Happy Advent

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Orin and Erin light their baptismal candles from an advent wreath created by Orin's sister at their wedding last year, on the First Sunday of Advent.

Preaching in Missouri last weekend

This past weekend, the bishops of the Missouri Catholic Conference decided to ask all of their priests and deacons to direct their homilies toward educating the faithful about Church teaching with regards to stem cell research. This means that, in theory, anyone who attended Mass in Missouri this weekend was presented with a homily on this subject.

A reporter from the Associated Press was at the 10am Mass at St. Peter Church in Jefferson City (where I work) this past Sunday to listen to a homily by Fr. Jamie Smith and interview him after Mass. That information was then turned into an article that has been circulating regionally and nationally for the last few days. A version of that article can be found by clicking here.

I bring this to your attention because, in some news reports, Fr. Jamie's words have been taken out of context, and in other places his words have supposedly implied that the Catholic Church opposes all forms of stem cell research. This is not true. I would refer you to Fr. Jamie's complete homily text which can be found by clicking here.

If you've gotten to this point in the blog, thanks for your concern. Please pass this along to others who might not fully understand this issue and what the Catholic Church has to say about it.

-Shannon

Orin & Erin's 1st Anniversary

We have been married one year and one day as I (Orin) write this... Seems like not that long, honestly, which I guess is better than it feeling more like 10 years!

We celebrated with a night at the Renaissance Grand downtown and dinner where we had our reception a year ago. ANd presents and stuff. Flowers, cards, etc.

I'm not sure anyone truly appreciates the marriage vocation going into it - I'm not sure if I had any pre-coceived notions, but if I did, I'm sure they weren't what the last year actually was.

Here's to going forward on the journey together, both looking forward at what we can't exactly see!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Minor Earthquake!

So, Erin and I (Orin) were up watching TV (The Colbert Report) on our new DVR (yay!) about 11pm last night, and suddenly, there's a bump that lasts about a second or less. I felt the whole house move, so did Erin, probably like 1/32 of an inch or something. It felt as if a really slow moving really heavy truck had come to a stop by bumping our house. I looked at her, she looked at me. She used to live next to a small airport and wondered if a little sonic boom had happened... We shrugged, and kept watching TV, and eventually went to bed.

So, this morning I'm driving to the Shrine, and hear on KMOX news that about 11pm last night there was a mild (2.x on the Richter Scale) earthquake in Cahokia, right across the river from STL and where Erin grew up. No damage, injuries, most slepping probably didn't even know about it. Of course, I can't find a link to prove it to you, but I'll be back when one turns up.

I experienced a similar earthquake when I was about 9 years old as my family was visiting friends in South Dakota. It was a little stronger and longer, felt like a large truck (again) was driving along the bumpy road outside (which didn't exist). You just don't expect happenings like this in this part of the country, and when those moments occur, earthquakes aren't first on the list of things you think about...

-Orin


Update: Ah, here we go: rumble rumble

Darryl Strawberry, Jesse Manibusan, and the Diocese of Ogdensburg

Hello-

What a great time we had in Watertown, NY this weekend! On Saturday, Orin and I had the opportunity to present at the first ever Jr. High Youth Alive. About 120 youth and adults filed into a high school auditorium for three hours of stories, music, and fun. We were very impressed with the young people, especially. While they were certainly packed with energy, the teens also showed a tremendous amount of focus. Thank you to all who attended, and especially to Bishop Cunningham for capping the day by presiding at the closing liturgy.

The strangest part of our trip, however, involved our travel. On Friday, we were waiting at the gate for our flight when a gentleman nearby got our attention and asked us if we liked baseball. After we said we did, he pointed out the fact that Darryl Strawberry, former New York Mets/Yankees outfielder, was also waiting for the same flight. It's not everyday that you see someone like Darryl, so we were a little caught off guard. If you are a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and attended games at Busch Stadium in the 80's, you undoubtedly remember taunting Darryl by chanting his name (Daaarrrryyyllll....Daaarrrryyyylll....) I don't ever remember giving that treatment to any other visiting ballplayer.

Then, on our way home, it happened again. As we were waiting (at 5am EST) to check in at the Syracuse Airport (a very small regional airport), we saw someone else we knew. Jesse Manibusan! It turns out that Jesse had a booking somewhere else in New York state that weekend and was on his way home. Not only were we at the same airport at the same ridiculously early time in the morning on the same day, but we ended up on the same flight to Chicago. You would think that would be strange enough, but by some twist of fate, we were also booked into the same row on the plane. It was a small airplane that, in each row, has one seat, an aisle, and then two seats. There were only three seats in the row and Orin, Jesse, and I filled them. Very strange! It gave us a great opportunity, though, to catch up with Jesse and talk a little business. There is a lot that Orin and I can learn from Jesse, so we were grateful for the chance to spend some time with him.

All in all, it was a great weekend. We look forward to Thanksgiving Day, when Orin and I have the opportunity to play music for an annual dinner provided for the needy in the Belleville, IL area. It should be a lot of fun.

-Shannon

A Live Hello from the Diocese of Ogdensburg, NY

Snow!

It is toally snowing in up-state New York right now! Oddwalk is getting ready for its visit to the Diocese of Ogdensburg, and Orin particularly is ready to see some fluffy white stuff.

He grew up in Minnesota, after all, and it is the middle of November. St. Louis is not a snow-lover's paradise.

Perhaps that could be effective marketing for St. Louis, "St. Louis is not a snow-lover's paradise" -- but I doubt it.

Back on topic: Orin will not lose a snowball fight. Remember that before firing the first shot.

It's Cold

In honor of the first freeze of the year (In St. Louis, MO)...

Let's build a snowman! Yay!

My New Nephew

Hello All,

If you click on the title of this post you'll find the Web Nursery picture of my nephew Nathan. Mom, Dad, and son are back at home and doing well. Please continue to support them and all new parents with your prayers.

-Shannon

Announcing the arrival of Nathan Ryan Young

Tonight, my sister Laura gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Nathan Ryan was born at around 4:30pm CST. He he is 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 20 inches long. Laura is doing well. Both she and her husband Ryan are elated and exhausted. I'm sure I'll have more later.

-Shannon

Prayers for Evansville, IN

Oddwalk sends prayers and best wishes to those in the diocese of Evansville, IN who were affected by the recent tornados. We have the privilege to be a part of the youth rally there a couple months back. Hope everyone is well, and persevering in life and in faith. God be with you all.

Bye-bye Busch

Follow the link to see pictures from the start of the Busch Stadium demolition. I'm sure there are a lot of people outside the St. Louis area who don't care about this, but, for me, it's kind of sad and cool all at the same time.

Go Cards!
-Shannon

A new hobby for Orin

This afternoon I had the opportunity to participate in a "Thank You" dinner for the three quilting groups in our parish. I played a couple of songs and had dinner at a table with six or seven other quilting ladies. For some reason our conversation got around to cell phones and I was commenting on all the things that Orin's phone could do, such as play movies and record things. The ladies were puzzled by the "movie" feature on his phone and I explained that if he was, for instance, waiting for a flight at the airport, that this option might come in handy. It was then that one of the ladies told me to suggest to him that he take up knitting as a hobby. I told them that I would. Secretly I knew, though, that unless knitting was a feature on his phone, or unless Macintosh came out with i-knitting, it was never going to happen.

Shannon

Singing Horses

Continuing the flash animation fun...

Click on the horses to start or stop them.

Bam!