Learning for the day

A deacon officiated at the funeral of cousin Ted. He informed us that he's married and has 2 children. He performs the sacraments of baptism, marriage, funerals, among many other things. Apparently in 1967 the catholic church restored the office of permanent diaconate, after Vatican 2. It would have been too late to spare me, but I leaned over to my sisters and said, " They should have a lot more deacons and a lot less priests!" He delivered a nice eulogy, even acknowledging that Molson will miss Ted too.

I did a little checking when I got home because it seemed too good to be true, and, of course, it is. If they're already married, they can become a deacon, but not unless they're over 35. If their spouse dies, they are subject to the same rules of celibacy as priests, and cannot remarry. They also must support their family with a career of their choosing, even after retirement. There's no free room and board, and they must show that they can maintain a good family life, support themselves, and serve the church! Of course, they must also be male. Not quite as peachy as he made it sound, and I don't imagine they'll be flocking there in droves. I find it particularly distressing that they have an obvious belief that it's possible to do all this, so I don't understand why they persist in these ridiculous archaic tenets.

Thanks to the support of my sisters and some of my favourite cousins, I managed quite well. The reception after was at the legion and we decided that if we went, we would be late getting back, so we said our goodbyes and buggered off.

I did some weeding in the garden when we got back, but it was too hot to do for long. I still have a fairly intense headache resulting from my massage yesterday, so I'm taking more drugs.

I'm alive, and deserve to live to my full potential.
Love, elly