Morning Star

Blueberries for breakfast. Sliced oranges in the iced tea. Stir-fried broccoli and beef within minutes from the heat. This was not the Ritz-Carlton Luxury Hotel. It was the "Triple-T" cooking team for our Confirmation Retreat. Chị Thủy, Chị Tường, Chị Thoa. "Sơ, I can't believe this is camp food!" Annie murmured as she slowly gulped down the hot bow-tie soup. "At our camps, I always had to live on instant noodles for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack!" "It is amazing, isn't it?" I agreed as I watched her and the youth dive into the sumptuous fare. To make the retreat feasible, the youth was charged a minimum registration fee. It was hard to expect anything more than pizza or instant noodles. I was in for a delightful surprise as chicken curry and freshly squeezed orange juice was for breakfast. Snack was home-made chocolate cookies, strawberries, and wedges of oranges laid out in formation. The Tripe-T team even made a Walmart run as...

"Good morning, sinner!" Pause. "And you too!" They both chuckled uproariously. We were stepping into St. Luke's for Ash Wednesday Mass and Sr. Jacinta Ngân was saying hi to her good friend, Frances Edwards. Only these two could greet each other in this way. It may not be a bad way to greet a good friend. Notwithstanding priceless qualities, good friends know the other has faults. Remember that you are dust and to dust, you will return. Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel. The church greets us with these two sayings at the beginning of Lent. Then marks our foreheads with itchy sooty dust. Good friends do this for each other. They point out our mistakes. Then accompany us on the path to wholeness. Our task is to admit our faults. Give up the vice. Give in to God's waiting love. What are you giving up? What do you want to give in to?

2 keyboards. 40 pounds of rock. 60 pillar candles. A Flavia coffee brewer. 2 car trunks, 2 truck loads, and 2 vans of supplies. We were prepared to help 24 youth make contact with God. My eyes opened in horror. The power supply cord to the projector was missing. Specifically, forgotten. I knew exactly where it was. One hour away from where I was standing and the youth was arriving in 20 minutes. I could wait until the next morning when there was another trip back to civilization. "Y'll I'm heading out to find a power supply cord." Oanh looked at me encouragingly. "With hundreds of people out there using this Camp Copass facility, there has to be an extra power supply cord. Jesus says, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find." Let's put this into practice," I explained as I headed out into the darkness. Michael joined me. "Joe, I know this sounds really funny, but do you know if anyone in your group have an extra power supply...

Before loofah was in, Dad had already stuck it in our kitchen, restroom, and patio. We were horrified to see this beige vegetable "carcass" used to scrub our dishes, bodies, and barbecue grills. Of course, this was back in the early 90s when green wasn't in yet. Now, a decent natural loofah sponge costs you $5. And Dad gets to tease us, "It took Americans 20 years to catch up to me!" And the Vietnamese. Ocean, my brother called me the other day. We're planning my parents' wedding anniversary this summer. I asked him if things would change any since another sibling just lost his job. "No, Chị Vân! We give what we can. Mom and Dad went through a lot for us. It don't have to be a big shindig. You know when they did their 25th, we were too little to organize anything. Now is our time." "And however Dad wants to do it, we do it! It's their day!" Ocean continued. We both chuckled. Dad was certainly a character. But no one co...