Christmas 2009/2010

Dear friends,
Christ is born! Glorify Him!

Greetings to all of you at this joyous season of Christ's birth. I hope you've all had, or are having, a blessed and joyful celebration.

I hope all of you are well and have had many blessings during this past year.

It's been a good semester here. Since arriving in Alaska on August 6, I've gotten settled in a bit. I got used to the routine of class preparation. The students and their families are wonderful folks. St. Herman's Seminary has 10 seminarians at present. All but one of them are married and are here with their families, including about 22 children who love being here and are almost always playing around the grounds.

Kodiak is a beautiful place. And so far what people said has about the climate has proven correct: it has seemed milder here than in New England or NE Pennsylvania. The water keeps it relatively warm. Not far to the north, mainland Alaska is typically 20-25 degrees colder. Right now we are in the grip of a cold spell which will stay a while. The temp is predicted to hover around 23 degrees this week. But in Anchorage, about 250 miles to the north, it's hovering at minus -2.

I've visited Port Lions, AK three times now -- every few weeks -- and that's a beautiful place too. It's about 15 miles west of here. You reach it by boat or by plane. The 10 to 12 minute plane ride, when there has been a dusting of snow, is just stunningly beautiful, especially when the weather is perfect and we fly between the mountains, instead of around the island of Kodiak hugging the shore. Most of the time the ride in the small plane is just as smooth as that in a big jet. At Port Lions I've been officiating at services in the parish church. Port Lions was founded in 1964 when the village of Afognak, just north of here, was destroyed by earthquake and tidal waves. I've met some of the people who lived through that earthquake. Interestingly it was at Afognak that villagers saw the pillar of light rising into heaven when St. Herman of Alaska departed this life. That sighting is recorded in the life of St. Herman. St. Herman lived on Spruce Island which lies between Kodiak and Afognak. I've even met some folks whose great-grandparents witnessed that light.

One of the highlights of the fall was three days of lectures by Fr. Michael Oleksa, who talked about the need for cultural sensitivity -- or as he put, the need to discern and enter into some else's "beam of light" and to listen to their "story." Their story is their life and their history. Their beam of light is how they look at things and understand things and do things. Also as part of the lectures, he told many amusing -- or sometimes saddening -- stories, or anecdotes. It was very enlightening. Fr Michael, who teaches at the Univ. of Alaska, has written books on mission theology and on cultural sensitivity. He himself is of Polish background; his wife Xenia is a native Alaskan.

All of the seminarians, by the way, are Alaskan natives. Probably few of them are of full-blooded native; most have some Russian or Swedish blood. To me they seem -- in many ways, at least -- to be culturally much like other Americans living here and there in the 50 states.

During this past semester I took part in a weekly one-hour class on the Yupik language. One Yup'ik word is: Quyana! (it sounds like the 1st 2 letters in KYLE plus the last 4 in DONNA - thus KY-ONNA!! with a strong accent on the middle syllable). It means "Thank you!" An Aleut word you might know is "quyak" (kayak). The main native groups in Alaskan are the Yup'ik, the Aleut, the Alutiiq, the Tlingit, and the Athabascan.

You never know what Jesus is going to ask you to do to serve Him. This fall I was asked to attend basketball games at the local high school and middle school! The reason: the St. Herman's students have a basketball team for recreation purposes and they play against other local teams. I was asked to take turns attending these games along with other priests from the seminary faculty in order to help ensure that the atmosphere stays cool and doesn't get too competitive.

So that's a little bit about what I've been doing up here.

There is actually too much to tell. I could write a book about it, but there isn't time to do that. Yes, I too have my "story" to tell -- as do you also -- and I'm often rememering you, with each of your "stories".

I think of the words of my teacher, Fr. Alexander Schmemann -- "to love is to remember." He connected that with theology -- that in the memory of God all are remembered, with each moment of their lives, and that in that great Calling to Mind, they live, eternally.

While my memory is not so powerful as God's, I want all of you to know that I often remember you, with much love, and I hope you are praying for me and for all who are up here.

Yours in Christ,
Fr Juvenaly