For Christmas and all That! in Majimaze Musing!

Hi all! I thought I would try an entry now and then perhaps after Christmas. I have just spent the last 2 hours catching up on a wonderful TV programme I usually miss because I am at Church. It is called Attitude and it always serves to remind me how very lucky I am. It is a programme that focuses on the people with disabilities and how their attitude to their disability or disabilities in some cases and their future helps build their lives in a positive manner. Today was their final programme and once again I spent 2 hours laughing and crying. Most times I rush home and tune in on an hour later channel however it depends on whether I get home by 10.30 am! And so today, I am having a Sunday off from Mass as we had a huge Parish Christmas BBQ and Social on Friday night and I am doing a reading on Christmas Day.

It was a most successful evening on Friday. We had 115 parishioners there and I did the Welcome and a poem I wrote explaining what a Parish is and farewelling our Priest of 2 years a lovely Franciscan called Bernie Thomas. It is unusual to have a Franciscan parish priest and he had to actually resign from the Franciscan order and join the Dominicans to do so. Two years was enough and he is rejoining his first love again and going to Australia to be Parish priest of a Franciscan Parish.

I really like him. He is a very humble straight talking man and treats all of us as equals. The reason I point this out is that sometimes the priests can become a little arrogant. Basically it is not really their fault as some of the congregations in the Roman Catholic church seem to worship the ground the priest walks on and forget that he is a servant of the people.

Father Bernie is the opposite. He is in his 50’s and he really does serve the people. I work with him a lot and as I have a natural aversion to anyone who adopts airs and graces or snobs my radar has been quiet while he has been here. I am very sad to lose him. I also did a Christmas quiz of 20 questions which surprisingly is always a bit of a riot! I have done these 3 roles for 5 years now and as I am an ex-thespian and a Toastmaster I always enjoy myself thoroughly and so do the guests! Correct answers give the winners a chocolate Santa and noone is allowed more than 2. Sounds childish,however,as many of our congregation are academics wealthya or teachers I love their enjoyment and also love depriving them of a second choccy Santa and seeing them laugh!

This year,for the first time I felt guilt. Not at the Social and BBQ, nor at the parishioners. No my feelings were at the amount of food on offer and what was left over. In the past year, I have become very aware of the homeless and the families who are NOT coping and are not able to feed themselves or their children. I know personally quite a few homeless on the Island and catch up when I can. They are dispossessed and some are alcoholic or mentally disabled, however, being a recovered alcoholic of 36 years,it has never left me that I could be one of them. Most are lovely people.They always greet me happily and hug me and they know I am a recovered alcoholic. And I know that there but for the Grace of God and a loving husband and family, I could have been one of them. I could hardly eat. I tried, however, it stuck in my throat. I know our Parish gives to the local Budgeting Service and they will be giving me a Christmas box as I went to Budgeting for 2 years until I got my life sorted.
So, before I left, I asked Father Bernie quietly when I could get him alone, what happened to the food left over. He told me that he had been told of a group of homeless when he first came here, and reminded me that it was me who told him, (Yoicks,I had forgotten!) and he had arranged to try to find them and let them share! Wow! I burst into tears! I told him they would be under a big pohutukawa tree in Ostend Domain. Many spent the winter there. I was so thankful and was delighted when he rang me later that night to say he had found them and they had the food!!!Yaaa-aay!On my instructions he had worn his brown Franciscan robes and hood was rewarded with a swig from a flagon of the roughest sherry he had ever tasted! I laughed at that having consumed some pretty bad sherries in my drinking days. So to my relief, because I knew the food wouldn’t be wasted, I allowed myself a big plate of pudding and cream!! Ha ha! I live on a very small budget, however have my wonderful daughters and my son who adore me and I them and 9 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild who I love more than my life and are my life and therefore never feel lost. I will be having Christmas dinner with them and will contribute food to that and buy my grandies Gifts not more than $10.00.

So back to the Attitude programme.I applaud all those wonderful people who adapt and live full lives with disabilities. My message this Christmas is,that homelessness poverty and addictions and mental illness are all disabilities as well. You don’t have choices, you have to accept Govt support and charity, and the scorn and turned backs and judgement of those more privileged and comfortable. If you have nothing you are nothing in our materialistic society. Just spare a thought as you indulge yourself on Christmas Day for those people who have nothing. Their families are now composed of people like them. They will be on my mind all day and every day. I have my God and Saviour,and a most loving forgiving famiiy and good friends.I am rich in their eyes because I have been told that by them.I will try to seek them out after Christmas. They disappear when the visitors arrive.

Have a wonderful and Blessed Christmas and love your friends and families and love those who have nothing.

God Bless you all,
Much love,

Majimazexxxxxxxxx

Last updated December 17, 2016