Sharing meals

There are just five of us in the house this week: Fr Arthur Lenti, Marc Rougeau, John Rasor, Duke Le Van Duoc, and myself. These are days to pick up, clean up… and the making of the evening meal is a shared production. Well, there is not much to say about it, but here are a few photos of our table conversation.

In the meantime, there are bits and pieces of things. Marc and I have cleaned all the rooms and made up all the beds, setting the beds with a set of towels as well, and drinking glasses. The Merry Maids went over everything yesterday as well, and now we have locked things up so that the rooms will be ready for the next array of guests in the month of August.

Evening meals have been on our own this week. The cook Debbie has been off on her summer holidays since Monday, and we all have been pitching in to prepare the meals. It goes without saying that Arthur has done the breakfasts. Marc, John, Duoc and I have been preparing the evening meals. We usually start preparing at 5.00, after the day's work, and sit down at 6.30. The meals have been simple but enjoyable, and we chat and catch up more with each other during these meals this week than perhaps all year.

Here are the summer plans, as expressed during the evening meal tonight:

Arthur Lenti has been invited to join the provincial council at Los Gatos next Sunday to Tuesday. It is their personnel meeting, and they have invited Arthur to be present. In fact, they had already paid for the accommodations earlier, but since David Purdy is away at this time, they thought they would ask Arthur to be with them. He does not know if he will be asked to input to them, or just share in the fellowship, but he is happy to get away for a few days. A week later he will be in San Juan Bautista for his annual retreat, and then spend a few days with John Bruzzone, who has remained a close friend over nearly 50 years.

John Rasor worked right up to retreat time in the last week of June. Then he spent the first week of July with his brother in southern California. He came back from the experience cheerful and enthusiastic -- as he has usually been. Now John intends to remain at Don Bosco Hall through the end of the summer. Once the great hiker of the Salesian World, John was not able to continue this regimen after he became so sick last summer. On the other hand, I have to consider that it was his exceptional physical fitness that enabled him to fight off the disease (and the shock that the cancer treatments gave to his system). In fact, John has responded very well to the treatments. Now he has slowly been building up his strength again. He has starting his soft hikes again, and his health seems to be good these days. The cancer is in remission. So this is a time to build up physical strength without the worry of other duties and obligations.

Duoc Le has been with the community all year - and actually for several years now. Officially he will become an "aspirant" for the Salesian Society with the start of the new year. However, he is still working and so as to help his family get out of financial difficulties. He figures that, with one more year of full-time employment, he will be able to put his mother and siblings on a firm, financial footing.

In the past, Duoc has gone away for holidays, but he will not be going to Los Angeles to see his family at this time. Rather, he plans on continuing to work through the rest of the summer months. He has been looking for some new placements and has had some interesting interviews. Things are looking hopeful for him.

As for the "aspirant" state, the house council of Don Bosco Hall has met to discuss this. The ratio and the province formation guidebook give detailed outlines of what is to take place in this phase of religious formation. The plan is to follow these guidelines carefully, so that Duoc may prepare himselve for novitiate to begin next year, or the year after.