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	<title>O.S.A.'s in S.A. from the U.S.A.</title>
	<link>http://augustinian.org/africa</link>
	<description>Follow along with the experiences of Fr. Al Ellis, O.S.A., Augustinian missionary in South Africa.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:18:20 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Grace in the Midst of Harsh Realities</title>
		<description><![CDATA[All too often I find myself going through life doing this or that without much, if any reflection on graced moments and therefore, without due gratitude to the Lord for having been selected to be that instrument of “heavenly” intervention in times of desperation for someone, somewhere along life’s journey. It happens to me and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=4</link>
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		<title>Spring in September</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the buildings on our property houses Augustinian Sister Novices, as they are experiencing the advent of more religious vocations. Another section of that building will accommodate four of our women Augustinian Volunteers. Their male counterparts, Matt &#038; Pat will live in another building on the property. 

Before leaving for St. Leo’s, Fr. Ed [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=5</link>
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		<title>Beginnings</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello Everyone:

This will be my first in a series of articles I hope to write for those who may be interested in the events as they unfold daily with those I’ve encountered and observed in our two mission parishes, St. Leo and St. Helen. The mother church is Our Lady of Mercy, in Kloof, which [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=6</link>
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		<title>Reading into the Statistics</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello Everyone:

Today, was a privileged opportunity of visiting Lindiwuje Yvonne, the acting principal of St. Leo School which was established in 1923 and became a government sponsored public school in 1996. A surprise to me is that the land and the school buildings remain as parish assets and therefore, responsibility for its upkeep; whereas, teacher [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=7</link>
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		<title>A Sad Tale and Rules Meant to be Broken</title>
		<description><![CDATA[At 8:30 on Thursday morning while reading the paper's usual disheartening stories of spousal abuse, street violence, theft and corruption (sipping a cup of coffee), Flossie our housekeeper told me of a lady waiting to speak with a priest. I figured the coffee was not all that good for me anyway so I left the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=8</link>
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		<title>Medical Care: Let Downs and Hopes for the Future</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Last Thursday Dr. Bob Moffitt (a general practitioner) and I set off for a 2:00 o’clock appointment with a government health minister, Ms. Busi Grootboom, at her Westville office, located a few miles west of Durban. 

At two o’clock sharp we exchanged greetings in a waiting area and were promptly ushered into a spacious conference [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=9</link>
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		<title>The Sun, Early to Rise</title>
		<description><![CDATA[From a 2003 Visit:

By the time you read this column on Sunday, I’ll now have been in South Africa, ten days.  We were delayed in New York Wednesday night because of an engine problem and finally touched down in Durban on Friday.  It is a beautiful time of the year – spring.  [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=10</link>
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		<title>Would you walk 6 miles to mass?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[From a 2003 Visit:

Last Sunday we drove to Our Lady of Mercy Church in Kloof Natal from the Friary, a 15 minute drive.  At homily time a layperson gave a marvelous talk on lay ministry in the Church today.  He touched on an array of important works that can only be accomplished with [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=11</link>
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		<title>Not an Empty Seat</title>
		<description><![CDATA[From a 2003 Visit:

We’re now back in Kloof for a lovely luncheon and a bottle of Augustinian wine.  Off to the Friary (a fifteen minute ride) and back again for the 6:00 o’clock Mass which incidentally, is of the same style as our own 5:30 Mass.  A table is set-up outside the front [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=12</link>
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		<title>&#8220;A lit candle facing a strong wind&#8221;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[From 2003 Visit


On 11/21 five of us concelebrate at funeral of an Augustinian, Sister Christopher.  The Mass was reflective and reverent.  Sister Francis, the Superior was not up to saying a few personal words at the end, as she was fearful of breaking down.  The casket was of plain, unfinished pine.  [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=13</link>
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		<title>Life Beyond Swinging in the Trees</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hi Everyone:

This morning I was up by 5:30, unlocking doors (12 of them), pulling blinds and drawing curtains to let the sunshine in.  Yes, the sun was up already and shinning brightly too.  When I unlocked the front door and looked out towards the main gate, to my surprise just inside the gate [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=15</link>
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		<title>Time was Getting Short</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hi Everyone:

Yesterday, I had my first experience at participating in a Zulu funeral which took place in a hall easily accommodating four hundred people. The church near the home of the deceased was simply too small for those wishing to express their condolences.  The service started at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 1:00 in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=16</link>
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		<title>A More Vicious Way to Burn CD&#8217;s</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It may be of curiosity if not of interest that daylight starts early this time of year.  Light is noticeable at 4:30 and the sun is up by five.  Our turn of dark days will come in May, June &#038; July, so I’m told.

I see from looking at the 2006 liturgical calendar we [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=17</link>
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		<title>One Man and a Whole Lot of Seeds</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hi Everyone:

Arthur Rylance, one of our Saint Vincent de Paul members, happened by the front office the other day and so I beckoned him to come through the double set of doors into the “inner sanctum” for a chat.  Arthur readily accepted the invitation and that’s what I’m going to tell you about, a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=18</link>
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		<title>The Zulu Good Samaritan</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hello Everyone:

Before beginning this letter I decided to check where I left off and noticed that my closing sentence might very well have been misleading as I spoke of the Zulu lady who came into the rectory with a “death notice.”  

As I came through the office this morning on the feast of Our [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=19</link>
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		<title>A Lifetime Commitment to Each Other</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Dear Parishioners:

This is my 10th letter, since being assigned to Our Lady of Mercy Parish and it starts with ring of the door bell on Sept. 6, just shy of a full week since my arrival in South Africa.  It is memorable because of Joan and Patrick, who have come to the rectory requesting [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=20</link>
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		<title>Confirming Life</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Dear Parishioners:

It is First Friday.  Fr. Hattrick is having the foundation at the eastern end of the church hall shored up while Fr. Benjie and I are off to an orphanage where Mass is celebrated for the Sisters and a few patients each Friday at noon.

As I strolled about the orphanage I met up [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=21</link>
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		<title>Vibrating within the rhythmic music of S.A.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Feast of St. Terese

Hello Everyone:

The idea of retracing my first full day (Sept. 1), struck me as a valid approach in the telling of South African life situations as they unfold before my eyes. These encounters shall be viewed differently by each reader as possibly uncommon, if not at times, surprising.  Nonetheless, they are [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=22</link>
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		<title>Laboring in the Lord&#8217;s Vineyards</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The favor of the lord be with you

September 26, 2005

Hello Everyone:

This past Friday, The Very Reverend Donald F. Reilly, O.S.A., Prior Provincial of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, met with His Eminence, Wilfrid Cardinal Napier, and Archbishop of Durban.  The appointment was 9:30 in the morning at the Chancery.

The purpose of the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=23</link>
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		<title>Ants, Suicide and Self-Reliance</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hi Everyone:

On this morning’s walk back and forth on the church parking lot, which is nearly the length of a football field (though not nearly as wide), I happened upon an unusual sight.  A night crawler was minding its own business making its way along the macadam surface when an army of ants began [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://augustinian.org/africa/?p=25</link>
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