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| Letter from Fr. Gene Hattie, sent/received W11/05/2014. |
Below is my transcription of his letter. I have taken the liberty of adding a bit of color in honor of the aerograms he used to send when he was in Uganda. I also have "corrected" any typos or keystrokes that are too light to see. Otherwise, I have tried to stay faithful to the text/meaning of the original letter.
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My dear Rick: Peace of the risen Lord!
Many, many thanks for your last 3 interesting E-Mails about the Transfiguration and the bombing of Hiroshima (Is the lord giving a message that we fail to hear). When you ask me to look up things on the Internet or use words like Google, Twitter or Tweet, you are speaking to a Kindergarten kid, for these are merely words without meaning for me, for I have no idea how to use a Computer. One of the Aides here takes my messages from the machine and scans my outgoing mail and retrieves Attachments & that's about IT, for I have no time to learn how to use a Computer at 92 and she has no time. For a time, she kept bugging me to learn & wouldn't accept the excuse that I was too old to learn UNTIL I had a brilliant idea..I showed her my Hindi New Testament (looks like Arabic..tho, to those who don't know Arabic, they seem to be the same, yet they are as different as day and night) and she let up on me.
The Sister painter in Cleveland I never knew even though I had visit[ed] St. Paul's Convent many times. When we had the yearly Mission Circle Carnival to raise funds for the Bishop of Patne Mission, they were always there...Keep up the good work of scanning on your Computer, for you can learn many wonderful things.
At the end of October, a loyal donor/friend, whom I had never met, came here to visit me from California with his son-in-law and grandson. The grandson, only 18 & still in High School has been thrown out of many schools & is not in treatment, for addiction to liquor and drugs. Grandpa was convinced that meeting me & learning of my life would cure him. Great Faith! The son-in-law is not a Catholic, but is an avid Bible Reader, attends Sunday Mass & receives H. Communion under both species. Grandpa thought that a visit with me would bring him into the Church. Prayers for both, please.
Finally, but far from least, thousands of thanks for your latest kind & generous Gift of $X, appreciated more than you know.
Continue to be assured that you & your family have a super-special remembrance in my daily Mass & prayers & in those of the Sisters & orphans as I implore Him to fill all of you to the brim & flowing over with His & Her choicest gifts. Graces and blessings. In the meantime, continue to smile & spread His & Her love, hope and joy all over W. Hartford.
Tons of love & gratitude,
Fr. Gene, S.J.
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NOTES:
[1] August 6th is the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. In addition, August 6th is also the Feast of the Transfiguration. I found that to be a rather odd, ironic intersection: bright dazzling lights and clouds involved with each event. I wondered if there might be some connection or relationship.
[2]
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| Ephesians Chapter 2 (Hindi) |
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| Ephesians Chapter 2 (Arabic) |
[3] See: "Heavenly murals: 81-year-old nun may be painting her greatest work ever (slideshow and video) published October 9, 2014 in the Cleveland Plain Dealer by James Ewinger with pictures by Lisa DeJong (see samples below).
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| (Photo by Lisa DeJong/PD) |
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| (Photo by Lisa DeJong/PD) |
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night
http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/p/letters-from-fr-hattie.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogram
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Transfiguration
http://d1d7ektpm2nljo.cloudfront.net/PGauf_Qu-Swso_HKueoHLg/Hindi_Bible_49__Ephesians.pdf
http://d1d7ektpm2nljo.cloudfront.net/uwFa56z-3L4ppJ7lED3wuQ/Arabic_Bible_49__Ephesians.pdf
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/10/cloistered_nuns_hosannas_are_p.html#incart_river
Written: Sunday 9 November 2014
