouncing off the various shades of green of the foliage and the white washed steeples of the traditional New England church steeples. Our hostess, as usual, was most gracious and we began the weekend with prayers, a liturgy and then broke bread. The following day began with my celebrating a liturgy in my host’s home as she is legally blind and has arthritis which would prevent her from traveling to the monastery. I then blessed her home and the grounds as well as her sweet friendly four legged companion. We then drove to the peace and quiet of the Benedictine Abbey for contemplation, prayers and a spiritually uplifting and Holy Spirit filled Eucharistic liturgy. It was during some of the quiet times of reflection that I had the opportunity to interact with a newly professed brother of another order, to discover that we lived close to each other, and we planned to come together for prayer regularly. I also was approached by a couple requesting I bless some Rosary Beads they planned to bring to a sick friend. As it turned out they were next door neighbors of a very dear friend in the Berkshires. The liturgy as usual was a wonderful spiritual moment where you felt the everlasting love of God filling the simple chapel.
We traveled back to our hosts home, a 26 acre farm located overlooking the Connecticut river.
With her son and a groundskeeper we shared a wonderful meal and the day ended with evening prayers. The following morning, Sunday, we left for the Abbey and Sunday Liturgy followed a time of reflection and then headed of to the Vermont Country Store to pick up a few things that can only be found there. Back at the hosts home we shared another wonderful dinner and friendly conversation ending with evening prayers. The next day, Monday, was spent walking the grounds and taking in the splendor of Gods gifts, the peach orchard, the gardens of flowers, blueberries, vegetables and all the little creatures of God that inhabit the grounds. I felt like St. Francis as birds came up to eat of the sunflowers and the chipmunks scuttled about while a deer roamed through the trees and wild turkeys gobbled in the grasses while the golden sun provided a comfortable warmth. After another home liturgy it was back to the Abbey for the liturgy in honor of the Assumption of our Blessed Mother.
Just as people were gathering for the liturgy, a woman and her husband, I know it was her husband because of the amazing circumstances, was wheeled into a place near the altar in a wheel chair. I remarked how much she looked like my cousin who has MS. Miracle of Miracles, that is exactly who it was. What a blessing to celebrate the liturgy of the Assumption and the liturgy that coincides with my anniversary of ordination with a family member. She and her husband were there for a weeks retreat before she goes back to her classroom and the wonderful 3rd graders she teaches. God’s love keeps her going even though she has this debilitating disease. She is truly an inspiration to all who know her and I am blessed to have her as a cousin.
I also had the joy of meeting and sharing with members of other religious orders who were also celebrating their ordinations or entrance into religious life. Back at our hostesses home we enjoyed a meal of trout and a ratatouille mad with an assortment of garden vegetables ending the day with evening prayers. Tuesday morning began with the usual Liturgy of the hours followed by a liturgy at our friends home and a breakfast that included apple cider donuts, a New England delicacy. I must say I hated to leave to go home since I find the area to exude God’s goodness and peace. On the way home we gathered some farm fresh vegetables and a strawberry/ rhubarb pie to bring home and keep the memory alive for a bit longer.
I strongly recommend a visit to the Abby if you are ever in the New England area. You will leave changed, you will most definitely feel a closeness to Almighty God and you will be refreshed.
The Weston Priory is located in Weston Vermont off route 100.
The monks produce some of the most beautiful and spiritually uplifting music for use in times of meditation, prayer gatherings, and liturgies. They also have religious items that they craft themselves or from their mission in Latin America.
God has renewed my spirit and my determination to work as diligently as possible in service to Him by proclaiming His everlasting and unlimited goodness, compassion, mercy and love for all of His children with no exceptions.
My prayers are for all to come to the recognition of God’s love for them and pray that the message I am attempting to send in my feeble way continues to reach those who need to hear it. I can only do this with your prayers. I do hope that, if you feel this message is worth hearing you will direct others, especially those you feel might need to have this affirmation, to our ministry.
May God Bless You All.
A simple humble servant of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Fr. Bob