While not too much is going on at the parish this time of the year, we've managed to stay quite busy. Last week we visited Fr. Dave Theroux in New Orleans. As he is covering the parish for the Summer, he is there by himself, so we went down to spend some time with. It was really a blessing and, in fact, probably the best time I've had of my three trips to the Big Easy. Basically we just hung out, went out for dinner, went to see the Long Ranger (which was hilarious, might I add), and had prayer and mass together. It was so simple and yet so great to see him.
Friday a very good friend of mine flew into Alabama to spend a week with us at the Southern Missions. He's had a good overview of the parish, our community life here, some of the Southern Missions sites, and the Civil Rights movement. Monday afternoon we went into Montgomery to see some historical places: Martin Luther King's church, the capital, the first Catholic church there, City of St. Jude, and the Civil Rights Memorial/ Southern Poverty Law Center. Every time I go to one of the Civil Rights museums I am still blown away by all that happened. How much senseless violence and murder there has been in the last 50 years, and just because black citizens wanted the most basic of rights: to vote. Sometimes I kind of forget that the KKK had no qualms killing white folks who supported the Civil Rights movement, sometimes just to inflict fear. The Montgomery memorial/ Southern Poverty Law Center, which is quite extensive, focuses primarily on the lives of 40 people who were murdered under no provocation during the Civil Rights struggle. One thing that really struck me was the amount of security there. There were guards outside on the street and at the entrance. There was a full body metal detector we had to go through once we were in the building. This is because they still get bomb threats. Incredible.
Tomorrow we're heading into Mosses to help out with the Summer program for middle school kids. It should be good to get back there and I'm very much looking forward to seeing Sr. Rosemary again.
On a more leisurely note, my friend and I ventured to Prattville (50 minutes away) to eat at Southern Living's top rated BBQ joint in Alabama. It's called Jim 'n Nicks. Let me tell you, it was incredible. Never have I had such tender and flavorful beef brisket. Also, hands down the best baked beans my taste buds have ever witnessed.
And now for some online literature!
Montgomery Civil Rights Memorial:
http://www.splcenter.org/civil-rights-memorial
Jim 'n Nick's:
http://www.jimnnicks.com/
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