July 26, 2010

There was a storm yesterday evening, and the breeze was deliciously refreshing. You hear the wind blowing, begin to see its effects then bam.....the rain comes. As I sat in my front room, looking out the window, I could see people scurrying to avoid the downpour.

Dinner yesterday was excellent. God Bless the Rice Cooker. Did you know that the rice cooker dates from the earliest of times? A ceramic rice steamer dated to 1250 BC is on display in the British Museum. Mine is Old Faithful, although I still haven’t mastered the measurement instructions properly. Why you ask!

New rice cookers normally include a small measuring cup, and a plastic paddle for serving the cooked rice. The rice cup measure is normally 180 ml, approximately 25% smaller than the American measuring cup of 8 (US) fluid ounces / 240 ml. That’s why! I keep forgetting that one important instruction and thus have rice for several days. I add beans to it, mixed veggies too, for some crazy concoctions.

Yesterday 7/25 was the Feast of Saint James and the Patron Saint of the Church of Santiago, my neighborhood church. He was the brother of St John and, like him, a fisherman. He was one of the witnesses of the Transfiguration and one of those who slept through most of the Agony in the Garden. He was the first of the apostles to be martyred, being beheaded by King Herod Agrippa I to please the Jewish opponents of Christianity. He was buried in Jerusalem, and nothing more is known about him until the ninth century. Since Sunday preempted his feast, the local church will celebrate today, with an array of fireworks, processions, bands, dancing and on and on. It’s an all day affair!

In Sunday’s Gospel, one of Jesus' disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray." Luke 11:1. How many times have we had the desire to pray but never did? It made me think of a great story told about Saint Ignatius of Loyola.Saint Ignatius and some companions were on an extended journey. They followed a schedule that involved stopping at regular intervals to pray together. A porter, who had been engaged to help transport their baggage, observed this ritual day after day. He saw the impact it had on them and, as the days stretched on, he began to desire to pray with them. When the saint learned of this desire, he invited him to join them. It also dawned on Saint Ignatius that the porter's desire--day after day--to pray with them was, in itself, a splendid prayer.

I like Saint Benedict’s advice on prayer, to his monks, found in Chapter 20 of the Holy Rule: “When we wish to suggest our wants to persons of high station, we do not presume to do so except with humility and reverence. How much the more, then, are complete humility and pure devotion necessary in supplication of the Lord who is God of the universe! And let us be assured that it is not in saying a great deal that we shall be heard (Matt 6:7), but in purity of heart and in tears of compunction. Our prayer, therefore, ought to be short and pure, unless it happens to be prolonged by an inspiration of divine grace. In community, however, let prayer be very short, and when the Superior gives the signal let all rise together.”

I was reading an article about Former Secretary of State Baker, who convened the Arab-Israeli peace talks in Madrid, saying, "The road to peace is difficult. We have to crawl before we can walk and we have to walk before we run, and today I think we all began to crawl." What Baker said of the road to peace can be said about so many things in life: success, holiness, happiness. The road to them is long and difficult. And the first step is always a "crawl."But if we begin and persevere, this mustard-seed beginning will grow to become a "tree." When will peace become a reality in our world?

Today, July 26 is the Feast of Ss Joachim & Anne. I remember fondly my ten years as Pastor of Saint Anne in Ruskin. From today’s readings, one word strikes me. It is ‘hidden’. Any details about the lives of Joachim and Anne, come from tradition, mainly provided by apocryphal writings. Very little is actually known about them. Their background is hidden from us in spite of the tremendously important role they played in raising their daughter Mary, and thus in the redemption. Out of their hiddenness, what life was produced!

Now, a little about “Marquesitas”. They are a Merida specialty. If you travel to Merida, you must try these. You'll be hooked. I understand that a family in Merida invented the marquesitas. The street vendor attaches everything he needs to cook marquesitas to his mustard colored 3-wheel bicycle (common mode of transportation in Yucatan). You'll find the stands in the Plaza Grande (mainly in the evening) and possibly elsewhere in Centro Historico. The vendors are easy to find. Before you see them, you'll hear them cheerfully calling out "Marquesita!" How to describe a marquesita? The vendor cooks them in a two-sided crepe maker with waffle design over a propane flame. It is like a crepe, but soft when hot and crunchy when it cools. It is filled with either Edam cheese or Nutella sauce, and rolled up into a tube. So ask for a marquesita queso or a marquesita nutella - I couldn't decide which one was best. I really favor the queso. They cost only 10 pesos each. They are so delicious! I would love to be able to duplicate them, but as simple as they sound, I don't think I can do them justice without the right equipment (including the bicycle).

Now about the many Yucatecans desiring to be vegetarians, I have to tell you straight out -- it is not easy being a vegetarian in the Yucatan. Most dishes are made with beef, chicken, pork or fish. In several restaurants, maybe only one item is vegetarian, and it was something boring like a cheese quesedilla.One exception is Amaro Restaurant on Calle 59 near the Plaza Grande. They had more vegetarian items than most restaurants and even promote themselves as having vegetarian food. The setting is nice - an outdoor inner courtyard with lots of plants. We [my Mom and I] ate lunch here about two years ago and enjoyed it and she didn’t. The food was tasty, but not spicy. I liked the papadzules, which were handmade corn tortillas filled with roasted and ground pumpkin seeds, topped with a pumpkin seed sauce and a tomato sauce and finally a crumbled hardboiled egg. Really, I rather just eat at home.

I was looking at the July Necrology for the Diocese of St. Petersburg. I knew all but one of the deceased. I lived with two: Father Michael O’Neill was my Associate in Ruskin, and Father Tom Gresser [a belated vocation] was a deacon at St. Vincent de Paul in Holiday, while I was assigned there.

July
1 Rev. James Larkin 1996
3 Rev. John Vereker 1975
8 Rev. Michael O’Neill 2001
10 Rev. Hubert Reason 1984
18 Rev. Thomas Guesser 1987
25 Rev. Patrick Hendron 1984
May they Rest in Peace.

I am presently reading four books at the same time. Frankenstein: Lost Souls by ;The Glass Rainbow by Dave Robicheaux ; Think of a Number by John Verdon andThe Obama Diaries by Laura Ingraham.