Fr. Jacques' 1st Visit

      Fr. Thierry is the founder of Heart's Home, but the two men that have been with him, studying to be priests and hearing their call to serve Heart's Home as priests from the very beginning were Fr. Guillaume and Fr. Jacques. Fr. Guillaume is the responsible for the Heart's Home in Naples, Italy, Alina's spiritual director, and soon to be the Responsible (legally) for the entire Heart's Home organization in case anything should happen to Fr. Thierry. Fr. Jacques, after spending several years in Argentina as well as being ordained a priest there, 5 years in India working as the founder of the home in Chennai, and several years in the center in southern France, Fr. Jacques will now be moving to Vienna! He is the Responsible for the founding of the home here in Wien and tomorrow we will be greeting him here for the second time...this time for a stay of up to 3 months, or longer. Two weeks ago, he came to visit for 15 days, to check on things here, to get a feel for the community and the progress in establishing the mission and working on the apartment. There is no way I could explain Fr. Jacques to you..you simply must meet him in order to know what he is like..and even then, there is no use trying to understand him. He is a mystery to me as of yet, but an exciting mystery with depth and insight that pours forth when giving advice, as well as a lighthearted spirit, always enjoying a good laugh over a glass of superb Austrian beer (his favorite). 

          The first night Fr. Jacques was here, we celebrated his 40th birthday (which was back in January). Monika had the fabulous idea to make him a birthday cake out of Austrian beer, considering that is his favorite and he dislikes sweets. But we presented the beer cake surprise to him only after a gourmet meal cooked and prepared by the master chef Monika herself. It was truly a celebration...of a birthday, of the entire community finally being together, and the new leg of our journey in mission...one priest richer. 

Fr. Jacques arrived on Saturday evening. The next day we had a rest day and after mass Monika took us to Leopoldberg for a beautiful view overlooking the city and a little bit of hiking in the gorgeous sunshine. 

After Leopoldberg, Monika dropped the three of us off at the Karlsplatz WienMuseum (free admission on the first Sunday of the month) and then she left for a retreat in another region of Austria that would last a week. 

the time that Fr. Jacques was here...we prayed alot...

cleaned a lot...(you can see the parts where I haven't cleaned...and yes one doorway took me 10 1/2 hours over 3 days)

assembled donated furniture...Fr. Jacques even slept in his room with a complete bed, and closet for 3 nights. 

had the thirds meeting of our gemeinschaft schule (the first lead by Fr. Jacques), on the beautiful dining room table from Bernhard in the still very dirty living room. 

and even tried to arrange things so it looked more like a home! 

(this was the day Fr. Jacques left. we have cleaned alot more, rearranged many times, and received more donations since he has been gone, so we are planning to have many surprises for him tomorrow, not to mention a freshly painted chapel...the best surprise of all!)

and then my 2 favorite activities during 

Fr. Jacques' visit

1) EISLAUFEN!

The three of us joined Krista and her four children (remember the family we spend Christmas Eve with?) to meet Aberu and 3 of her 4 sons (remember the Ethiopian woman?) to go Ice skating. Since I am still in my cast, I had to sit out this round, but I got the enjoyment of plenty of time to take pictures and to hold baby Martin while Krista anxiously watches Klara and Jackob ice skate for the first time. 

2) Rene Burri Ausstellung am Kunst Haus Wien

I have never heard of him before. 

But I was completely floored by 

his perspective and philosophy on 

photography, art, humanity, and life. 

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Walking through the gallery, 

at times the photographs incited me to laugh so hard it was all I could do to stifle the laughter

at times the photographs moved me so that chills ran down my spine.

His photography was not so good. so touching. so moving. so deep and distinct because he had studied so much the technique of photography, because he paid the most money for the best equipment, or because he was really good at using photoshop. It was the man behind the camera, what he stood for, his vision. Art conveys the artist, the artist's perception of the world, of life, of humanity, of what there is to hope in, of where despair creeps into the world. It was this that was so moving. Anyone could have photographed the events, the people that he did, but they could not have made these photographs. Only a man with such a moving perception could produce such art. 

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(I will post a separate Rene Burri post...he deserves more than that, but thats all I can offer!) 

The Kunst Haus is magnificent in itself. It was designed by a famous Austrian architect Hundertwasser.

my art.God's art.Hundertwasser's art.

wien

Moni+pJ

Alina

warten

Hundertwasser

thanks for all the letters and packages!

i am absolutely spoiled. 

but that is one of the good things about being in Europe and not India, right?

i have received surprises ranging from authentic Wisconsin dried cranberries,
to my favorite poppyseed dressing,
to books and letters,
to marshmallows,
to knitting supplies.
and all has brightened every
day I get to open something
from home.

 not to mention all the letters with which you have sent me so much love, support, and prayers. 

so this is my thank you note! 

i have loved everything. 

and i love receiving letters...especially because finding time to read an email, much less respond is harder than reading and responding to a letter because I have alot of time in the Ubahn, adoration, etc. so keep 'em coming :)

Erica...who is now volunteering in Brazil!...sent me a letter which included this quote which was, to my surprise, the perfect summary of everything I have experienced and continue to experience on this mission: a blind adventure. 

so I wanted to share it with you. its simple and beautiful from a wonderful book called "He and I". 

...

"Then surrender yourself to me in peace! Oh, may I have the consolation of leading my little girl wherever I wish. Would you like to come with me, keeping your eyes closed?"

...

Why depend on yourself, your own sight, when Perfection Himself is there to guide you and will never let you fall or stub your toe on the journey? Only when you insist on keeping your eyes open and guiding yourself can you possibly fall or trip in following Him. It is not just the following that is required, but following blindfolded to where His Surprise awaits you. And in the trust you have for Him lies His greatest joy. 

want to know what we did all morning and afternoon?

cough.cough

i got the black lung pop.

meine lieblings bild!! this will definitely have a spot in the new wohnung! 

please look at the difference between the skin on her arm and that on her face.  rediculous.

so yes. the left is the brushed-clean side. the right is the wood-burning stove catastrophe from 1779. 

unfortunately the pretty flowers will have to go. but im definitely making notes for a future house.

nothing a good shop-vac wont take care of.
the question is...where can i get one of those for free?

taking a break to pray the rosary and vespers...yes, we covered our new sofa (a gift from a cousin of a friend) with a sheet. as you can see alinas sweater rather enjoyed accumulating the dust/soot. 

uhm uhm...alina...

break time

we've decided this was a great opportunity to see what we will look like when we are 70 and grey haired.  

so...we bought one bucket of paint today (the special paint we need to paint over all the dirt and soot accumulated on the walls). the man at the store is amazing and gives us discounts on everything because we are missionaries! (and yes, thank you Dad for finding him all the way from your office in the US!) Tomorrow a new friend of ours Elisabeth is bringing two of her friends and coming over to help us paint the soon-to-be kappella (or at least that is the plan). But before we can paint we have to brush down all the walls and ceiling in the room to get the majority of the dust and soot off, and then plaster up the huge cracks and holes in the walls. So to work we went. And, thank you LORD, we actually finished something that we wanted to accomplish in the time we set aside...so the room is ready for a bit more plaster tomorrow morning and then a Saturday of painting! we're getting somewhere....

**important news...if you need to send anything (cough.Annie.cough) you can still use the address to our friend/Vienna Mother Monika: Alliiertenstrasse 10, 1020 Vienna, Austria, Europe

Bitte, mehr Geduld! (Please, more patience)

No. I haven't died

Nor have I run away to join the Russian mafia.

Nor have I shunned the Internet as a thing of the devil.

Nor have I forgotten all of you.


Life is crazy...i dont think that changes whether you are a college student, mother of 8, celebrating your 80th birthday, or living in a foreign country doing mission work.

The variable is rather...technology, computers, and the invisible world of internet connections.

I have a computer...there are surely Internet connections zinging through the air all around me...but, it seems, I just don't have the technology.

Believe me I have soooooo much to tell...so much so that I'll probably have to pass up eloquence for the sake of efficiency. But alas, I am writing this short message to you from my iPod because my compute just doesn't like the Internet system in Austria. I have a small window of time right now between cleaning a chandelier from the 1700's (at least thats when it was last cleaned) and going to adoration, mass, then a visit with a family an hour away by ubahn, and of course with all the things I planned to catch up on and do in this hour break I have, this free Internet hotspot just won't let me have any for my computer. So all you will get right now is this little teaser that leaves you waiting for more. In fact, if you want to know what my life has been for the past month, I'm giving you a chance
to experience it for yourself
right now...every experience small or large,routine or special has required an almost
impossible degree of patience. So I have to be patient, and try not to think during adoration about all that I would have liked to accomplish on the Internet, and you have to be a little more patient before I can tell you about all the beautiful, difficult, hilarious, ironic, amazing things the Lord has been doing in the city of Vienna, the little apartment in the second district, the lives of friends and strangers, and the heart of one particular unconventional missionary now 2month a resident of Austria.

Bis bald (until soon...I hope)
M

-in other news...happy valentines day (2 days late), happy birthday Opa (right on time), and happy 23rd birthday Chad (early for once in my life)


Good news is... We're moving into the apartment in the next couple of days...and hopefully, although we are still lacking hot water among other things, we will hopefully be arranging the wireless Internet for the apartment tomorrow morning. So pray that all goes well so that in the next week I can spill all the beans about life here.