Guests at Bernardi

Just a quick note of who has come to Bernardi over the semester.  I want to say that about six weeks ago George Weigel, the famed biographer ("Witness to Hope") of Blessed John Paul II, came for Mass, discussion, and dinner here.  It was a pretty neat experience, but he wasn't exactly what I thought he would be.  Kind of arrogant, but interesting stories about JPII nonetheless.  Unfortunately, all we could muster up for a meal was meatloaf, mystery meat and mystery bean lasagna, along with the standard corn salad and white sandwich bread (which I'm almost certain the houseworkers took from me, because after community night, I discovered that my whole loaf was mysteriously missing...).  Anyway, he booked it before the meal was even done, but I don't really blame him since a) he is probably more than a little busy, and b) the wine was bad and the food was iffy, at best.

Our second big guest was Cardinal Raymond Burke, which was really awesome, even though he's from Wisconsin.  The fact that he came at all was remarkable on two accounts: 1. He's a cardinal. 2. He is always very busy. However, he took a night out of his schedule to celebrate Mass with us, lead a discussion, and eat dinner with us.  He was really impressive, and spoke with such confidence about issues concerning the Church, it was reassuring to hear him speak.  Right before he left, he was very gracious in letting a bunch of us get a picture with him, even though I'm sure that he was very tired.

Our third major guest was Cardinal James Stafford, who not only celebrated Mass at Bernardi, but confirmed Liz Coulter.  He kind of seems to be losing it (he's nearly 80), but he's a cardinal nonetheless. As much as I hate to say it, the Mass was almost laughable, as he truly didn't know what was going on at times (if we sang the Gloria, when the intercessions were--Fr. Carola had to help him--and his homily was a stretch).  His homily was the biggest stretch I had ever heard, and was more circuitous than a roundabout.  He was reaching here, there, and everywhere, as if he hadn't prepared it AT ALL--I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.  It was funny at times, but the funniest line of all was "cast your net north of the future"--what does that even mean?  Even Fr. Sheridan was, to borrow a phrase, very corn-fused.  Also, at dinner, Cardinal Stafford apparently said--out of the blue--"Alright, that's it!" and left.  The whole thing was very strange, but like I said, pretty laughable.