Going around (the) Bend

Back this morning after a few days in Bend, Oregon; daughter back to school at Central Oregon Community College, stayed with in-laws, and was delighted to be able to attend daily mass with Most Reverend Thomas Connelly, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Baker. Bishop Vasa treated me to a tour of the Powell Butte property which he is hoping to turn into a retreat center and move the diocesan business office there. The location is breathtaking, and from the property a rare view was afforded of the sunlit peaks of Mt. Hood, Sisters, Broken Top, and Mt. Bachelor. Of course I forgot to bring the camera. So, here is one of his pictures of the "barn" and an aerial shot of the property.





There are more pictures here

On this trip I also managed to finish "A Concise History of the Crusades" by Professor Thomas Madden, and read "Many Religions, One Covenant" By Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. The first was a recent recommend by "The Curt Jester" which I'll second, and the second, well, speaks for itself. Specially delightful; an explanation of the meaning of Exodus 15, sweet desert to a great trip.

15:8. But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I
shall possess it?

15:9. And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of
three years old, and a she goat of three years. and a ram
of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon.

15:10. And he took all these, and divided them in the
midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the
other: but the birds he divided not.

15:11. And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and
Abram drove them away.

15:12. And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon
Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.

15:13. And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that
thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and
they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four
hundred years.

15:14. But I will judge the nation which they shall serve,
and after this they shall come out with great substance.

15:15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be
buried in a good old age.

15:16. But in the fourth generation they shall return
hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not
at the full until this present time.

15:17. And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist,
and there appeared a smoking furnace, and a lamp of fire
passing between those divisions.

15:18. That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To
thy seed will I give this land, from the river to Egypt
even to the great river Euphrates.

Both parties in an Oriental covenant passed between the divided sacrifice, invoking both promise and curse; that if either party did not fulfill their part, the fate of the sacrificed animals would befall them. The Greek philosophers believed it impossible for God to enter covenant with man, because God was immutable, man mutable, there being therefore no grounds for equality, hence "Testament" and "Law" from master to vassel. Yet, here we have a theophany where God binds himself to the faith of man, and the oath is fulfilled in Christ.

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I also have many thanks to offer Anita (V-For Victory) for her perserverance in shepherding the power installation to completion!





Never thought one of those green boxes would be such a delight to lay eyes on!