No, I have not been called.....
I've only been up to my eyebrows in family. Continue to keep all of the descendants of Pauline Knapp in your prayers, the reunion party is tomorrow.

Back on July 1st, Doug Sirman wrote a somewhat cryptic note on his blog about my revealing things about myself on my blog, and about twisted situations and twisted perceptions. I wrote him right back thanking him for the birthday present but admitting that I had no idea what he was writing about. But I think now I've got a little idea, courtesy of tonight's Evening Prayer. In Psalm 116 it says:

I trusted, even when I said:
"I am sorely afflicted,"
and when I said in my alarm:
"No man can be trusted."

How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call upon the Lord's name.

My vows to the Lord I will fulfill
before all his people.

In the past six weeks or so there have been periods of just hanging on for dear life while chaos seemed to reign and the Lord's love and protection and mercy seemed very far away. One of those times triggered the posting Doug Sirman was referring to ---- when "Spare us, save us, have mercy on us, O Lord" was the only possible prayer, when our wounds were still fresh and livid, not mostly-scarred-over and a dull background ache. Now, I"ll probably never comprehend why my ex-classmate decided to beat the living daylights out of my local Church ---- but all of us _will_ heal and _will_ continue to serve. Maybe even in time to be ready to go again when, on August 28th, they sit Timothy Dolan down in that big chair in the Cathedral, and, with our new shepherd, we get back to work praising and healing and evangelizing, and performing the works of mercy.

News fron Milwaukee:

Full restitution for the Paul M settlement has been made to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. All excess funds are being directed to the Cathedral Center for homeless women and children at the request of the archbishop. The "Friends of Weakland" website is staying up, at least for a while, to assist the Cathedral Center apostolate. The seeming-impossible is indeed possible.......
.