Day 45, Sept. 24

Today would be the last full day in Kerala. Ff. Dickson an I concelebrated Mass in the morning, had breakfast together with the sisters, and prepared ourselves for a leisurely boat trip. It turned out to be a joyful outing to see Father’s family. We dove fo about an hour to the house and had a good visit. Then, we dove a little to a river with a fairly large bend in it. There, waiting for us was a large boat that could comfortably ary about 15 people. He sets wee protected from the sun. he two of us got in an the crew of two shoved off and we slowly cruised around the ‘lake’ formed by the bend. The birds and tiny flying fish made it a delight. At one time or another each of us nodded off to sleep, but for only a minute or so. That’s how relaxing it was. By the time we docked, we were refreshed and ready to continue.
We drove back to the house to meet some more of Father’s family. Then, we returned to the rectory. We didn’t do much. Yet, seeing a priest’s home and seeing him interact with family provided me with a view of clergy that you don’t see in the rectory. What I saw was not a bit different from what I’ve experienced in the US. Iests are the same. They are ordinary people. The home had more religious statues and pictures than the average American home. It was, however, about the same as most Catholic homes I visited in India. Here, Catholics all have decorated their homes profusely with holy objects especially of Mary.
At about 8pm, as usual, we called on the sisters for dinner. And, as usual, they provided a fine supper and good conversation.