A Saturday supper at Maryknoll's Stanley House gave me the opportunity to schmooze with some of the residents. Br. Sebastian Schwartz never seems to age. Hong Kong's veteran illustrator and cartoonist remains active at an age when lesser mortals would have settled for a well-earned retirement of leisure. Fr. Ed Phillips prospers and seems the most upbeat of the Maryknollers I saw here.
Stanley House hosted a group of 50+ men on an Emmaus Walk weekend. Next week they will welcome 90+ women for the same program. Years ago, Maryknollers here wisely divided Stanley into Maryknollers' and guests' sections to accommodate large groups and get maximum use of the facility. We back at the Knoll would do well to learn from them.
It was good to see Br. Ed Redmund up and about and looking healthier than ever. He is an inspiration to all who have to confront life-threatening illnesses. Last year he celebrated ten years of survival. On that subject, he has much to share with Fr. Ron Saucci who, despite everything, looks and sounds amazingly well. Indeed, were it not for having to depend on a cane to get around, you'd be hard pressed to suspect anything amiss.
Speaking of survival, this morning I also ran into Fr. Jim McAuley at St. Joseph's church where he and Ron and several others minister to the huge Philppine community here. His years in the Philippines more than prepared him to work among Hong Kong's migrant population.
Tomorrow I head to Guangzhou where I hope to meet and interview Maryknoll Sr. Anastasia Lindawati, herself a fellow blogger. I will update Knollnews whenever Wi-Fi allows.
