August 2005

John went through Cleveland on his way to South Bend. He had supper at his brother's house. They have a little puppy dog named Pepper.

John received word that Father Paul Rankin had died. Fr. Paul had been living at Holy Cross House at Notre Dame. He was born in the Canal Zone of Panama. He was the first district superior of Chile then the assistant superior and then superior at Moreau Seminary at Notre Dame. He was superior when the new Moreau Seminary was built. He later was chaplain to the brothers at one of their high schools. When the brothers left the school, he remained in the area and served in a couple parishes in the area before returning to the provincial house and then Holy Cross House.

At the vigil service at Moreau Seminary, Father Charlie Kohlerman presided and preached. Charlie is not only the superior at Holy Cross House, but he was Father Rankin's assistant when Father Rankin was superior at Moreau. Charlie mentioned a number of things about Paul. One was that he had written a considerable amount of poetry. He read some of them at the wake, and they were profoundly spiritual. (One of Fr. Rankin's nieces hopes to collect them and have them printed.) Another thing that Charlie mentioned was that Paul could not read blueprints; he thought that was a good thing because they might still be working on the finishing touches to Moreau Seminary. Another thing was that Paul's connection with Holy Cross happened initially when he met Fr. Christopher O'Toole because of a double-date. Charlie did not elaborate on this dimension, but it does sound interesting!

There was a good turnout by the Holy Cross community. Paul's family commented on how the people from Moreau and Holy Cross House were extremely hospitable. We are all grateful for their care and concern.

Father John Korcsmar presided and preached at Paul's Mass at Sacred Heart Basilica. There was a good turnout of priests at the Mass. John thanked Charlie Kohlerman, Peter Rocca, and Ken Molinaro for all of their help.

The ENLACE effort started by Brother John Paige at St. Edward's University continues. Although the funding has run out, St. Edward's University, Austin Community College, and Austin Interfaith continue to meet and plan for further collaboration. The hope is that they can work together on the educational dimensions of their missions. Each one of them has a mission, but they all share a common vision of helping people learn more, get an education, and be able to participate in society. This is important because we remember Father Moreau said that the goal of our work is to prepare citizens in this world and in the next.

Hi John, greetings and peace to province members,

Thank you for the birthday wishes and prayers. Just came up from night prayer and from our birthday party. All the members of Moreau House plus our Brothers from St. John's were here.

We had some popcorn, cookies, ice cream and drinks. Some good music and at points during that time we paused to share some stories of times past. The story telling was a lot of fun as some recalled when they were pre-Novices with me years ago. More music - eating and dancing.

Again, many thanks for the prayers. They are deeply appreciated. Please greet the family for me. All of you remain very much a part of my thoughts and prayers here. Thank you for your prayers.

God bless,

Fr. Bob csc

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Pepper	John's brother's mailbox. Can you guess what his nickname is?