Spring is always a tease here in NEPA, off to a cold start with patches of warm weather here and there. We had a peaceful, yet busy winter on the farm - lots of news to share.

 

Thank you to all who supported our first fundraiser as a non-profit - it was a huge success! We reached our goal of $15,000 and were able to purchase the new goat shed, which we need for the three bred Nigerian Dwarf goats we bought in February. Just in time, too - Harmony gave us quints! The shed made a perfect kidding jug for the little family. We still have two more bred does due over the next two months. Once the babies are all born, we will transform the shed into a milking station. Fresh goat milk, cheese and yogurt all summer long.

 

Misericordia University students continue to volunteer and have been a huge help this semester, loading hay, building a secondary goat enclosure, and doing some general clean-up tasks. One morning, we worked with the wool - a nice respite from outdoor work on a rainy morning. Our Spring volunteer schedule is rather full with local college, high school and youth groups.

 

Larry had a book signing at our local Catholic store, the Heaven and Earth Gift Shop. His Confession of a Catholic Worker - Our Moment of Christian Witness has been well received.  He recently spoke at Mount Marty University in South Dakota, and at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Three more speaking engagements this spring include Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island, the Evangelium Institute in Omaha, Nebraska, and Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in DuPont, PA.

 

His Gaudium et Spes 22 blog and podcast are thriving. The podcast will soon be listed on EWTN’s Podcast Central. He continues to write for Catholic World Report and the National Catholic Register, with plans to again report from the synod in October. Larry also continues to work on  the Die Human podcast with our good friend Marcus Daly of Marian Caskets. Started last May, the podcast encourages virtue by looking at, and through, our mortality with the eyes of faith.

 

We are excited that Larry has been invited to be on the Editorial Board of the journal Communio: International Catholic Review, a tremendous privilege for him as it is the premier academic journal of ressourcement/communio theology founded by Henri deLubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Joseph Ratzinger. They have partnered with him to interview authors about their articles in the journal. He will be traveling to California at the end of May for a Communio gathering.

 

Carmina held a wool processing demonstration for a local 4-H club. It was so enjoyable that she now hopes to host an Intergenerational Fiber Guild over the summer, a revival of the Junior Fiber Guild held in 2019.

As she has been teaching an online course for St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester, N.Y., she was invited to contribute a post to their blog. Another article on the prayer life of Dorothy Day appeared the January issue of Adoremus Bulletin , and she also participated in a webinar on the dignity of work for Catholic Rural Life.

Our Sunday Visitor published a nice article about the farm based on the webinar.

 

Carmina also gave two Lenten retreats for women, one  at St. Peter’s Parish in West Brandywine, PA and one at St. Jude Parish in Mountain Top, PA. Her retreat on the Benedictine spirituality of Dorothy Day with Sr. Donald at Transfiguration Monastery is scheduled for June 1.  She remains involved in the Dorothy Day Guild working toward the canonization of Dorothy Day.

 

Please pray for us as we prepare for a busy summer on the farm. Send us your prayer intentions - we include them on our Morning Prayer.