Holy Week 2014

On Holy thursday I attended Congregation of the Great Spirit. Luckily I started feeling better by then. I was sick for about a week. I think I had a strong cold or the flu. It sure dragged me down and made me week. With the washing of the feet at church mass there was only about 30 people. There were 4 basins and pitchers. We took turns washing each others feet. It was very neat to see. Someone sou,d ways your feet then you would wash the next person and everyone was helping each other out. I had this cute little 2 year old indian girls who helped me pour water on her brothers feet and then I wiped his feet. It was touching experience.

Friday I headed down to Racine to help Leo with Geometry. He then taught me about iMovie. now I am addicted to it and love making trailers. It has been a fun project. Fr. Bruce and I then watched Mel Gibson's the Passion of Christ with 4 students then we went to a fish fry afterwards. It was a long day but a good day. I think Mel Gibson goes a bit over the top but he sure gets the message through on what Jesus went through.

Saturday was the night Vigil. Mass started with The elders drumming behind the altar. Then one of the elders got up and told the Great Creation story from the Lakota People. It seemed very similar to the creation story with Adam and Eve. In the middle of the mass we went outside where the bonfire is and lit the easter candle and prayed to the four directions. We then migrated back into the dark church with our candles and the women dressed in there Native American outfits did the snake dance down the aisle. It was very peaceful to watch. The snake dance and signing is about shedding our old skin and becoming new. We then renews our baptismal vows and then the native women blessed us by shaking cedar branches dipped in the baptismal water at us. It was a very nice mass and then at the end we had a big potluck in the basement.

Sunday the next morning at 6 am we met across the street from where I live to have a native American Piece Pipe ceremony. Al opened up the ceremony with drumming and chanting in the Lakota tongue then we did the prayer to the four directions. Then Al explained that the chanting he is doing is asking the Great Creator to listen to our prayers and that we are offering tobacco to the Great Creator and the smoke that comes out of the Pipe is our prayers rising to be listened too. He then passed the Piece pipe around the circle in which we all smoked. Then there was a closing of drumming and burning of cedar branches. One of the guys gave me cedar leaves and said if you have a cold boil this in water and drink it and you will be fine. So I did. It didn't taste to bad. I am not sure if it worked because I was already feeling better at that point but maybe it finished off my cold.  We then had a big feast that night with our house and we invited 3 individuals over to join us. It was realizing and then we finished the night off watching the Sopranos.
Easter we were blessed with 68 degree weather. That only lasted a day. It is 47 today and I hope warm weather is on its way.

 Foot washing of Holy Thursday at Congregation of the Great Spirit

 Fr. Bruce is holding Angel's new born baby girl who is one week old

This is preparing of the peace pipe for the ceremony on the lake front Easter morning

Addictions retreat

We had a three day retreat on addictions. It was mainly about Alcohol. It is amazing how drugs and alcohol can over power a person and make them completely and totally dependent. Addiction often happens when there is something missing and trying to fill a void in ones life. It makes the user feel better for a little bit to get that high but then they come down and then they have to get that high again and pretty soon they become totally dependent on it.  We watched the movie " hello my name is Bill W" and we watched " Love is not enough" and it is the story about Bill W's wife. Bill Wilson is the founder of AA. It is amazing what his wife put up with. The faith she had in him was incredible.  I thought she was more impressive than Bill.  She knew there was something inside him that was able to defeat this. There was a scene in the movie and he is holding on to the bottle of vodka and he says, "I don't want to drink this. I love you Lois, but I need this. I don't want to drink this but I love Alcohol. " He was absolutely powerless to it. Incredible. We also heard stories of drugs just destroying lives. We live in such an addictive society. Internet and social media are at the tips of our finger tips. There are a ton of internet addictions from porn, to surfing the internet and constantly clicking on things, to social media, to online gaming. Ones reality becomes the internet. There fantasy becomes there reality. How sad is that. Kids put so much time and effort into it. The bullying online is a real problem. Kids have committed suicide just by what others have written about them on the internet. There is no filter. People just write with out thinking. Dangerous.

It really gave me appreciation to the 12 step program. I like step two that I am powerless and I need to rely on a greater power than myself. The 12 step program is really a deep examination of ones conscious . Another quote that caught my attention was " don't say I am sorry. Say that I am wrong".

It made me have a real awareness in everything I do. Pay attention to your feelings and what is going on in your life. It is easy to get addicted to anything.

The weather is Finally warming up. I think spring is finally here.

I w as upset with myself the other day because i was at a stop light and There was a homeless man asking for money. I usually keep a box of granola bars in my car and hand them out. But I was out of granola bars. I thought I only had a 20 in my wallet so i didn't want to give him that. SO I ignored him outside my window. OF course what does Jesus say, "Who are my brothers and sisters?" so I felt guilty when I drove off. Then when I looked in my wallet I had two single dollar bills in there. Pope Francis says "Who am I to judge?"

Other than that I am currently trying to shake a cold.

On Saturday we are heading to Casa maria to volunteer for a bit and check out that ministry. It sure seems like the root of all problems in the world is poverty. The trafficking of humans for labor or sex generally happens to people who are willing to do anything to get money or bring money home for the family. Or they live in a poverish area and the family is willing to sell a child for money or are stolen away and no one notices because there in a poor area with no law or authority. I was reading a statistic that 2 million women and children are unaccounted for in the world. How does that even happen? People taking advantage of others. Exploitation of humans. There seems to be so many problems in the world it can be overwhelming . I guess it starts with education. Telling people have an awareness in the community. Hopefully media helps spread awareness. Then I think it is finding organizations and being in collaboration. But then where do yo go from there? 

Plenty to think about. How can you help your fellow humans in everything you do. I guess it starts with doing the small things in life. Kind, courtesy  and just being present. Just showing up in everything you do.