Sunday in Nome

It doesn't look like I'll leave Nome to say Mass in any of the outlying villages. This time of year the roads are closed and flying in is a bit more complicated. But I was still able to reach some of these remote areas through Nome's Catholic radio station. KNOM broadcast our morning Mass throughout the bush of western Alaska. I look forward to visiting the station later this week.

After the Palm Sunday morning Mass, I had the chance to meet the majority of parishioners during the after-Mass social. Then the youth of St. Joseph's stayed on for their weekly catechesis - this week it began with a lesson in making palm crosses.

I was able to relax during most of Sunday afternoon, and then in the evening I joined the teens of the parish for their sedar meal. I was impressed at both of these gatherings with the number of children and teens that participated.

Finally, in the evening I walked the few blocks to the home of the Little Sisters of Jesus. Srs. Damiene, Nirmala and Alice invited me to join them for moose stew, and a pie made of local cranberries - both of which were absolutely delicious.

Sr. Damiene is originally from France and though she has lived in Alaska for over fifty years (including over fifteen years on Diomede island with the Alaskan natives) she still has a delightful French accent. Sr. Nirmala is from Sri Lanka and Sr. Alice is from Wisconsin.

These wonderful women are the presence of the Church in this part of Alaska as there is often no priest permanently assigned to where they live and work. We spent a lovely evening together talking about religious life, our respective communities, and our ministries.

On the walk home, at about nine at night, it was perfectly light. During my stay here in Nome the sun will rise two or three minutes earlier (at about 8 am) each day, and will set a few minutes later each day (at about 10 pm). So over ten days we'll pick up approximately forty minutes of daylight!