Remembering some saints

Today is St Valentine’s Day. It is also the feast of Sts Cyril and Methodius, founders of the church among the Slavic peoples and patrons of Europe. I remembered them at the mass this morning, over which I presided.

These days get busy and busier, but I was able to complete the notes for my two courses and get copies printed up and bound on Wednesday and Thursday, so as to distribute them on Thursday and Friday. Both classes are going well: small groups of 4 and 5, but all of the students are very interested and committed. Still, since my return from Roma I do feel like I have done a whole year already. I end up teaching 3 full semesters in the space of one year.

Province youth are gathering at Watsonville today for a Summit on Youth and Human Rights. It is the followup to a process begun in October. Al Vu is the heart and soul of this great event, having organized the encounters in the Autumn in Southern California and in the Bay Area. He also participated in the International Congress on the Preventive System and Human Rights, held in Rome last month. Two others accompanied him there: Joe Nguyen and John Marheineke. They are part of the Youth Summit with him now; it is a very meaningful process.

This morning I was thinking of St Kevin’s place in Ireland this morning for some reason… just woke up with images in my mind of that great lake at the shrine in Glendalough in County Wicklow. I do not know why I had these images in my mind’s eyes, but I was happy for them and took a little mental journey, revisiting those memories with joy.

Of all the stories of Glendalough, the one I love most is the one about the devil appearing to the hermit Kevin and tempting him to abandon Christ. The devil appeared as the lovely Kathleen. Kevin tried to reason with her, avoid her, argue with her, but the lovely Kathleen persisted. Finally all he could do in the end was push her away from him. When he did this, she fell into the lake… and the water suddenly began to boil and steam. Well, yeah! The devil is full of fire, so of course the lovely Kathleen could not take the cool water. This is how Kevin realized that she was really a disguise for the crafty Satan.

I smiled at the memory of the story and cheered on Kevin again. Why did I have these memories today? I really cannot tell. Maybe such things happen when you are teaching the 3rd semester in one year. :-)