Thursday, May 29, 2014

Centenary



Today was the big day, the 100th year celebration for the Archdiocese.  The preparation for this event was like no other.  There have been 20-30 men a day working on the grounds for the past month.  The big deal was a Cardinal and Bishop from Rome came.  It has been interesting to see the progression of the work and the final product.  I will say I was pretty nervous that the event would have plenty of mix ups and unprepared happenings but the celebration went perfectly and the weather was good (it was outside).  9 deacons and 9 priests were ordained along with the anniversary celebration.

We knew in order to get seats we would have to go save seats very early-6 am.  I did not feel like getting to a 5 hour event 3 hours early to save seats but I was also concerned we would not be able to see anything.  Around 7 am I thought I would walk around the grounds while Maura made breakfast.  It appeared there were several open seats so I was more relaxed.  Then I ran into a neighbor who asked if we had gotten seats and said I better get them quick or there would be none.  I went to the giant pile of plastic chairs and got some down.  As I went to get more down my initial chairs were taken.  I could not remove the chairs and keep people from taking the others.  Finally I managed to get 7 chairs-we had 15 people coming but I knew I could not save 15 seats.  Fortunately my neighbor helped me save the seats while I called for help from Joy Newburn.  People were getting very aggressive and insistent about getting our seats.  After about 40 minutes of struggling with people and with Joys help we were able to maintain our seats and get her and my family seated.  Then I left to go get breakfast, hats, sunscreen and water.

After eating and coming back I ran into the other family that was to sit with us, the Hamms.  The only problem was the aisle I used to get out was blocked with people sitting so I could not get back to Maura and the kids.  After awhile I got brave and decided to push my way through to the seats.  I am not a fan of crowded events, saving seats and being trapped in by people everywhere.  There were probably over 3000 people crammed into a relative small area.  Once I sat it wasn’t so bad.  After a little while Joy took 2 of our kids, Hamm’s 3 kids and 2 of hers to her house.  We stayed until the  offertory which was 2 hours and then we figured after sitting in the sun that long it was time to rest a bit.  The mass ended up being 5 1/2 hours long. The picture is of the men being ordained as deacons and priests.  The white guy sitting down under the yellow tent is the cardinal from Rome.
It was powerful being with that many people so excited about being at a mass.  Everywhere we looked we could see people.  They were sitting and standing in any place possible.  The best part was how it brings the community together for such a wonderful event.  I went back for the final 15 minutes of mass and walked around after it was finished.  It was fun visiting with people and everyone was fed which is amazing.  I was told to go to CATUC to eat with my coworkers.  Even though I had lunch I thought it would be good to visit.  Mostly I sat and listened to the conversation in pidgin.  Pidgin is still very difficult for me to understand.

The rest of the day was spent at our house with constant visitors.  People kept coming over which means Maura had to offer them food.  Thankfully we had leftovers we could heat up.  The day really seemed like a celebration with people talking with one another and sharing food.  I must say we are all pretty tired tonight so we are headed to bed early.

-Ryan