Irene Manning
The Robson Ranch Catholic Club met on January 10 at the lovely home of John and Mary Goodpaster. The meeting was opened with a prayer. Our guest speaker was Deacon Vic Norton, a fairly new deacon at St. Mark Catholic Church. Deacon Norton was introduced by John Goodpaster, the president of the Catholic Club.
Deacon Vic related a story he had read about Joshua Bell who is a renowned American violinist. Mr. Bell played incognito in a Washington subway where he played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. No one really recognized him or really took the time to listen except for a few children whose mothers whisked them away. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell’s concert was sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats’ average cost was $100. Deacon Vic asked how this could apply to our faith. He received some very interesting answers. He also informed those that did not know that from 1558 until 1829 Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during this era wrote the carol The Twelve Days of Christmas for young Catholics as a Catechism Lesson. Each element in the carol has a code word for a reality, which the children could remember. We had a good time trying to guess what the meanings for the words of the carol were. The evening was both fun and educational, and Deacon Vic did a terrific job.
We ended the meeting with lots of wonderful refreshments and socializing.