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Feast of St. Vincent de Paul:
Today is a great Feast day. For us it is a special day, too, because the name of the first house of Comunita Cenacolo in America is Our Lady of Hope Community at St. Vincent de Paul Farm. We are grateful to this saint who really dedicated his life to the poor and did great things to help the people that did not have any power in this world. It is a great privilege to be in a house named after him.
 Well, things are getting busy here. We got so much rain last week, at least 6 to 7 inches, and it slowed everything down, but we keep on going and working in our projects anyway. At OLOH we are working on lifting up the tent that so far has been not too easy to raise! Nothing is ever easy in Community! In the meantime we have three guys welding some support for the tent and the chair lifts for Maria Goretti. We are working big time on the show, "Rich in Mercy," and we are having our problems to put everything together. This is all completely normal during the preparation for the Festival. It is how your sons learn to work in a team where everyone has a different opinion and, sometimes, nobody really knows the answer. They learn to work hard with a lot of frustration because many times what they worked on does not work at all the first few times, so they learn to persevere, to keep going and not give up. They learn that, even if they don't know anything at the beginning of a project, they will learn a lot by all the difficulties. It always seems that nothing is working and, in the end, everything will come together.
We have suspended any entrance and orientation because we do not have space, and we really want to focus on the festival. We now have a group for the Festival music: David C., Peter L., Brandon, Daniel C., and Blake B. They are rehearsing every afternoon! All the guys are learning songs from the Community overseas. They sound really good.
 At Maria Goretti the guys are working hard to finish the house and do all the extras that takes to get the final inspection. Beautiful tile work was done in the outbuildings. It is looking very good!
At Mary Immaculate, the rain from last week really made them unable to work outside, but all the indoor projects keep on going!
All the Americans in Europe had a wonderful experience! They spent 3 weeks in Austria. First they got to participate in all the events with the Pope in Vienna, and then they shared in the 10 year anniversary celebration of the Cenacolo house in Austria. On Sunday, September 23, Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Christoph Schonborn with over 50 priests concelebrating with him. Then Mother Elvira spoke, and the guys did the great show, "Be not Afraid." More then 6000 people were there. The location was an old cave that was transformed years ago into a roman amphitheater, where during the summer a lot of outdoor shows take place. The weather held up well, nice and cold, but no rain or wind. A special thanks to the guys of Austria that welcomed more than 150 Community members from Europe! "Thank you" for everything they did to make this event happen!
 Some guys have been transferred: Joe S., Jeremy H., and Tom L. to the house in Austria. Cody, Mason, Nicholas G., and John V. were sent to the house in Medjugorje. Joacquim and Clint AK were transferred to the house in Lourdes. All the American girls went back to the houses where they belong in Italy.
All the guys from the house in Medugorje went back. Only Billy did not; he came back to the States for verifica and will be here for our Festival. Jon and Jenny are back in Chiusa Pesio.
On October 1 a group of guys from Florida will go travel to Birmingham, AL to attend the installation of Bishop Baker as Bishop of the Diocese of Birmingham. It is a great privilege to be there for him! Later that week on the 4th I will be speaking in Atlanta to a Catholic doctor's conference in the morning and at night at St. Brigid Parish! Please pray for me that I will say what God wants. It is a busy time, but also a happy time, a time of evangelization!
Please keep us in prayer. We don't need more rain. We need to dry out for the Festival!
Remember that it is very important for you to come, even if your son is not here. Be faithful to your word, your promises, when you brought your son for orientation.
Grazie
Ciao
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