Rain, rain… not going away

Last night (and the night before) Rome was celebrated by the heavens with a light and sound show of thunder and lightning! Incredibly close lightning strikes prompted me to unplug my computer and the power strips on both nights really.

This morning I found out that three trees were toppled during the night. Two were in the little park behind the provincial offices and professors residence, and one was in the short road leading up to the main square of the university. One of the park trees that fell, crashed into the professors residence… but was kind enough to avoid hitting any of the bedrooms or offices. It fell right into a balcony that lead from what had been a reading room but which for several years now has been an empty space.

Yes, gently: the phrase was what I heard from one of the elder Salesians. He told me that he heard the boom last night and went to see what happened. The tree did not break any of the double-pained windows, but was pressing against them… so he opened them lest the stress cause damage later. "The tree was certainly very polite," he said. "He did not cause any damage except that he took a bit of the stone facing off the balcony… but he fell carefully and gently between the most populated area of the house."

I was amused that he called the tree polite, and asked him if the tree was a Christian?

"No, I don't think so," he replied, "because not many Christians are so polite these days. But if the tree were a Christian yesterday, he has become a fallen-away Christian today."

Tonight the Gesù Maestro community will receive the findings of the Superior of the Vice Province of the UPS, Fr Joachim de Souza. He has been visiting the community in his official capacity for the past 10 days. He will give the community his observations and open the floor to discussion. After that there will be a little "festa" in the dining room. I'll participate in both parts of this event, also to find out what the priorities are in this community that hosts me during these months.

In the meantime, a very heavy rain is hitting against my office window again. I suppose we can look forward to more lightning and thunder tonight again. That will help to celebrate the official visit of Fr De Souza, certainly.